About » Computers
Music was the reason why I got interested in computers.
I bought my first 'proper' computer, an Atari 520 STe (upgraded to 1MB of RAM!) sometime in Nov '92 second hand off a work colleague. (My brother and I had a Commodore 64 in the 80's, but this was used solely for games.) The only purpose of this computer was to help me create music. All it was used for was to run the C-Lab/Emagic Creator MIDI sequencing program. It did this extremely well and almost never crashed! The MIDI timing on this computer was rock solid, it never flinched, which appealed to me as a drummer (where timing is everything!). I also had the C-Lab Unitor 2 & Export MIDI expanders for the Atari that took the separate MIDI ports up to 3 ins & 6 outs.
By 1998 the lure of audio and these new VST plug-ins on a computer had got too much for me, a massive upgrade was in order. It was at this time I had to decide whether to go Windows (95) or Mac (OS 8), for my music making computer. At the time I do seem to remember reading articles (in music tech magazines) about some people having issues with running audio from 2 programs at the same time in Windows 95 and problems with drivers, the registry? All this was a bit a too 'geeky' for me at the time and had very little to do with making music! It also seemed like most artists who I was listening to at the time opted for the Mac. Also, I had an Akai sampler that needed connecting to the new computer via SCSI and the Mac had this interface built in.
Apple Mac G3 - Top right
HP Windows PC - Far left
So in March 1998 I bought an Apple Mac G3/266 mini-tower and a massive (at the time) Mitsubishi 21" CRT monitor, Unitor 8 MIDI interface and AudioWerk 8 audio card. It took a while to adapt to the new music software I'd bought (Logic Audio 3) even though it was made by the same company as that on the Atari, this was because everything was the opposite way around, the arrange page was now scrolling left to right instead of top to bottom for example. But once I'd got used to everything I was amazed by what could be produced with this software and computer.
Because this computer could do a whole lot more than my Atari ever could, I started to get interested in other aspects of computing such as editing photos, DTP, office programs and this 'new' Internet/email 'thing'. So around Christmas '98 I got my first printer, scanner and modem and got connected to the Internet for the first time. I could see immediately the usefulness of the Internet; trying out new software, reading about new products and how other people are using their equipment, email, buying CD's, etc, etc. Information was no longer limited to a monthly magazine!
Apple Mac G4 MDD
This computer served me well but with more CPU hungry plug-ins becoming available for Logic, I realised I was going to need a computer with a bit more 'oomph'. Mac OS X had reached a point where it was a viable option for music production and I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. Apple had also announced that any Mac's built after Jan 1st 2003 wouldn't be able to boot into OS 9. This was a real concern for me as this is what I'd been used to and all my current software was for this OS. (This claim later turned out to be untrue because they continued to sell a OS 9 bootable Mac well into 2004!) So in Dec '02 I bought an Apple Power Mac G4 MDD / 2 x 1.25GHz / 2GB RAM / 2 x 120MB HD and a 22" LCD Cinema Display. I was not disappointed; this thing just flew in either OS 9 or X and the display was simply stunning after using a CRT.
This is the computer I currently enjoy using today and it's the one I've used to create this web site.
Apple Cinema Display
(and iTunes)
I'm really pleased with how well this computer's lasting. It's over 4 years old now and it's showing no signs of being 'over the hill' (OK, a lot of plug-in instruments will bring it to its knees, but when you've a studio full of real synths, this is less of an issue). I never boot into OS 9 these days either, progress eh.
In 2003 I decided to make a huge career change. I had realised for quite a while that I wouldn't be happy doing joinery/cabinet making for the rest of my life and I had finally found a vocation that appealed to me since leaving school. So in September '03 I started a full-time college course to learn more about IT and computing.
Up until my second year at college I had been using Virtual PC on my Mac to run Microsoft Windows XP, while this was fine for less demanding programs, once I started using Visual Studio.NET and trying to build programs, its lack of speed started to frustrate me. There's nothing worse than when the speed of a computer is getting in the way of any sort of creativity, whether it be art, design or development in my opinion.
So in Oct '04 I bought a HP T680 Windows XP PC (2GHz AMD Athlon 64 / 1GB RAM / 250MB HD). I already had my old 21" CRT monitor, which was not being used very much, so it was hooked up to that. This PC was bought entirely for helping me learn all about Windows and help me get through my college course work. It has been a great benefit to me, owning a 'real' PC, rather than using a virtual one on the Mac. You get to learn about the hardware side of things too, which doesn't really exist on a virtual PC because the host is always in charge of the hardware.
The 3 computers above are all networked together via a Netgear switch on a wired 100Mbps Ethernet network. The PC and G4 Mac also have access to broadband Internet and a printer via a separate wireless network.