Music Production PC

mwtb

mwtb

mwtb

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21 Jul 2004
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248
I've recently bought myself a midi controller keyboard (CME UF7) in order to learn keyboard and to use for messing about with a bit of music creation. I was hoping that I could use my laptop and some headphones for casual noodling, but it turns out to have massive latency from the MIDI inputs.

I have two other PCs, one of which is a server and runs Linux, and one is a gaming desktop running XP. I don't really want to tie up the gaming desktop for basic keyboard practice (for a start, I'd like to be able to practice a few scales during WOW downtime), so I have a few questions for you guys:

* Does anyone use Linux for music? If so, what software and hardware are you using?

* Is there any way of rescuing my laptop for this purpose, or is there some way I can assess laptops for use as MIDI sound generators if I were to buy a new one?

* Am I better off just coughing up for a separate sound module and/or building a new PC for use as a music production machine? Perhaps a quiet mini-pc?

I'm pretty clueless about this whole area, so any advice is welcome.
 
:]

I think you will find the latency issues are down to sound interface/card rather than other hardware in your laptop. ASIO drivers and such will be MUCH better if you replaced the on board sound with something a little better. It will have to be something engineered toward audio production though rather than a general purpose card.

You could look at firewire cards as your using a laptop. If your laptop has firewire800 cards like the Edirol FA-66 will run without a power adapter which could be handy if you were wanting to move about a lot.

Do you think you would want to record anything into the laptop like a guitar/mic etc? What about hardware sound modules? When looking for a new card you will have to think about what you want it for now, and also how you might want to use it a bit in the future.

btw What software are you planning on using? Is the laptop a Mac or Windows based?

Anyway i hope this helped. Some good and reasonably priced manufacturers are M-Audio, Edirol, Emu. Good luck!
 
The laptop is running XP and I'll probably be sticking with Microsoft for a laptop OS the forseeable future. I haven't yet settled on a software package, although I've got a copy of some version of Cakewalk floating around here somewhere that came free with something or other.

I hadn't considered an external soundcard, but now you mention it, it makes a lot of sense. Do the Edirol's actually have sound generating hardware though, as they seem to be purely about recording? As I'm really just in the "mucking about and learning" phase, I'm not that concerned about building a mini-studio, for now I just want something that makes decent sounds and that I can use with some sequencer software. Is there a reasonably priced external soundcard that would suit?
 
If you're going to be mainly using midi you will want some hardware that will provide a good interface for your keyboard and some software to create sounds.

MIDI interfaces are much of a muchness - I use an M-Audio MidiSport 2X4 myself, but you can get a single midi in port type interface for next to nothing. this would probably do for the time being:
http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/Uno-main.html

If you are going to be making sounds on the PC, you will most likely want some software that supports VST instuments (often abbreviated to "VSTi"). Unfortunatly I don't know of any free software that allows you to play VSTi on Windows or Linux. There are many free VSTi available however, and some will run stand-alone (i.e. they don't need to be running in a host package such as Cubase).

Type "free vsti" into a sreach engine of your choice ;)
Here may be a good place to start:
http://www.pluginspot.com/

There are many commercial VSTi available from companies such as Steinberg and Native Instruments (and many many more).

If you want a free piano sound, try searching for "MDA Piano".
If you want a nice piano, stump up the cash for Steinberg's "The Grand".

Native Instruments' "Lounge Lizard" (Fender Rhodes) and "B4" (Hammond Organ) are classics (and don't require a host package) :D

If you're looking for a good all-round sequencer, everybody has their favorite, but I like Cubase. The cheapest version isn't *too* expensive and will allow you to record audio and sequence MIDI as well as running effects and VSTi.

Linux software includes Audacity (also available for Windows):
http://audacity.sourceforge.net/
...and Ardour.
http://ardour.org/

Here's a page on using VSTi in Linux.
http://quicktoots.linuxaudio.org/toots/vst-plugins/index.php

Have fun :)
 
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