From djacques@csulb.edu Fri Jan 17 08:43:45 2003
Subject:RE: Building a stable soft synth PC (was - RE: B4 users...)
Good points. I specify automated controllers of theatrical lighting
systems as part of my professional work. Over the past 10 years several
companies have introduced software control systems that enable you to
run your lighting system from a PC. This is to offer an inexpensive
option to those companies who cannot afford a dedicated lighting control
console (which can run up to $30,000!).
However, experience has shown that these inexpensive software lighting
packages have a tendency to crash at the most inopportune time. An
opening night of a show I was designing was ruined as one of these
programs crashed THREE TIMES! Yes, we took all the precautions including
emptying the computer of all programs except the essential ones for the
operating system, power backups and conditioners, clean installs of the
operating system, etc. etc. etc...
The smallest thing can crash Windows, XP included. I run three personal
machines with XP and two dozen more in our student lab. Believe me, I
know. The PC is designed to do many things, and incompatibilities are
inevitable. That is why I recommend that my clients purchase a dedicated
computer lighting console where the hardware is designed specifically
for one purpose.
Have I had to reboot my clone? Of course... But, that only takes a few
seconds. Try doing that on a PC when in the middle of playing Green
Onions you get the dreaded "This program has failed to respond" message.
-----Original Message-----
From: Deke The Geek [mailto:deke@dekethegeek.com]
Sent: Friday, January 17, 2003 8:27 AM
To: CloneWheel@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Building a stable soft synth PC (was - RE: [CWSG] B4 users...)
<
death"
appearing in the middle of my set... "Ladies and Gentlemen, please
excuse me for three minutes as I have to restart my computer...">>
Well, as a friend of mine (who was until recently pretty anti-M$) on
another list is fond of saying... Although they have had their ups and
downs, I think M$ got it right on this one (speaking of XP). I have a
little more experience fixing PC's than most people I know, so I am not
as easily tempted by saying something like "this M$ crap sucks...". In
point of fact I use most flavors of Linux from time to time, and I still
prefer using XP as my main OS, with 2000 Pro on the laptop for lower
overhead.
Something that a lot of people don't take into consideration before
writing off Windows is the fact that there are soooooo many different
types and flavors of hardware out there to install Windows on. Compare
that to the Mac scenario... they have only a finite number of products
and platforms to support. From a stability standpoint this makes things
tremendously easier for Apple, and quite a bit tougher for M$, but
despite these hurdles Windows is still the number 1 OS in existence.
Also, we (musicians) are attempting to get low latency and lightning
fast performance out of our computers in order to run soft-synths like
B4, EVB3, etc.
One of the biggest mistakes I see people making is trying to use an
existing install of Windows for their music production, or even for
gaming or desktop use. It's like a car... you can't just go buy a Camaro
and expect to run with the big boys on the NASCAR circuit... it just
won't happen. The reason is that the car (or PC in our example) was
built with a specific purpose in mind, and it does that job well enough
for the average consumer, but we need to set it up specifically for our
special purposes. In my next message I will go through a checklist of
things to do to make sure it will work well...
Deke The Geek
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