From hammond321@yahoo.com Sun Apr 22 12:08:45 2012
Subject:Re: V-Machines that didn't work for me,

What about the Muse Receptor as an option?



________________________________
From: Bruce Wahler
To: CloneWheel@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Sunday, April 22, 2012 1:52 PM
Subject: Re: [CWSG] Re: V-Machines that didn't work for me,



 

Mark,

We're getting way off track here ...

I never said that a laptop isn't viable as a performance tool. A laptop
has pros and cons for music performance, like other options. However, a
gig-ready laptop is not a perfect opportunity that the big PC
manufacturers fail to see -- it's a niche product, appealing to a small
percentage of the laptop market. For now, gigging with a laptop is
something of a 'roll your own' project to get it configured. If nothing
else, one must take the time to remove or disable the unnecessary items
that get bundled with the average consumer laptop, which might affect
on-stage performance.

My vision of a 'gigging laptop' would be a device pre-configured for
musicians' needs -- i.e., not gaming or office productivity -- which
runs nearly all available VSTs without needing a sequencer shell like
Cubase or Cakewalk, can run several of them at once (for multitimbral
performance), and is rugged enough to be accidentally dropped to the
floor in mid-gig. The big computer players aren't interested in that
level of unique product customization and support. The V-Machine was an
attempt to provide such a product, but stumbled under the weight of all
the VST variations and installation issues -- not to mention the
difficulty of balancing the selling cost against the feature set. Maybe
the next product will be better?

And please understand that I'm not a technophobe: I designed desktops
and laptops for three different Fortune 500 companies over a period of
11 years. I still own two desktops and three laptops, not counting the
ones my wife and son own. I think that you have been fortunate to not
have problems with your HDD-based system, if you gig a lot. I can't
speak for the places where you play, but the clubs I work in are chaotic
at times. and things fall over a lot. My son's laptop nearly
disintegrated in four years of normal college use, including two trips
back to HP for repairs. None of my musical gear can lay claim to that
short a life expectancy. That's the main reason why I don't consider
using VSTs in my live rig.

Regards,

-BW

Bruce Wahler
Ashby Solutions.com^(TM)
bw@ashbysolutions.com
http://music.ashbysolutions.com
877.55.ASHBY (877.552.7429)