Kanthos

A lot of the larger drives have only one USB output plus a power adapter to make sure the hard drive has enough power; that's what I'm using right now.

Well, I tried it out last night using the Seagate drive I linked in my first post. I'm now copying things around so I can instead use an older (and larger and better ventilated) Western Digital drive I have; I think it was a My Passport or MyBook or something. I think the key is what Nebula said about Kontakt's streaming, and also, specifically in my case, the fact that I shouldn't ever be using too many of the instruments on the external hard drive at the same time, so the USB connection doesn't end up being a limiting factor.

Gave it a shot last night and the performance from Kontakt-based samples running on my USB drive, which is probably not even 7200 RPM, was great, even for the biggest single sampled instrument I have (Alicia's Keys). I don't know how well it would hold up if I started running an entire orchestra from the hard drive, but I'm keeping that on my laptop regardless, so it looks like the problem's solved.

Most external drives that you can buy are a normal laptop (2.5") or desktop (3.5") hard drive in a case that also supplies power. Going the enclosure route means buying an enclosure (the powered case, that converts from IDE or SATA to USB) and the laptop or desktop hard drive of your choice. I've never seen inside one, but I'd bet the enclosure leaves some space around the drive and also has some ventilation. The portable drives, like the Seagate one I linked in the first post, are smaller drives intended to be moved around instead of sitting on a desk, and most of them, if not all, are USB-powered and don't have an external power supply.

To play: 1) Rhodes 2) Wurlitzer 3) B3 4) Piano To listen to: 1) Rhodes 2) Piano 3) B3 4) Wurlitzer

I'll give it a try, hopefully tonight, with running everything but my EWQL stuff from an external hard drive and see how playable it is - it especially matters for electric pianos and organs, stuff that I want to play in real time. Other than my EWQL stuff, Kontakt loads all my samples (well, that and Battery which I imagine is similar under the hood as far as streaming from disk), so I'll see how it works. The concerns I had with my external hard drive were power usage (it's USB powered; might a drive with its own power source do better?) and heat (because of the small casing, might a drive in a larger casing stay cooler).

EDIT: 50 views and no comments, so maybe I'm not asking clearly. My laptop's hard drive is almost full, with a lot of samples. I have no OS CD and key, just a recovery partition. Should I: 1) Run all the samples from an external hard drive? If so, is a desktop drive in an enclosure any better than a portable USB-only hard drive? 2) Run the smaller samples from the external hard drive? Again, is an enclosure better than portable? 3) Try to find a way to clone the drive onto a larger laptop drive, and switch internal drives? 4) Find a way to get the key from the current Win 7 x64 install, get a Win7 DVD, and install to a newer, larger internal drive. EDIT: Original post I'm running out of space on my laptop's hard drive, to the point that I've had to uninstall most of my games to keep a reasonable amount of free space, and I even have a couple sample libraries sitting only on an external hard drive right now. The current hard drive I have is 500 GB and 7200 RPM; I'd only want a 7200 RPM drive internally. The only options I have are to get a larger hard drive and attempt to clone my current drive onto the larger one (as much as I love my Dell, the fact that I have a recovery partition on the hard drive instead of a recovery CD is a pain, so I couldn't just reinstall everything onto the fresh hard drive - or, is there a way around this?) or start using an external hard drive for some things. How bad would the performance be if I started running some or all of my samples off an external hard drive? If only some, which libraries would be best run from the laptop's hard drive and which would be best external? I've got Kontakt, Battery, EWQL SO Gold, StormDrum 2, EWQL Choirs, all the Impact Soundworks products, and NI's Vintage Organs and Vintage Keys libraries. Things like Koto Nation and Sitar Nation that I don't use often would be great candidates to go on an external drive. I also don't use EWQL Choirs often, but it probably uses more data at once than something like Koto Nation so it might be more important to have it internally. If I'm going the external route, would there be any practical reason to buy a normal 3.5" desktop hard drive in an enclosure instead of using the 500 GB Seagate FreeAgent Go Flex I have now? Would it perform better? Be less likely to overheat?

About 7 months ago

Been married over 6 years now, but I'll be a father somewhere around St. Patrick's Day

Some removals are in order, please. All under For Sale. :::psp::: Silver PSP 2000 + 16 GB and 2x 4 GB Memory Sticks, 6 UMD Games, Pandora's Battery/Magic Memory Stick, Case, and PlayStation Store Account with many games, info here: $150 + shipping [kanthos] (12/10) ::computer/music electronic stuff::: Ableton Live Suite 8, Boxed Version: $600 OBO [kanthos] (9/10) Arturia Prophet V: $125 OBO [kanthos] (9/10) Brainspawn Forte: $50 OBO [kanthos] (9/10)

Symphonic Choir's been on PLAY for quite a while now. The update last week was that they've added the WordBuilder functionality into the PLAY plugin and standalone itself, so you no longer have to go to another application to do that.

Well, you'll hit that eventually. For one thing, you won't be able to keep up with new sample library releases without upgrading your computer; for another, if you're *really* serious about doing top-quality orchestral remixes, you'll want multiple computers anyway. Regardless though, just get as good a computer as you can afford, within reason (buying the top-of-the-line machines at any given time is usually considerably more expensive than buying something a bit less powerful). One thing you might want to look at that's not as obvious is number of USB ports. I've got a couple USB keys for authorization of plugins, a USB thumbdrive that I keep notes on, a USB-powered cooling pad for my laptop, my audio interface, and a Novation Nocturn MIDI controller. Since it's a laptop, I didn't want to use an extra USB hub that needs to plug into a power adapter, which means the MIDI controller and audio interface *need* to be plugged into the laptop itself. I had *just enough* USB ports (3) to plug those two in as well as a hub. This obviously depends on what you need, and with a desktop (which might have more USB ports anyway, or where the extra wire from plugging in a powered USB hub aren't a big deal), it may not matter. No, of course you wouldn't do something like that. I was more making the point that jumping around to too many different things too quickly isn't the way to go, and also that there's a lot of learning involved in making a particular instrument sound good with a computer.

Heh, only about 15 minutes. Yes, it's the WoW mage emblem. If I recall, there's only two WoW mixes, one of Stormwind's theme along with the Guild Wars title theme called All Nations Rise, and another of the Gnomeregan theme. If you don't have any specifics in mind, you still need a place to start, and the way to start probably isn't, "I have this idea for a mega-piece with epic orchestral parts and live drums and guitar and synth lines". Besides the fact that it's harder to pull off something that crosses genres than something that doesn't, that's still too much to take on. If you find synth sounds interesting, start with some basics. You don't know too much at this point, so don't think so much about how to make the perfect synth part for some musical idea that you have as opposed to trying to learn how synths work in general; that won't help you in the long run. Of course, it's pointless to just tweak knobs randomly, but once you've read a bit about the basics and played around with a synth to make it more clear what the various parts do, then try and make a few specific synth sounds. Same thing with orchestral sounds. Don't immediately try to make an epic arrangement. Spend some time first figuring out what each instrument or section sounds like, when you'd want to use them, etc. As for recording acoustic instruments, that probably takes less effort (assuming you already play something); if not, learn the instrument on your own or get lessons The point is to not go out and spend a ton on stuff you won't know how to use and be frustrated with, but to break down the long learning process into something much more manageable.

I love the idea of a WoW project, but I wouldn't necessarily try to limit it to the 12 races. For one thing, the trolls don't have their own theme, really. Also, one thing I've heard from other projects is that you always want to remix the "key theme" and that not doing so can be a mistake (something like doing a Zelda project without the overworld theme); for WoW, that'd probably be the title theme, although Cataclysm's opening only hints at it. Doing an Alliance and Horde album though sounds neat; maybe if there was interest, adding in a few of the other significant tracks in the game and putting them on the album where it's most significant (Lament of the Highborne on the Horde album, music from Karazhan on the Alliance album since Medivh was human, etc.) Not trying to broaden the scope too much here, just tossing out other ideas.

Oops on XP; I did look for that but was scanning for capital letters. Boo to me. It's hardly nonsensical, they just didn't go out of their way to make it especially user friendly. Logically, the user opened a file and saved it to the same location, so why should there be any prompt? Then again, it's really hard, at an OS level, to make sure that the temporary internet files folder isn't writeable when based on a user action but is writeable when an app chooses to write there.

What browser and version of Windows does she use?

Windows 7 is great, as long as you're not running it on a Windows XP-class machine, especially an older one. And even Vista, as much as it sucks, isn't impossible for remixing either (though any sane person would recommend XP over Vista). Windows 7 does require more power than XP, so it's not quite as efficient on a given set of hardware, but it's not the resource hog that Vista was. I think part of the problem with a thread that would 'answer everything' is that it would go out of date pretty quickly, or else not be specific enough. And unless you've got a good reason to buy everything you think you'd need in one shot (a one-time load of cash from a parent to set up a studio, having expendable income now when you know you won't soon - I'm in the latter case, expecting our first child in 3 months), it's best *not* to do that anyway. You can find yourself overwhelmed with too many things to learn and no good idea of where to start. Here's how I'd suggest going about it. 1) Think about the types of music you'd want to make. Pop? Orchestral? Electronic? They all use different kinds of instruments, and some DAWs have specific features for a specific genre. 2) Pick DAW software and your computer platform (Mac or PC). If you think you might switch from a PC to a Mac down the road, don't get a PC-only DAW. Don't spend too much time agonizing over bundled plugins, especially if you don't know what they do. A rule of thumb, though: having a decent set of audio effects bundled with your DAW is probably more valuable than a decent number of virtual instruments. You'll probably want to customize your instruments down the road in more radical ways than you'll want to customize your effects - you can just live with a good compressor that doesn't quite have a 'vintage' sound, while an orchestral soundfont won't compare to quality orchestral samples if you know how to use them. Right now, you probably don't know the difference, especially for things you haven't used, so how will you know that the orchestral library you're spending $500 on is the one for you? Defer that as long as possible; make do with free or budget stuff and the instruments and effects bundled with your DAW in the short term. 3) Think about how you want to hear the music you make. If you're strapped for cash, consumer-grade computer speakers or headphones will do, but studio monitors or studio headphones will give you a more accurate, and more clear, representation of the sound. 4) Think about extra hardware. Competent with a keyboard? Get a MIDI controller (and obviously, sustain and maybe expression pedal to go with it). Never played one before? Stick to clicking notes in with your mouse, which is surprisingly versatile; not every mixer here can play keys. Don't bother with a hardware synth or workstation keyboard just for extra sounds unless you a) know how to use one already and also want it for playing live. Hardware synths have a certain appeal since they're hands-on, but the main advantage, particularly for workstation keyboards, of hardware is that it's hands-on and integrated into one unit. You can get a MIDI controller and a software sampler like Kontakt with a large library for cheaper than you can get a new workstation, and it'll sound better. Worried about latency (especially if you're playing a MIDI keyboard and need it to be in time) or need to record instruments? Get an audio interface (and associated mics, stands, cables, etc.) And of course there are other extras like a control surface for mixing or even a hardware mixer (only really useful for recording or if your audio interface has multiple outputs; if you've got only one pair of stereo outputs from your DAW and won't record anything, save your cash). 5) Lastly, and preferably when you know the basics of your setup and of making music with a computer, look at instruments and effects.

I ordered a couple CDs recently from play-asia.com, and they split them up into two shipments. Each one came with a coupon to get $5 off an order of $50 or more that's placed by December 31st. If anyone wants the coupon codes, PM me.

Awesome trailer. Everything in it sounds really good, but I'm most excited for Mr. Briggs' track. This was one of the first video games I owned, and I love the soundtrack.

Under For Sale, :::nintendo ds::: Animal Crossing: Wild World, cartridge only. $10 + shipping [kanthos] (12/10) :::psp::: Silver PSP 2000 + 16 GB and 2x 4 GB Memory Sticks, 6 UMD Games, Pandora's Battery/Magic Memory Stick, Case, and PlayStation Store Account with many games: $150 + shipping [kanthos] (12/10) And the details: The PSP is unhacked at the moment, updated to an official firmware that's 6-9 months old. It's got this skin on it, the matte/satin version so fingerprints don't show. UMD Games: Dracula X Chronicles, Final Fantasy I, Final Fantasy II, Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core, Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lion, Puzzle Quest PS1 Games (from PlayStation Store): CoolBoarders, Crash Bandicoot, Crash Bandicoot 2, Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VIII, Final Fantasy IX, Grandia, Hot Shots Golf 2, MediEvil, Spyro the Dragon, Suikoden, Wild ARMs, Wild ARMs 2 PSP Games (only available from PlayStation Store): Ape Quest + all chapters, Beats, Creature Defense, Crystal Defenders, Fate/Unlimited Codes, Go! Puzzle PSP Games (available on UMD, but these are from PlayStation Store): BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger, Capcom Classics Collection Reloaded, Capcom Classics Collection Remixed, Crimson Gem Saga, Darkstalkers Chronicle: The Chaos Tower, Disgaea: Afternoon of Darkness, Disgaea 2: Dark Hero Days + all 7 DLC Heroes, Disgaea Infinite, Dissidia: Final Fantasy, Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Plus, Gurumin: A Monstrous Adventure, Half-Minute Hero, Harvest Moon: Hero of Leaf Valley, Mana Khemia: Student Alliance, Mega Man: Maverick Hunter X, Patapon 2, Prinny: Can I Really be the Hero? + DLC missions, Rock Band Unplugged (+ 20 tracks), SoulCalibur: Broken Destiny, Star Wars: Battlefront Renegade Squadron, Street Fighter Alpha 3 Max, Tekken 6, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10

And I got mine. Thanks

Can you be both professionally? Probably not. Everyone who's mentioning being an audio programmer has got it right, except perhaps that there's not enough emphasis on this one fact: outside of tiny indie companies, you probably won't be writing any music. Having in-house people designing your sound effects and doing the necessary audio programming is important, because it's much easier to slap some music into the game at the last minute (moreso if you're in a genre like sports games where all you need is some rock/pop tracks for menu screens that don't really tie into the game that much). I was working on MVP 2004 at EA, and when I left the company (I was on a 4-month co-op term) two months before the game went to mass production, I don't remember there being much, if any, music in the game, but the sound effects were mostly there already. Audio programming is probably going to be a full-time job with little or no opportunities for getting paid to compose. If you really have put in enough time and have enough raw talent to be good enough to compose for games, there's still the matter of it being fiercely competitive, and even then, if you make it, knowing much about programming won't be a huge asset to you and you'll spend almost all your time composing, not splitting between music and coding. I'm not saying it's impossible, but unless you're one of the very rare people who's exceptionally gifted both at writing software and at music, your chances of finding a job that'll let you do both to your liking is almost zero. Based on your first post, where the only language you know is PHP and the only comment you make about your music is that you spend a lot of time on it, this probably isn't you; at least, you haven't done much to show people that you've got serious skills in both areas. Real programming isn't just about knowing a language and doing some basic stuff in it; there's a lot you have to learn about software architecture, algorithm design, and a host of other topics. Game programming is particularly intense since everything has to be done efficiently, in real-time, and often on budgets (eg. EA decided that in MVP 2004, we'd have 20% of the CPU time being spent on AI, 50% on graphics, 5% on music, 5% on audio, something like that). Personality aside, not every programmer has the aptitude to be doing something as intense as game programming. Your best chance is to do a computer science program at a school that will let you take a lot of electives in music. Going the other way (music degree with CS electives) probably won't help you as much; music is a field where credentials aren't as useful as talent (though there's still a ton you can learn at a university above and beyond what you'd pick up or develop on your own); game programming, on the other hand, requires you to take a lot of upper-level CS or CompEng courses which your school will probably not admit you to unless you're in CS or CompEng, even if you're smart enough to take them and have the right prerequisites. Doing one for fun and the other professionally is much more likely, and pretty much everyone here who says that they do both means just that. You might find it easier (and probably more financially rewarding) to have a programming day job and do music for fun. The other consideration is that unless you're exceptionally motivated, you may not want to pursue the hobby some nights after work, and as life gets busier (girlfriend, wife, kids), you won't have nearly as much time or motivation. Music is probably easier to get motivated on as a hobby since what you do can have more impact, whether it's being in a band or making remixes and being able to share them. If you write some code, no one really cares unless you've come up with an idea that they'd actually want to use, which means it either has to be unique or better than competing products - no one needs two password managers, for example. You can't have too much music, though, so even if someone else's song is better, as long as yours is good enough, people will still listen.

Anyone got their copy of the CD yet, or even got a notification that it'd been shipped?