Recording Handbook - Hol.gr

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Here is where the capabilities of your soundcard come in. If you're only doing guitar and vocal
recording, then you'll probably be fine with a simple ANALOG L/R in/out soundcard. For overdubbing, it
must be "full duplex" which means the soundcard can input and output at the same time. A DIGITAL
connection on the soundcard means you can send your mix from inside the computer, out to a DAT
machine's DIGITAL input. To take advantage of the multi-track recording programs, you'll want multiple
ANALOG ins and outs and that's why they cost more. Look for the number of simultaneous record and
playback channels capabilities as well as the types of ANALOG and DIGITAL connections.
To burn cd's on your computer, you need cd-r software. A lot of software companies now have seperate
add-on cd-r software to go with their recording packages. In general, these are fairly sophisticated and
allow you to move id markers, change subcode info, etc. The cheapest stand alone cd-r software I've seen
is Adaptec's Easy CD-Pro. It came bundled with my cd-r. It simply allows you to arrange the order of your
audio files and burn the CD. Each seperate audio file gets an id on the CD. You can't place id's or access
subcode info.
Easy CD-Pro is also file backup software and this is really helpful when you've filled up that big hard
drive with audio files. Believe me, it will fill up faster than you can imagine! When I'm done with a
project on the computer, I save all the related files onto a cd-r and erase the old files on my hard drive.
When I need to work on it again, I reload the backed up files from cd-r and continue my slicing and
dicing.
So, you've checked out the software, hopefully even had a chance to speak with someone who is using it
or even better, actually seen it running. Now you need the hardware to run it on.
THE HARDWARE:
The Computer: Get the fastest Intel processor you can afford. The AMD and Cyrix chips are cheaper but
you might want to go with Intel. Specs I've seen from several companies won't guarantee software
performance on non-Intel chips, so read the fine print. Also check the motherboard for system bus speed
(66mhz on older models, 100mhz and 133 mhz on newer ones), amount and type of onboard RAM it can
hold(more is better) and number of open slots for PCI/ISA cards(more is better). If you have older ISA
cards you want to use, double check because many new motherboards only offer PCI.
The RAM: Stuff at least 128 meg of RAM in there, 256 meg or more would be even better. It used to be
30 and 72-pin 60ns memory chips. Newer motherboards can take 168-pin SDRAM memory chips that run
at 7ns on the 100mhz bus machines. Check the motherboard manuals for the type, speed and physical
parameters of the memory you should use. Some machines take (2) pairs, some can handle different sizes
(a 64 and 128), some can't.
The Monitor: All of these software recording packages suffer from the same problem. They fill the screen
with too much information constantly. 17" monitors are getting down below $300, so go for a 19" or 21" if
you can. You'll thank me later. As of 2001, 15" flat screen monitors offer almost the same screen real
estate as a 17" monitor, and are in the $600 range. They take up a lot less space and give off lots less heat.
PCI/ISA slots: Most music software is now taking advantage of the PCI slots. You'll want at least (4) of
them. Some PCI cards are long and some are short, so the interior physical dimensions of your computer
enclosure could come into play. Get a tower enclosure if possible, it'll give you room to add hard drives
and more stuff later on.
Power Supply: You'll want the biggest you can get because you'll have lots of peripherals stuffed in there.
Definitely opt for the quietest one you can get as well. Those fan(s) can be a problem.
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