My first home studio

[LemonTree]

Hi everyone. After over a year of frustration only being able to record two tracks at a time on a soundblaster sound card and having to program drum loops instead of recording live drums I've splashed out on the foundations of a new home studio.

The computer I already owned, an Athlon XP 1.8GHz with 512Meg of DDRram with a 40Gig hard drive (still about 25Gig on there to use up)

I've bought an Allen & Heath GS1 16/8/2 and an M-Audio Delta 1010. I've been Using Cool Edit Pro for recording my tracks in and doing my mixing on Cubase. I've got a stack of plugins, but don't have any outboard effects. I'm wondering what should be first on my list. I was thinking a quad gate would be a good start as I'll be recording live drums from now on.

Any tips on

a) what kind of gate to buy

b) any info on the GS1 would be greatly appreciated

c) anyone know if Nady drum mics are any good?

Thanks, I look forward to a long and healthy relationship with homerecording.com,

Alec.

[TexRoadkill]

a. Gates are mainly used for live rigs. The gates in Cubase would actually be more accurate than any hardware gates (software gates can cheat and look ahead).

b.nope, sorry.

c. Nady bites, sorry. Stick to SM57's on snare and toms. There are a lot of choices for good kick and OH mics.

[Stealthtech]

Ditto Lemon.
And the only thing I will add is it would be a good idea to take the $$ you dont spend on a gate and add a second Hard Drive

[PeteHalo]

Or for a second display. Nothing beats dual monitors, not even a single bigger one.

[Rodeo]

This might seem like a stupid question (which means it is I guess) but what's the deal with dual monitors? Does the mouse just "jump" across from one screen to the other when you push it over the edge???

[LemonTree]

but I don't see how a bigger hard drive or a second monitor is gonna improve the sound of what I'm recording. Sure, if I dumped this 19" Proview monster and bought a nice flatscreen number there might be more room to throw the odd windmill in here and there while recording guitar parts. I'm just looking to do the best job with the tools I have for now.

I'd like to hear from anyone that uses a GS1 for recording.

Thanks again,

Alec.

[PeteHalo]

Dual monitors make it easier at least in Cubase 5 to work with all those open windows on the desktop. It's pretty nice to have the mixer windows in on one screen and the track views on the other. People are giving away old 15" monitors and display cards for practically free and it will be the best inverstment you can make to make your work easier.

Rodeo: The mouse moves from one screen to the other when you push it over the edge. When you maximize a window it fills the screen its on.

[Stealthtech]

Originally posted by LemonTree
but I don't see how a bigger hard drive or a second monitor is gonna improve the sound of what I'm recording. Sure, if I dumped this 19" Proview monster and bought a nice flatscreen number there might be more room to throw the odd windmill in here and there while recording guitar parts. I'm just looking to do the best job with the tools I have for now.

I'd like to hear from anyone that uses a GS1 for recording.

Thanks again,

Alec.

None of the above are really needed, but a second HD dedicated to audio is pretty much a standard now. No digging for your files, not getting mixed in with the 78,000 files within windows and programs....nothing but audio.

[LemonTree]

So if I instal a second drive do I have my cool edit and Cubase on that drive too? Or do I have it as only a storage/retrieval system for the audio tracks I'm working with?

My plan was to build another computer from the bits and bobs I have laying around for the net, etc, and use this one with just windows installed in a C partition with my music programs in the D partition and that still leaves me 30Gig in the E partition for my audio files.

So do I or don't I need a second drive? Or do I actualy need another drive in this system plus a full other computer for all my other non music related stuff?

Baffled now

[PeteHalo]

I just switched from win98 to win2000 and now I have one hardware profile dedicated for music in which I disbled all unneccessary peripheralds and background processes. When the computer starts it asks for which hardware profile to use and I hace 10 secs to decide. The default is the normal all enabled but if I'm going to use Cubase I choose the other one.

[Stealthtech]

Originally posted by LemonTree
So if I instal a second drive do I have my cool edit and Cubase on that drive too? Or do I have it as only a storage/retrieval system for the audio tracks I'm working with?

My plan was to build another computer from the bits and bobs I have laying around for the net, etc, and use this one with just windows installed in a C partition with my music programs in the D partition and that still leaves me 30Gig in the E partition for my audio files.

So do I or don't I need a second drive? Or do I actualy need another drive in this system plus a full other computer for all my other non music related stuff?

Baffled now

Suggestion...
Your Primary Drive [C:] Use for your everyday use.
Your Partition [D:] Needs an OS to operate and install only your audio apps.
A 2nd HD for Audio Only

In other words, you can set up your Primary HD as a dual boot with 2 OS's, and use the other drive for audio only.

If you build a new system for recording only...no need to partition or dual boot, but still use a second HD for audio only.

[Tonio]

What up Lemon,
About your A&H GS1, I don't have one myself nor do I have experience with it, what did you want to know? Someone should be able to help ya

Tony