Getting Your Computer Ready For Recording - Home Recording With A PC or Mac - Set Up Your Computer For Recording

Most any computer built in the last few years is perfect for recording! Whether it's a PC or a Mac, you've probably got a powerful computer ready to go for your home studio. Taking the time to prepare it for recording will help you immensely down the road in terms of performance (and, as a result of smooth operations, save you plenty of time in frustration!).

Step One: Your Recording Hard Drives
One of the first things you should consider getting for your recording computer is your hard drives. If you've got the resources to do so, I highly recommend a second hard drive -- internal or external -- to use ONLY as a recording drive. This hard drive should do nothing more than store your recording files, which are worked on within the drive. The faster the better -- a 5400 RPM drive is highly recommended -- and Firewire generally works best for external drives. External makes it easy to transport to other studios when doing work elsewhere. Look for at least 150 GB storage capacity -- more if you can find it!

Step 2: Max Out Your RAM
It's no secret that the more RAM you have, the better your computer runs. The difference between 512MB of RAM and 2 GB of RAM on a recording machine is staggering -- everything will run faster, you'll be able to run more recording plug-ins and effects, and you'll be able to work in a multi-track environment without issues. If you're running a PC, at least 1 GB is recommended; for Macs, especially the new Intel Macs, 2 GB minimum is the standard. And don't skimp on the quality of the RAM you buy; the higher quality chips do have a slight performance advantage over the cheap ones.
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Step 3: On a PC? Shut Off Unnecessary Services
Mac OS has long been the favorite of recording engineers because of it's underlying stability, especially the UNIX-like backbone. However, if you're stuck running Windows, there's still hope!If you must run an anti-virus software, choose a lightweight one that doesn't constantly run in the background. Also, disable all background and taskbar services that aren't 100% necessary. Visual effects, the background image, system sounds, and other aesthetic options are resource hogs you can do without, too.

Step 4: On a Mac? Disable Dashboard & Widgets
One of the coolest parts of Mac OS is the Dashboard application and the associated Widgets. As much as it hurts to say this, Dashboard is a resource hog that you don't need active when recording. Sorry, Steve Jobs.Drop into your Terminal application (it's in Utilities), and type the following: defaults write com.apple.dashboard mcx-disabled -boolean YES followed by killall Dock. Your Widgets aren't lost forever; you can reactivate them in Terminal by typing defaults write com.apple.dashboard mcx-disabled -boolean NO along with the killall Dock command.

Step 5: Keep Your Software Current, But Be Careful
Always running the most up-to-date version of your recording software is a great idea, but it's not always recommended. Some recent updates of major recording softwares aren't 100% stable, and it's sometimes a good idea to stay a step or two behind (by staying with a stable release) than the current release update (which may be in "Beta" or experimental). If you notice your performance decreasing after an update, or notice certain plug-ins you've come to rely on no longer function properly, don't be afraid to "downgrade" to the most stable release. A good example of this is internet browsers or operating systems, especialy on PC. Most folks "in the know" dont rush out and download the latest release of Firefox or IE because they know the bugs have yet to be worked out. I run a simple Garageband like program for windows called Mixcraft that is on build 41 of its third releses, most of this is do to bugs although its safe to say once a product has been out for a bit the more craks and codes become available. Bottom line is close all programs not nessasary to the task at hand. Scan your drives for spyware frequently as programs like gator can leach tons of processing power and really gum up your system. If you turn off your Spyware, Firewalls, or anti virus protection, its a good idea to disconet from your LAN while your recording, only if you have dsl , cable, or anything that leaves your system online.