KVR :: View topic - simple self contained music making environment

KVR :: Hosts (Sequencers, DAWs, Audio Editors, etc.) » simple self contained music making environment [View Original Topic]
There are 20 posts in this topic.

sazb30 - Sat Apr 21, 2012 10:38 am

hi all,

I need to install something on my parents' PC (single core, fairly old - the PC that is!) so that I can work on a few songs while I'm up here. I need some advice on a small and simple CPU-light self contained environment. I just want to be able to plug in my little midi keyboard and get a few ideas down. There needs to be a few sounds in there and some capacity for simple arranging. What are my options?

thanks for any help!

dgkenney - Sat Apr 21, 2012 10:42 am

I'll hate myself in the morning for saying this...

But Reaper installed on a usb thumb drive seems a possibility

Dan

normal - Sat Apr 21, 2012 10:43 am

sazb30 wrote:

sarah !...
nice to see you again !...

sazb30 - Sat Apr 21, 2012 10:47 am

normal wrote:

sarah !...
nice to see you again !...

hey norm... nice to see you too Smile

hope all's well!

dgkenney - thanks for the suggestion but a fully fledged DAW is way more than I need

Meffy - Sat Apr 21, 2012 10:52 am

And older version of Reason?

bpblog - Sat Apr 21, 2012 11:13 am

also try MuLab - there's a free version, which comes with plenty off great presets. you can also build you own synths and effects in it.

http://www.mutools.com/mulab-downloads.html

tehlord - Sat Apr 21, 2012 11:21 am

Sarah!

Reaper or Reason would be good choices, and there's a ton of free stuff you can download to add to Reaper as well.

Hope family life is treating you well!

braj - Sat Apr 21, 2012 11:31 am

I don't know how well it will run exactly, but Studio One Free runs really well on my old laptop. Reaper will be probably lighter but won't be so simple. Reason you have to own first, don't know if you do. For something really light that has built-in sounds but can also host VSTs, try tunafish:

http://www.brambos.com/archive.html

It runs well on my son's netbook which is pretty underpowered.

sazb30 - Sat Apr 21, 2012 11:57 am

thanks for the suggestions guys. I'm actually just installing studio one v2 pro, which I already own a license for to see how it runs on this PC. It is overkill really for what I want to do, but it has some decent included content (which I can just install a small part of for basic sounds) and I'm already familiar with it and don't have to spend any money so may as well give it a shot.

If it's too taxing for this old dinosaur, I'll try some of your other suggestions.

thanks all, and nice to be back Very Happy

Kriminal - Sat Apr 21, 2012 12:09 pm

sounds like Reason is the man for the job

artificial - Sat Apr 21, 2012 1:28 pm

maybe you could also try rax n trax... or maybe darkwave studio... Smile

rtkeeling - Sat Apr 21, 2012 2:28 pm

You might try the SunVox tracker. It's free (except for iOS and Android versions) and runs on just about every platform there is. It supports MIDI in for your keyboard and has it's own synths and effects (doesn't do VST(i) though). It exports to WAV and MIDI and runs very light too.

http://www.warmplace.ru/soft/sunvox/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SunVox

Roy

LawrenceF - Sat Apr 21, 2012 5:46 pm

dgkenney wrote:

I'll hate myself in the morning for saying this...

Dan

Kinda like squeezing out a kidney stone huh?

allofdrab - Sun Apr 22, 2012 5:17 am

rtkeeling wrote:

terrynoakes - Sun Apr 22, 2012 5:41 am

Dare I suggest Tracktion 2, if its still available, stay away from Tracktion 3 though.
http://www.zzounds.com/item--MACTRACKTION2

filkertom - Sun Apr 22, 2012 5:51 am

There's also Ableton Live Lite 8, which is free if you're a Soundcloud member.

spaceman - Sun Apr 22, 2012 6:29 am

Orion should work pretty decently. You get tons of synths and effects and what not.

MuLab has already been mentioned and Podium Free is really cool as well.

LawrenceF - Sun Apr 22, 2012 8:43 am

Might as well toss Acid Express into the ring.

http://www.acidplanet.com/downloads/xpress/

Mechanought - Mon Apr 23, 2012 12:46 am

Renoise!

http://www.renoise.com/

sazb30 - Mon Apr 23, 2012 3:21 am

thanks for all the ideas! so far though, Studio One is running just fine. I'm just using the piano and some basic drums and it's doing the job nicely. Cheers all Smile

There are 20 posts in this topic.