HOW TO BUY a MUSIC PC!

By Sammy James

Nobody knew in 1983 that two industry giants would shape future music production. Yamaha Corporation helped to develop MIDI, and released the DX7 -- the first-ever FM synth with MIDI in,out, and thru. The very same year, Microsoft announced the release of Microsoft Windows.

The Macintosh ruled the day for twelve years. That was because Macintoshes seemed "friendlier" to musicians -- they even had a MIDI port on the back of most models. Then, in 1995, "Windows 95" revolutionized PC music making.

Windows 95 made everything a LOT easier on the PC. Today, millions of PCs run a version of that original Microsoft operating system -- typically, Windows 2000 or XP.

So with the incredible popularity of the PC as a MUSIC machine, as opposed to being a dull and boring office computer, there are things that you can do to minimize the hassle of finding one for your needs. There are three basic areas of computing that will concern you. They are:

- Hard drive (hard disk) speed and capacity
- Memory capacity (RAM), and
- Processor (CPU) speed

The BIGGer (and FASTer) they come, the HARDer they work!

You need a big and fast hard disk drive, period. In fact, it is best to have two in the same computer. They need to run at about 7,200 RPM or faster, and should probably have at least 80-120 Gigabytes of disk space. Seagate makes one of the most popular type, called the "Barracuda." Glyph makes good competing products as well.

The reason for having two drives is that it is best to keep your program files on one drive, and the audio files on another. You may use one drive for everything, but it keeps things simpler to have all of your audio on drive 2, say. That way, when you go to perform backups (and you will want to do that, won't you?) you will be able to just copy the entire drive -- to "mirror" it, and save some headaches later down the road.

RAM-tough

RAM is one of the two major "holy grail" computing concepts, especially in music. Music and video require more memory than any other application on the planet (except, maybe, for certain top-secret classified projects... such as listening in on your neighbor's telephone calls... I'm only kidding here...) So, get a ton of RAM -- as much as you can afford, and as high a capacity as the computer will allow. Some computers have slots to add as much as 4 Gigs -- but beware -- because the ones who have fewer slots may make up for it by installing a single-DIMM card, which you might have to throw out or sell later. An example of this would be buying, say, a Dell computer with two slots, each with 256 MB of RAM installed. Now, the computer MAY have a capacity of 1 Gig, but you'll have to remove the two DIMMs in there to install two 512 MB DIMMs. You get the idea. I am NOT the authority, by the way, on purchasing RAM. YOU need to ask what kind of RAM the computer uses, whether this RAM is readily-available at computer stores, and whether it uses a more or less expensive kind of RAM.

How fast is fast, anyway?

The second most important aspect to computing as RAM is: CPU processor speed. A CPU that can munch through reams of audio and video is integral. You may even need to run some video software, especially if you are scoring music-for-picture. In that case, look for any of the following descriptions in the computer's specs:

- AMD dual-core Athlon (sometimes written as Athlon Nx2, where "N" denotes the actual processor type times 1,000, et cetera)
- Intel D 930 (the "D" stands for dual-core, although it is in the same chip)
- Intel Pentium 4 with HT (often written as "Intel P4 HT") and look for one that is at least 2.8 GHz, if not faster (3.0 or 3.2 is good)
- Intel Pentium 3 (written typically as PIII -- and I would avoid it, if possible -- but it is okay for budget-conscious types of folks)

The HT is for "hyper-threading," and it refers to how the computer's CPU can make use of idle system resources to help the programs that you are running. It does NOT stand for "hernia tinnitis," "hoedown time," or "hey there."

Odds and ends

The computer is the nerve center of your music studio. They come in all shapes and sizes -- from lowly notebooks to super-charged towers, and with cube-shaped, mini-tower, and rack-mounted chassis. Some have more or fewer card slots for adding options later -- so check the specs on these too. (Notebooks are, by the way, intended for producers who need to travel between studios a lot -- so I would stay away fromm them, unless you are such a person. They offer less power-unit-per-dollar,overheat, and can have "accidents" -- so you are taking your life into your own hands with portable computers like these. Enough said.)

You should also find out how many USB ports are on the front and back of the machine. (Some older computers don't have any.) USB has become a staple for MIDI musicians, and you really need a computer that supports USB 2.0. (2.0 IS backwards-compatible with USB 1.0 -- but a machine with a bunch of USB 1.0 ports cannot be upgraded to USB 2.0 status using software-only methods.) You might also want to ask whether the machine has Firewire 400 or the speedier 800 variety that now exists. And find out whether the sound card is any good, or whether you may want to add a PCI card of your own. In fact, if you are going to run, say, Pro Tools TDM or Nuendo, you will definitely want to get a tower or mini-tower that has several PCI card slots open in the back.

If a seller is letting go of a piece and he says "this is a screamer," make sure that it can run music software. Ask if he or she is a musician himself. If you are looking for an Internet machine that can set up your appointments, read your email, and cook your grandma's recipe's, then buy something like a Dell or a Gateway. If you want a serious music machine, look for titles that include: Music XPC, Vaio, and Spectral. Rain computers and Sweetwater Creation Station machines are also very good, although they tend to be pricier. Ultimately, you need to spend your money wisely, and you need to make sure that you are getting something that does more than look good on paper.

The Final Note

There is a wealth of on-line information that can help you to tweak a PC if it is NOT from a "music-instrument" manufacturer. Just be careful! You can actually screw up a PC ROYALLY if you go guns-blazing ripping software out, even if you are just using the "Uninstall Shield" with the "Add/Remove Programs" utility on your PC! You can visit musicxp.net to learn more about how to properly set up your computer.

You should be on your way to making great music. Look around, at the sight and the sound, and you should find something that will get your music going.

Sammy James is an audio engineer, record producer, synthesizer player, and music-for-picture scoring composer. He lives in Boston, Massachusetts.