Advice on avoiding common pitfalls?

[Jahmbo]

I'm taking the plunge into home recording, just as a noodling hobby, not going to get outrageous.

I'm going to be running CuBase VST 32, that much I have decided on, mostly through word of mouth and product demos and the opinions of some people whose opinions I value.

I'm thinking of the MotU 2408 as the hardware starting point with a Line6 Pod Pro for amp/cab modelling and a Boss GT-6 for effects loop. All recording/mixing will be done on hard disk at first using just the software but I will add in an outboard mixer at a later point along with some sort of arranger/composer workstation like the Korg Triton.

First: do I need a drum machine or will CuBase/Triton handle all those duties without grief?

Second: PC Specs, currently Piii 933 on an intel 815 chipset with 512 MB, hasn't got scsi in it yet but it will have, probably an Adaptec 2940 family controller, and I have some old MicroPolis A/V 4 Gig drives from a previous video project, fast, no thermal recalibration etc so they should handle the I/O pretty efficiently.

What are the major thigns I should be watching for as I deploy this setup? As a new CuBase user what are the most common 'newbie' mistakes I am likely to make?

I want to thank everyone in these forums, I have been lurking for a while and have found your posts to be informative and sometimes downright entertaining.

Cheers,
Jahmbo

 

[laj35]

Welcome to the board and home rec. in general. I'm not nearly as wise as some of the chaps around here but one thing I foolishly did when I first started out w/ Cubase was not organize files properly. By files I'm referring to song files and audio files. It's important to properly name each file and delete unused files. I've found that enabling the confirm record helps to cut down on the excess, unusable audio files that just take up space on your hard drive. Keep everything in a nice neat folder and always organize. It's also a good idea to defragment your hard drive every few days. I'm sure you'll get some other really helpful tips from the more pro type dudes out there but those few things really help to keep everything smooth.


Laj