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Any XP users switching to Windows 7 yet?
Innuendo:
...(musician software wasn't running well on Win7), ...-superboyac (November 08, 2009, 12:46 AM)
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This I can believe especially if you are running older versions of your software as Microsoft totally re-wrote the audio stack for Windows Vista & Win7 just builds upon those changes. You'll probably have to keep dual-booting or upgrade your software to something Win7-aware. And since it's specialized software...that probably won't be cheap.
superboyac:
...(musician software wasn't running well on Win7), ...-superboyac (November 08, 2009, 12:46 AM)
--- End quote ---
This I can believe especially if you are running older versions of your software as Microsoft totally re-wrote the audio stack for Windows Vista & Win7 just builds upon those changes. You'll probably have to keep dual-booting or upgrade your software to something Win7-aware. And since it's specialized software...that probably won't be cheap.
-Innuendo (November 08, 2009, 10:06 AM)
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Yeah, something is definitely not working there. The problem with musician stuff is that it takes soooooo long for them to update anything or keep up with current technology. All the way from their hardware to their software. For example, pretty much nobody sells a PCIe soundcard even though it's been years since the format has been around. and if you find one that does, like you said, get ready to pay big bucks for it. It's one of those industries that is pretty old-school and quirky. It messes with the whole supply and demand balance. All the professionals use expensive hardware instead of software. So not much attention is given to the software. Ugh, it's such a crazy world once you get caught up in all the music studio stuff.
40hz:
Ugh, it's such a crazy world once you get caught up in all the music studio stuff.
-superboyac (November 08, 2009, 02:41 PM)
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Not always.
I had a copy of Gigasampler running very nicely on a dedicated PC. The PC was bought used. I spent a huge amount of time getting Windows tweaked and stripped down as much as possible. Once I did, I loaded and tweaked Giga - and that was i!
I worked beautifully after that because I never changed anything once it was working to my satisfaction. And I've followed that same approach for every other piece of music software I've ever used:
* Set up the OS as cleanly as possible
* Install the app and get it working correctly
* Leave everything strictly alone after that - and just use it.
Think appliance. 8)
That means absolutely NO upgrades or changes to the OS. And as few as possible to the app itself.
Once you stop chasing all those upgrades for features that sound cool on paper but are seldom needed, your music apps tend to work great.
( BTW: I did the same thing with Cubase too! :) )
Just my 2¢
superboyac:
Ugh, it's such a crazy world once you get caught up in all the music studio stuff.
-superboyac (November 08, 2009, 02:41 PM)
--- End quote ---
Not always.
I had a copy of Gigasampler running very nicely on a dedicated PC. The PC was bought used. I spent a huge amount of time getting Windows tweaked and stripped down as much as possible. Once I did, I loaded and tweaked Giga - and that was i!
I worked beautifully after that because I never changed anything once it was working to my satisfaction. And I've followed that same approach for every other piece of music software I've ever used:
* Set up the OS as cleanly as possible
* Install the app and get it working correctly
* Leave everything strictly alone after that - and just use it.
Think appliance. 8)
That means absolutely NO upgrades or changes to the OS. And as few as possible to the app itself.
Once you stop chasing all those upgrades for features that sound cool on paper but are seldom needed, your music apps tend to work great.
( BTW: I did the same thing with Cubase too! :) )
Just my 2¢
-40hz (November 08, 2009, 04:00 PM)
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I think you and I are thinking the same way on this one. So on my laptop, I have XP set up on one of the partitions as a dual boot system. XP will ONLY be used for playing live music. I use Kontakt rather than Gigasampler, and the only real purpose of using a sampler is to use a grand piano sound that is halfway decent. I play through my Roland RD700, which has plenty of pianos on it by itself, but they sound like crap. So, Kontakt wouldn't even start up in Win7, that's why I'm doing all this. Anyway, I got Kontakt set up on XP and it worked really well actually. I was worried it might struggle with the sample piano since it's an old laptop. So now I can use my laptop at live gigs!
Like you, I've also stripped the XP installation of anything that I don't really need. It will only be used to play music live. I will leave it alone now!
If I need to do other things, I can use the Win7 installation. Isn't that great?!
What I meant about the musician stuff being a headache is the whole experience of getting what you want as a hobby/budget musician. Very few serious musicians are going around playing pianos through their computer or anything like that. Most likely, they are using some $xxxx piece of hardware.
40hz:
What I meant about the musician stuff being a headache is the whole experience of getting what you want as a hobby/budget musician. Very few serious musicians are going around playing pianos through their computer or anything like that. Most likely, they are using some $xxxx piece of hardware.
-superboyac (November 08, 2009, 04:14 PM)
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Boy do I hear you. :)
But, I think most aren't doing that because a laptop is generally too unreliable a solution when you're on the road. (Not that I haven't done it.) But it is fraught with a significantly greater degree of risk than traveling with something like a top-of-the-line Kurzeweil/Nord/Korg setup.
In a bar, you can joke your way through ten minutes of computer downtime. On a stage in front of 5,000 fans who each paid $150+ to get in, it gets ugly really fast. ;D
<***OT ramble follows - feel free to skip***>
SpoilerMaybe that's why I've been gradually going over to as low-tech an approach as possible for playing out.
We just heard a terrific little group* last week that was completely acoustic - 2-guitars/string bass/violin/vocals - and a pile of things (cans, hubcaps, wash tub, etc) to bang on. And it worked. They were great. Entertaining even. Amazing what musical talent alone can do.
I used to be a heavy-duty customization and tweak freak. These days, all I use is my instrument, a cord, and an amp.
Oddly enough, I've discovered I can accomplish everything I'm trying to accomplish musically without needing any of the technology I used to lug around.
Friends used to joke that I'd be happiest if my bass had nothing but a volume control. But that was before some companies started coming out with artist signature basses that just had a volume knob so I guess I wasn't the only person thinking along those lines.
I have no intention of scrapping all my electronic toys. They're too damn useful to completely walk away from. But until the software gets to the point where it can be run reliably on a general purpose OS, I'd rather leave my laptop at home.
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*BTW: The band is called Caravan of Thieves ( www.caravanofthieves.com ) in case anyone's interested. They do an odd-ball gypsy swing/cabaret type thing. Funny, slightly sinister lyrics with a lot of visual humor thrown in. Really nice people offstage too! Definitely worth seeing live. :up:
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