Part 1 of 5 in Music Production for Beginners

Home computers are amazing, because you can have a basic home studio with a very simple setup, for not a lot of money.

You’d be surprised what self-producing artists are able to accomplish with a humble setup, but it’s good to have reasonable expectations.

So what makes a computer best optimized for producing music? Let’s explore:

Basic Things to Consider

You may not even need to buy a new computer, but consider the basics of what a good music production computer needs to have:

• Plenty of hard disk space free (depending on how much you plan on  recording, you’re probably going to need at least 80 GB of hard disk space). You can always purchase an external hard disk to keep your music files on their own.
• High Processing Speed – Pretty much any personal computer made in the last 5 years will be more than adequate for recording and processing audio. I recommend a minimum of 1Ghz, but if you can start at 2Ghz or more, you’ll be in better shape.
• High Memory – This is often overlooked and many times falls under the shadow of the processing speed. When you work with digital audio, you need a good “buffer” of information, and memory really helps speed up the process (helps you to avoid stalls and crashes). I recommend at least 1GB of whatever memory your computer uses, but 2GB or more is even better. The great thing about memory, is that it’s usually super simple to upgrade yourself, and not all that expensive. I did it with an old computer I had lying around, and it sped up performance enormously.
• Plenty of USB Ports – You can never have too many USB ports, and ideally you’ll have at least two. Most of your essential devices are going to be plugged in via USB (microphones, MIDI controllers, etc.).
• Sound Card, Audio Out Port, Audio In Port- most computers come with these, but make sure that you have them.
• CD Burner – it comes standard now, so not a lot of worry, but CD’s are giving way to digital transfer files. It’s still good to be able to burn your tracks directly (CD players are still in abundance).

Laptop or Desktop?

This may be just a matter of preference, but here are a few things to consider. Personally, I prefer a laptop, because you can take it anywhere (portable recording studio? yes, please.)

A laptop of equal processing power with a desktop can be considerably more expensive, and USB/Audio ports tend to be more limited.

It’ll also depends on the kind of space you prefer your creative work to be done in (granted, you can always get a docking station if you want to have the portability, and full workstation experience).

Mac or PC?

I’ll admit that I’m completely biased on this topic. I am an avid (read rabid) Macintosh user and fan, however I will attempt to be fair, as not everyone loves or wants to use one.

It is well known that Macintosh computers are renowned for their use in the creative fields, particularly graphics and music. Personally, I have found the software and interface far more friendly for music (and yes, I have used both platforms extensively).

There is plenty of excellent music software that is only available on the Windows platform (most notably Sony Creative Software’s Acid Music Studio). Apple has Garageband as part of it’s iLife package already installed, and I’ve found it to be more than adequate for basic home recording.

There’s always the option of installing Windows on a Macintosh, but that can get quite costly with the different software you’ll need to make that happen (PC’s tend to be cheaper than Macs anyway). For economic purposes it’s best to choose one platform or the other.  Just be sure that you have what you need (mentioned above), whatever you choose.

Recording and producing music with a computer is a very savvy and inexpensive way of developing your music. Let your creativity thrive, and have fun with it. The important thing is that you start experimenting with your sound.

Peace,

Bret J. Piontek

p.s. Here are some examples of music ready computers:

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