Computer recommendations for guitar

Thanks all!
Yep, I was thinking about 1 GB to start with in the memory department, I have 256 MB now, I think that this is going to be the big money part of this project. I have four slots available.

Memory and hard drive space are definitely the place to start, racetruck. And you'll probably find they cost a lot less than you might think. Enjoy 8)

I agree with the memory suggestion we have all talked about. The only thing I differ on regarding the 1gb memory is I would go with 2 sticks of 512 rather than 1 single stick of 1gb. The reason being is to take advantage of dual channel performance. Heck, you could even go 2 sticks of 1 gb :)

Hi again,

256 megs of RAM is just a tad on the underpowered side. :shock: I'm surprised it still runs. Your 'hot rod' currently has a rubber band instead of the 'big block'. :P

1 gig should be OK. I've got 2gigs but I put that amount in for gaming rather than audio.

Remember, if the the bug bites and you become an 'Audio Geek' nothing will ever be good enough for more than a week or two. There will always be a better card, niftier speakers, software with a better sound engine or whatever... You'll never stop trying to get your hot rod to cover the quarter that tiny bit quicker.... :twisted:

But you really can start modest. Don't worry about building a top fueller before you've chopped a couple of Beetle buggies first. 8) I've also had computers for over 20 years (the first ones I bought didn't even have a hard drives, let alone sound cards or speakers) and I have a drawer full of old sound and graphics cards that were the bees knees a few years ago, and which I couldn't give away now because even the on-board stuff on the motherboards is better now. :roll:

Computers move on real fast.... But the older stuff was still perfectly usable in its day. I started out listening to music literally on 78s on a wind up gramophone. I went through vinyl LPs, cassette tapes, and all the other stuff, and it was all fine really. The important part was the music - how well it was played and written. It didn't matter that much exactly how shiny bright each decibel was. :wink: A couple of nights ago I dragged out a battered old cassette (which was a copy on cheap tape anyway) copied over a quarter of a century ago. Randy Newman on one side Tom Waits on the other. Totally brilliant, every bar of it. Never even noticed how old the technology was...

+1 to Greybeards tips though. You can't beat having separate backup. Every machine I build has two drives in, with the second being totally for backups. You only need one drive failure or corruption to convince you how useful it is to have backup.

You're going to have a lot of fun with this hobby so take your time - and stay off the cigs, you're going to need that spare cash if the bug bites... :D

Cheers,

Chris

BTW,

It might help Racetruck1 (and be interesting for the rest of us) if we posted our current gear lists and said what we use it for, why we think it's good or mediocre for the job, and what else we'd like to be able to do with gear as yet unbought.

All I want to do at this stage is make simple home made stuff that will allow me to record more than one track. I want to play rhythm on one track then solo on another, then try singing (note emphasis on try singing) on another, etc.

Come on people - boast a little. Post your setups and tell us what fancy stuff you can do with it. Any related hardware too - mixers, speakers, whatever ya got... Show Racetruck1 what sort of hot rod he could be shooting for... :D

For instance, one option would be to spend almost nothing on the computer, and use it mainly just for storage and disk burning. Get hold of those reference speakers and then buy yourself a proper little recorder/mixer to do most of the work on. :twisted: Some of them have their own hard drive. The cool factor of having some real buttons and sliders to move up and down, knobs to twiddle and lights to flash, as you mix and record simply cannot be overstated.... 8) 8) :wink:

Cheers,

Chris

Yeah Chris, I agree!

512 is low on the memory side, but thats what it came with. I'm shaking the system down and its STILL way faster than my other systems, of course, there's not a lot on it now. Still pricing cards, they seem to avg. around $80.00 per GB, 512MB can be had for about $30.00, that's local shops around here. Haven't checked on the internet yet, that's next.

By the way, one of my "monsters" that upset my wife was a 71 Super Beetle with a 455 ci Olds W-30 engine in it. Why? Me and my partner were bored one winter! Pluses, really got looks at the car cruses with it. Minuses, radiator in back seat, hit the gas too hard and it would do a wheelie and not come down even if you shut the engine off, front tires barely touched the ground and the clutch would only last about a week! But it was fun building it......

I have no problem using older stuff, like I said this isn't going to be a "bragging rights" project, I'm going to use whatever comes down the road and one important thing, probably even more important than the system itself, is that this is going to be a learning thing for me, I'm tired of being unable to understand how computers work, tons of books on the subject but what works best for me is getting my hands dirty. I'm a pretty good engineer and that's why I was a pretty good engineer! Already I've learned more about computers than I knew a week ago.... :twisted:

I have an old machine and only have 128mb of RAM. I have used Acoustic Labs Mixer to make multitrack recordings in the past without too much problem. I have recently used Audacity and made multitrack recordings and it worked fine. I want a new machine, but seem to be getting by just fine here with meager means. My son and I recorded a whole CD with it and it sounds fine to me. Here is a sample.

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/songInfo.cfm?bandID=225776&songID=1559214

Hey Racetruck? That V dub come with a pilots license?

I have an old machine and only have 128mb of RAM. I have used Acoustic Labs Mixer to make multitrack recordings in the past without too much problem. I have recently used Audacity and made multitrack recordings and it worked fine. I want a new machine, but seem to be getting by just fine here with meager means.

Yeah! :D

If you've got the playing talent you can make perfectly acceptable recordings with fairly basic stuff. It's the music that matters. Until you fall in love with the gear.... and then it's the gear too. :twisted:

Racetruck1,

I love the sound of that Beetle. 8) I always fancied taking something really slow looking (like a Morris Minor) and sticking something really hot it it. Trouble is, the tyres you need to get the power on the road, and then to try and steer the thing, tend to give the game away. :wink:

BTW if you're going to use 2 sticks of memory (which is a good way to go) then they usually need to be a 'matched pair' and not just two that happen to be nominally the same size. You can get problems mixing different brands, flavours, etc. You might get away with mixing two bought at different times, and you might not - but it's just another thing to bear in mind. If in doubt take the Ram stick (or the whole box) with you and show them at the shop what you're trying to match.

Cheers,

Chris

Yeah! :D

If you've got the playing talent you can make perfectly acceptable recordings with fairly basic stuff. It's the music that matters. Until you fall in love with the gear.... and then it's the gear too. :twisted:

So then why did mine sound OK? :P

Not sure if the recording interface was addresesd but I got a couple buddies who record on their computers. One plugs his bass into the mic jack by using a 1/4 to 1/8 adapter. He has a mac and a program i believe called garage band. Another one uses this thing made by line 6. It seems to work for him we've recorded some fun stuff on it, but me being the computer idiot that i am can't figure it out.
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Line-6-TonePort-UX2-USB-RecordingModeling-Interface?sku=249701
I would love some pics of that VW if you get a chance

So then why did mine sound OK? :P

:D

I've heard one of your tracks...

In fact I saved it to my hard drive and play it every now and then. Very nice too. I've been expecting you to knock on my door and demand the 'pay for play' royalty fee any day now.... :wink:

There you go folks - oh, darn you can't hear it can you.... :roll: you don't know what you're missing...

I have no problem using older stuff, like I said this isn't going to be a "bragging rights" project, I'm going to use whatever comes down the road and one important thing, probably even more important than the system itself, is that this is going to be a learning thing for me, I'm tired of being unable to understand how computers work, tons of books on the subject but what works best for me is getting my hands dirty. I'm a pretty good engineer and that's why I was a pretty good engineer! Already I've learned more about computers than I knew a week ago.... :twisted:

ALL computer building comes automatically with bragging rights. Most people don't do it so are unduly impressed by folks who can. :P

Great idea to have a 'no pressure' project like this to really do your learning on. You'll love it when you get in the swing of it all. No lying on your back with oil dripping in your face.... No smashing your knuckles against a subframe when the spanner slips off.... No doing your back in lifting the components... :)

A good engineer like you won't have too much trouble with the hardware assembly side of things. Just be gentle, take care how you handle the parts (keep your paws off the circuitry) and check out some articles on static electricity (the scare stories are true - you can wreck gear with static from your own body. My good mate has trouble with static and has watched the spark jump from his fingers and wreck something on more than one occasion. :shock: ).

Software is an altogether more Satanic part of the deal. :evil: :evil: But it's not too bad once you've got through the worst of the fog patches...

Have fun,

Chris

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/songInfo.cfm?bandID=225776&songID=2081419

This lil old song? :oops:

Your welcome to listen, just don't sue me if it causes any damage to your musical growth. :lol:

The whole album is right here:

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/pagemusic.cfm?bandID=225776

Downloading now....

Listened to a couple so far and they're more than good enough to impress the heck out of me. I'd be thrilled if I could put together an album of stuff like that. 8)

Hey TR!

Just got in from a hard days work and wanted to turn my brain off for a while, Clicked on your site and am REALLY grooving on it! Great stuff! Perfect tone, perfect groove, perfect vocals, on and on and on.......

MAN, this s@#$ IS COOL!

Much kudos and love, this is why I wanna play! :D :D :D :wink:

One other small advantage of getting a flatscreen, by the way, is that it produces no interference.
I have a CRT screen and a small fluorescent desk lamp next to it - you can't believe the hassle I have with interference. Luckily I have a DI box with ground lift, that reduces the problem immensely.