Page 6 - RYAN'S GIG GUIDE MARCH 2014

Unlike studios back in the day, computers have
developed so much that they are the centre of
many a studio set up. But what type should I
get? Desktop or laptop, Mac or PC (this debate
is almost as old as the systems themselves),
and what spec? How much RAM?
Well, you can get pretty powerful laptops
these days; however they are most likely to be
set up for gaming rather than music making. If
you plan to make music on the move, then a
laptop might be the computer for you. This
also opens up scope to be used live if desired.
Mac Book Pros are less easy to configure after
purchase but have a solid reputation for studio
and live use.
Whether you go with a desktop or laptop
based studio, don’t be fooled into thinking
you’re getting great bang-for-buck with some-
thing from PC World. Unless you’ve got some
computer building experience (or know some-
one who has) and have the skills to hot rod a
Curry’s family computer, you should look into
a custom built music PC. Scan and Inta Audio
offer some excellent custom built PC’s tailored
to your music making needs, as well as system
and setup support. Macs work extremely well
for music production and a Mac Pro is an
John Stewart is the Guitarist
for the Birmingham band
EIGHT GREAT FEARS
and also the Producer
and Engineer for
PROJECT STUDIO 1410
This month he shares some
tips about Digital Audio
Workstations (DAWS)
Guest columnist: John Stewart
industry standard. An iMac would also do an
excellent job. Before deciding whether to go
MAC or PC (either laptop or desktop) it is worth
noting a few things. Firstly, what are you com-
fortable with? If you are familiar withWindows
and a PC, then don’t feel you have to go MAC to
make music because everyone says you should
(these people are out there, trust me). Most
Digital Audio Workstations (DAWs) are avail-
able for both Mac and PC.
Macs are expensive, but if you get a seriously
put together music PC then there probably
won’t be much difference in spec or price.
Ideally, regarding spec, you need the best
processor you can afford and lots of RAM. An i5
or i7 processor will stand you in good stead but
bear in mind that adding lots of RAM to a com-
puter with low CPU usage won’t really add
much in performance. A good amount of pro-
cessing power with ideally 8-16GB of RAM
should serve you well.
You should also consider an external hard drive
to save your work to. It’s not unusual to use a
1TB or 2TB hard drive to save stuff to which will
free up your computer and means you have
your masterpieces saved in case anything crash-
So, we have touched on the importance of setting up in the right studio
space and purchasing some decent mix monitors and headphones. Now
it might be worth looking at the heart of your studio set up...
... the computer.