HOME RECORDING STUDIO SOFTWARE

• If you're in a band and you're looking to make a great home demo.
• You're a singer/songwriter interested in the digital age.
• Or maybe you have an acoustic guitar and you want to throw down a track or two.
• A drummer with no guitar player, a bass player with no drummer? Sometimes folks, you don't need the whole band.
• Maybe you just want to try and sell jingles.

That's the first part of it gang ... PASSION to create YOUR music. If you're reading this, I can only assume we're both locked in there.

THE COMPUTER HARDWARE: You'll read a lot about this major player all over the internet. It is the heartbeat of your audio machine. You're Tower of Power per say. Monitor, keyboard and mouse included. Right about now, questions start to arise about the machine.

• How much ram?
• What's a Gigahertz?
• I'll need a huge hard drive right?
• PC or MAC?
• My computer is 5 years old, your nuts!
• Is the one I'm using to read this going work?

If you're just getting started, everyone will tell you that bigger is better ... don't be sold. Be smart and do some research. (Maybe this article is your start?)

Here are some REAL WORLD things to keep in mind, along with, some personal recommendations. Heck, I'll even tell you what I use personally. I don't see this as any magic secret.

HARD DRIVES: With mass USB storage now-a-days, you need a hard drive to "run and support your programs" not to keep everything on. Let's just say it crashes one day ... I'm sure most of the people reading this have "been there" with a computer before (or maybe two?)So, I'll spare the details. In a nutshell, your time, effort and passion have all been wasted. Tips & Recommendations:

• The best thing you can do is designate an "Audio Computer"
• Don't do your taxes on it.
• Don't create grandma's birthday card on it. (Graphic programs and audio programs don't get along ... AT ALL!)
• Internet is not required (and is forbidden on any audio machine I own)
• PC'ers ... go with a bare bones version of XP
• MAC'ers anything above system 7 should do just fine.

Having said all that ... an 80GB (and up) hard drive will suit your entry level audio needs just fine.

PROCESSOR & RAM: This one is easy and relies solidly on the individual's patience. If your comfortable multi tasking you may not need the fastest, jerk your head back in the chair system. This all comes down to you, the individual, and how your work (or intended to work) with your audio computer.

First things first, If your just getting started riding ponies, you're probably not signing up to ride the bull the next day. There is no need to go out and buy a so called, Audio Computer for 00.00. If you can, hey that's great. But, if you're just getting started and know zilch, by the time you grow into that system, you'll want (not need) another one.

Tips & Recommendations:

o SYSTEM A (If you want to work fluently)

Start with something like an E machine ... 1GB ram and say a 3.0 processor (stick with intel ... audio software uses it as the "norm") You can use others (AMD etc) but extra configurations may have to be tweaked ... and if your just getting started ... YOU WANT TO GET STARTED!

o SYSTEM B (If your budget is restricting ... who's isn't)

You can take it down a notch ... say 512 ram and a 2.0 processor (keep it intel) So, what is the sacrifice here? Audio files need time to "render". With the system above (SYSTEM A) ... an average render is 2-3 minutes. With SYSTEM B, it's about 7-10 minutes. Back when I first started recording ... 15 minutes was "state of the art". More "lock ups" transpire with lower ram amounts as well. E-bay has some great machines worth looking at too.

OTHER COMPUTER STUFF: Your going to want to make sure the system has a few USB ports (4) and a few fire wire ports (at least 1). I'm not going to get into the breakdown of these ports or explain how they work because ... who cares, you just need them to plug audio gear into and that is that ... why take it further? The box, or ad you read when looking for a computer, will tell you everything the system has to offer. It will also tell you how many of these two ports it will have.

Let's jump to all the fun stuff ... Oh! That's right, my system. Well, after reading what you did already, I chose a fairly decent rig (at the time) on a moderate budget.

Are you ready? I use (its times like these I wish these companies paid me)

A Gateway GR550 (don't think they make 'em anymore) don't get me wrong here, systems now-a-days will blow this computer off the map ... but it's about what you need, not what the industries push you need. The only thing I had to do was upgrade the ram an extra 512MB to make it a 1GB. This audio machine is one of the main beating hearts of my studio today.

INTERFACE Hey there's a crazy techie word ... but just in case you haven't noticed, you can't plug a guitar into your new machine. That's where the interface comes in. An interface is the link between your guitar/microphone and your computer.

YIKES! Tons on the market ... more decisions you'll have to make. USB or Fire wire? Let's just take the easy route again. USB is a cheaper connection as far as "audio signal" goes. What I have noticed over the years was more "clicking" and "popping" while recording and playing back with a USB interface. Get yourself a firewire (told you) Here are a few to review:

• Toneport (USB) great for younger starters
• Stealth (USB) great for younger guitar players

Hey, Moms and Dad's ... these make great Christmas gift's for your inspiring musical offspring!

Hey, Moms and Dad's ... these make great Christmas gift's for you!

• M-Audio 1816 (FW)
• MOTU (FW)

I bet you want to know what I use huh? ... I currently have an M-Audio Project Mix. I started my recording birth with a Delta 66. This used a PCI port and required a "card" be installed into your computer system. I'm a bit of a computer geek, and have no fears when it comes to opening them ... but if you do, PCI is not your route. Again, use the new technology for the same price.

Today it's Fire wire. I must say however, PCI was THE MOST RELIABLE way to record. Don't worry; Fire wire is a very, very close second, with USB coming in at third.

Well gang, this will conclude part one HARDWARE. Do some more research and get yourself a great starting audio rig. Part 2 we'll get into SOFTWARE. This part is so much fun; it may be two articles long.

Until next time.