16 Jan
2006
16 Jan
'06
7:38 a.m.
Hello!
I'm not quite shure, if this belongs here, or to the LAU list, but I am
subscribed here, so this is why I post it here. First, let me explain:
I'm in an urgent need for a notebook, as I am a university student
(from Slovakia) working as a part time PHP programmer and playing in a
(prog)rock band. I don't have much money I can spend on that book and I
need it now, so I am considering buying a refurbished IBM ThinkPad 600X
(PIII/450MHz, 128 or 256 MB RAM, 12 GB HDD). I'm not very demanding,
but I would be very glad, if I could use it for performing music on
stage. In the beginning maybe only playing a bit with PD and playing
samples and loops.
for samples and loops with something like pd, that setup should be fine,
but if you want to start using more synthesis you'll probably need
something with a little more power.
thinkpads are good laptops for live use, as they are pretty robust and
reliable. funnily enough, I've found the little light they put on the lid
to be essential for gigs, for when you need to see the keyboard :)
I had an idea (this is why I'm writing) to buy
later
a better desktop PC (with a good audio interface; maybe with a
rack-mount case) which would be running some audio apps (Jack,
softsynths, sequencer, ...) and could be controlled on stage via MIDI
and/or from the notebook using VNC (or NX) or MIDI. Or do you have any
suggestion, what could work better with lower latencies? Or is this
idea foolish as a whole?
I've known a few people to use this technique - even across different
operating systems. Personally, I'd try and use osc for this sort of thing,
but not everything supports that yet.
cheers,
dave