2. Your setup
If you think you need to head to the bank right now and take out a big loan, you’re in luck. In this particular guide, I’m aiming to show that you don’t need much more than a decent computer and few tools (both hardware and software) that’ll help you get started with creating beats. The first most important (and obvious) component is a computer.
Computer
Minimum requirements:
(Note: if you can’t identify these specifications, call the maker or manufacturer of your computer)
Intel or AMD processor @ 1GHz
512 MB RAM
Microsoft 2000/XP or newer
Sound card
USB ports
The rest is pretty obvious: keyboard/mouse, monitor, and speakers. The faster your computer, the better performance you’ll receive. Unfortunately, many PC users suffer from something called latency which can cause a lot of grief when recording music. Latency, in music, is the delay between the time a note is played to when it’s actually heard through the speaker. For example, when a note is triggered from a MIDI controller, it goes through the MIDI cable to the computer, through the AD/DA converters on the sound card, and out the speakers. The time it takes to complete that process, even if just a few milliseconds, can cause your beat to go terribly off-time. The best way to combat this is by going with a faster computer with at least a 1GHz processor, 512MB of RAM and more importantly, a better sound card. Having a better sound card can make a world of a difference, especially if you’re experiencing a lot of latency with your setup. M-Audio and E-MU both make sound cards (or audio interfaces) tailored toward computer producers in the $100 range that should provide more than enough to start off with. The M-Audio 2496 and the E-MU 0404 are both cards that beat makers can benefit from and won’t break the wallet. I personally use the E-MU 0404 and find it more than sufficient with my setup. It provides two ¼” audio-ins and two ¼” audio-outs as well as a MIDI-in and MIDI-out. While it doesn’t provide the headroom of having 8-ins, it’s still a great card for its price.