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can i produce with this setup?

ok guys i have a brand new sony vaio laptop
i have a midi keyboard
i have sonar, acid, soundforge, reason,
is my computer powerful enough to produce music? i would guess no
i want to write my own songs, i dont really know how i guess i will start experimenting
if i can
so uhhh can i? or do i need like a mac g4

You can produce music with a casette recorder and armpit squelches if you're determined enough.

I'd suggest reading the equipment section of the tutorials sticky.

Re: can i produce with this setup?

quote:

Originally posted by Scolomon is my computer powerful enough to produce music? i would guess no

Kinda hard to tell since you didn't provide any specs...

As long as the computer isn't older then ~1999 I'm sure your computer is good enough to produce music on.

What you will need is a USB midi interface and a decent firewire or usb sound card. Although you can probably use the built in one for now.

I'm not sure why you would go out and waste so much money on pro software if you aren't really sure of what you are even doing yet.

You can produce on a 386 in DOS using a tracker and samples if that's all you have I started with a pentium III 550mhz running Reason 1 and that was plenty for me at the time. For Reason 2/3 I'd suggest at least 1.5ghz pentium 4 processor or similar, and since you say it's a brand new VAIO I'm guessing you have a Centrino 1.6ghz or more which is plenty plenty Just install reason and soundForge on it and connect that midi keyboard... is there anything stopping you from doing that? You may find some limitations to your system, but IMO those limitations should be much higher than you'll ever need them to be (since Reason is pretty easy on CPU power)

Re: can i produce with this setup?

quote:

Originally posted by Scolomon ok guys i have a brand new sony vaio laptop

if its brand new...its more than enough to handle reason

by brand new..you did mean one of the latest models (i.e. made within the past few years)

quote:

You can produce music with a casette recorder and armpit squelches

Funny really,

Neah but really hes right u can almost produce anything form of music with a few odds and ends, all u need is if determination and time, amlost anything is possible nevermind the tons of hardware "some" ppl gots here.

Heh, I started producing on a Celeron 466mhz... you'll be ok.

I started producing on an Amiga 1200, running OctaMED...yeah...barely enough processing power to mix 32 channels of 14-bit audio down to four 8-bit channels, let alone simulate any sort of synthesis!

Seriously, I've heard people make some killer tracks with equipment like that (not me...I was a fkn n00b). Proving the fable that you can have a shiny new tool, or a rusty one. However if you set your mind to it, you can still create a wonderful creation.

A Vaio lappy is certainly not the shiniest tool in the shed, but it can help you build your masterpiece......you just need to know what it is capable of.

Re: can i produce with this setup?

quote:

Originally posted by Scolomon can i produce with this setup?

hard to tell if you could produce with any setup, I don't know you.

but the setup could be used for production.

If I were you I'd invest in a decent pair of speakers. I'm not talking like the Subwoofer+satellite combinations, but like a set of active speakers with a nice flat response curve. Headphones are fine, but when you do your mixes it's better to have a combination of the two.

Let's not forget about sound card... the built in sound card can only run DXi, not ASIO2 - which is preferred. Even if you don't intend to connect external gear for audio recording, it is still recommended that you get a sound card for DSP/ASIO handling of audio. With DXi your latency will be horrendous. You can even buy a cheapie Echo PCMCIA card for like $99 bucks. Or you can pick up SoundBlaster Audigy 2zs pcmcia card - though I have no idea of how it performs for mobile audio processing/recording.

If you have the means, though, I'd recommend a "break out box" something like Focusrite - it's cheap and comes with excellent soft FX bundled, plus you got all your essential connectivity but you will need to invest in a firewire PCMCIA card, which is about $30-50. Presonus Firebox is not bad either.

Actually, many folks nowdays swear by M-Audio interfaces. Check creative website for refurb specials or search ebay. with m-audio you can even get other good freebies (e-mu series libraries, etc).

If your laptop will spend most of its time on your desk, don't sweat if the device is powered from the bus or outlet. but if you plan to take it around with you, get something that will be portable and powered from the bus.

quote:

Originally posted by Reactance Funny really, Neah but really hes right u can almost produce anything form of music with a few odds and ends, all u need is if determination and time, amlost anything is possible nevermind the tons of hardware "some" ppl gots here.

I 100% agree. Some of us get the "gear collecting" bug and get stuck endlessly thinking we need the newest or greatest hardware. The fact is, some of my best songs (music wise, not tehnical or fx wise) has been when I had to make do with very limited resources. On that note I started making music on an Alesis MMT-8 (An ancient 8 track hardware midi sequencer), then graduating to a 486/66 using Cakewalk 4 on Win 95. That stuff was cutting edge though back in the late 80's early 90's. What did you guys use to use?

well.. im ONLY using fruity & acidpro
but I can make tracks.. not saying its OMGsuch great music tho

@ Reactance: Cubase was made to use on dual high rest monitors and it rocks! :P

Sure, you comp is fine for production. Up to a certain point. If you want lot's of VSTi's or effects to be going at once it could be a problem. But often the simplest tracks are the best ones in my opinion. Give it a go, and if you want as soon as you find you are limited by the comp think about buying a new one.

kind regards,

Charlie Darwin

Re: can i produce with this setup?

quote:

Originally posted by Scolomon ok guys i have a brand new sony vaio laptop i have a midi keyboard i have sonar, acid, soundforge, reason, is my computer powerful enough to produce music? i would guess no i want to write my own songs, i dont really know how i guess i will start experimenting if i can so uhhh can i? or do i need like a mac g4

well have you even tried....you say you got all the software, hardware and now the new computer...you tell us

what exactly is preventing you from producing music ???

Nevertheless, keep in mind that you get the most original stuff when your limited with your resources! I made a friggin cool percfilled track with myself ramming on tables and chairs en recording that ..
just added some eq reverb and delay tadaa

oh wow. another person with 3 digital audio workstations.

what in the phucking almighty christ do you need 3 DAWs for?

why are there so many people who start out by purchasing more than 1 DAW?

ill put my cynical hat on and assume santa gave it to you for christmas...

H2O-HO-HO-HO!

quote:

Originally posted by Derivative H2O-HO-HO-HO!

ive always asked myself what's in it for those H20 guys. I mean, they buy software worth thousands of dollars, crack it and spread it.

Why? Is it the rush? Do they get payed for cracking/spreading software?

quote:

Originally posted by DigiNut You can produce music with a casette recorder and armpit squelches if you're determined enough. I'd suggest reading the equipment section of the tutorials sticky.

giggle - and I have done that before....

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