Getting Started - Part 3. Unplanned.
Somehow it happened that when I told in the article about creating music on a computer, I forgot to tell you about the most important thing. This part will be the shortest, but no less important than the rest.
It may seem to some that the inside of a PC is a secondary matter, and a computer with an average configuration will suffice for the most “nihoche” Far from it and now I will tell you why.
Everything I write below is based on my personal experience and the experience of my computer. I will not give any configuration examples, I will only say what problems you will face if you save on your PC.
Long ago, when I was about 13, I measured the power of my computer by how well my favorite toys worked there, so I didn’t care how much memory on a computer, what kind of processor, etc. At that time, all the music software worked with a bang, because primitive VST-tools were used and nothing was started except FL Studio. But that all changed with the arrival of huge sound libraries, advanced sound editors and external equipment in my life.
')
Let's start in order, with the most, in my opinion, the main thing.
The main problem of RAM is that most (if not all) of the programs, somehow related to sound, load sounds into RAM and use them from there. Everything would be fine, but when we have a sound bank (guitars, for example) weighing 700 megabytes and having a computer memory of 2 GB, the computer may behave a little differently than we would like. And if, in addition to guitars, we also loaded 500 meters of keyboards? And then the drums? And also Reason via ReWire? By the way, this example would not work on two gigabytes of memory. I, by the way, just 2 GB of memory, and have to resort to various tricks. For example, stuff the most "heavy" instruments in the sequencer and then save them as separate files. Naturally, this is not very convenient, but art requires sacrifice.
Conclusion: the more memory and the faster it is - the better. By the way, as practice has shown, 2 GB is not enough;)
As many of you know, the processor clock speed has a good effect on the speed (performance) of your PC. Personally, I faced and suffered most from two problems: “rendering” audio and the work of “heavy” VST plug-ins for sound processing (audio effects, mastering plug-ins and all that).
Consider the first problem. “Rendering” audio is the process of converting your masterpiece from a program, for example, to MP3. If you have a not very fast processor, and at the same time managed to use, when creating your own track, powerful plug-ins, which generously hung on each soundtrack, be prepared for the weary hours of waiting. I once had a “rendering” about two and a half hours.
The second problem is plug-ins that are particularly demanding on PC resources. These usually include monster VSTi (Reaktor for example) and most plug-ins for sound processing (take at least any of the Waves). Alone, they are certainly not scary to us, but it is worth collecting a bunch of them (especially if in a chain) as the speed instantly drops, the sound “stutters”, and the cooler on the processor squeaks plainly trying to cool down the heat of its “owner”.
Conclusion: more cores, more clock speed, more cache and everything will be fine.
Hard disk space is not as important as the memory and the processor, but it can also deliver no less trouble.
As we all know, disk space ends exactly when it is most needed. With the advent of multi-gigabyte sound libraries, hard drives began to fill with great speed, and when a new library appears, and there is not enough space, you have to sacrifice something.
Hence the conclusion - hard drives should be big, fast, and there should be a lot of them.
That turned out to be a quick article in which I tried to tell you about the importance of our PC. Unfortunately, a computer with a good configuration, on which a musician would feel comfortable, costs something like ... a good sound card, good headphones, good monitors and a midi-keyboard. Maybe even more.
It may seem to some that the inside of a PC is a secondary matter, and a computer with an average configuration will suffice for the most “nihoche” Far from it and now I will tell you why.
Everything I write below is based on my personal experience and the experience of my computer. I will not give any configuration examples, I will only say what problems you will face if you save on your PC.
Introduction.
Long ago, when I was about 13, I measured the power of my computer by how well my favorite toys worked there, so I didn’t care how much memory on a computer, what kind of processor, etc. At that time, all the music software worked with a bang, because primitive VST-tools were used and nothing was started except FL Studio. But that all changed with the arrival of huge sound libraries, advanced sound editors and external equipment in my life.
')
Let's start in order, with the most, in my opinion, the main thing.
RAM.
The main problem of RAM is that most (if not all) of the programs, somehow related to sound, load sounds into RAM and use them from there. Everything would be fine, but when we have a sound bank (guitars, for example) weighing 700 megabytes and having a computer memory of 2 GB, the computer may behave a little differently than we would like. And if, in addition to guitars, we also loaded 500 meters of keyboards? And then the drums? And also Reason via ReWire? By the way, this example would not work on two gigabytes of memory. I, by the way, just 2 GB of memory, and have to resort to various tricks. For example, stuff the most "heavy" instruments in the sequencer and then save them as separate files. Naturally, this is not very convenient, but art requires sacrifice.
Conclusion: the more memory and the faster it is - the better. By the way, as practice has shown, 2 GB is not enough;)
CPU.
As many of you know, the processor clock speed has a good effect on the speed (performance) of your PC. Personally, I faced and suffered most from two problems: “rendering” audio and the work of “heavy” VST plug-ins for sound processing (audio effects, mastering plug-ins and all that).
Consider the first problem. “Rendering” audio is the process of converting your masterpiece from a program, for example, to MP3. If you have a not very fast processor, and at the same time managed to use, when creating your own track, powerful plug-ins, which generously hung on each soundtrack, be prepared for the weary hours of waiting. I once had a “rendering” about two and a half hours.
The second problem is plug-ins that are particularly demanding on PC resources. These usually include monster VSTi (Reaktor for example) and most plug-ins for sound processing (take at least any of the Waves). Alone, they are certainly not scary to us, but it is worth collecting a bunch of them (especially if in a chain) as the speed instantly drops, the sound “stutters”, and the cooler on the processor squeaks plainly trying to cool down the heat of its “owner”.
Conclusion: more cores, more clock speed, more cache and everything will be fine.
HDD.
Hard disk space is not as important as the memory and the processor, but it can also deliver no less trouble.
As we all know, disk space ends exactly when it is most needed. With the advent of multi-gigabyte sound libraries, hard drives began to fill with great speed, and when a new library appears, and there is not enough space, you have to sacrifice something.
Hence the conclusion - hard drives should be big, fast, and there should be a lot of them.
Conclusion
That turned out to be a quick article in which I tried to tell you about the importance of our PC. Unfortunately, a computer with a good configuration, on which a musician would feel comfortable, costs something like ... a good sound card, good headphones, good monitors and a midi-keyboard. Maybe even more.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/52689/
All Articles