Recording On-The-Go

[lamatek]

I recently purchased an iBook G3 600 MHz and am looking to record live gigs. I am considering purchasing a MOTU 828 Firewire interface and using their AudioDesk multi-track software to accomplish this goal.

Any good/bad comments regarding these options? I currently record at home using an Echo GINA card and CoolEdit and am looking for a similar (not necessarily the same) type of environment for portable recording. I won't be mixing tracks between the two, though.

Many thanks.

[hypedave]

Ibook and the motu 828 sounds like the setup a sweetwater sales peson helped me configure, so I guess we cant go wrong, lol

[Scott Gould]

Sounds like you're set to go, with one exception. If you're going to be recording more than a couple of tracks at a time, you really need a dedicated audio drive (to keep the OS & background tasks from 'grabbing' the HD head while recording), you need all the bandwidth you can get for multi-channel simultaneous audio. I use a Firewire drive (from OWC) with a sustained transfer rate of about 30MB/sec. with my iBook/828 set-up. Don't forget to run a 'lean' system (i.e. remove all extensions, control panels, automated tasks, etc. that don't relate directly to recording) and de-frag your audio drive often so it isn't hunting for blocks of space all over the drive .
Scott

[hypedave]

well my current setup includes

ibook w/cdr G3 600
Motu 828
Motu MIDI Express xt - USB
Glyph M-Project wich houses a 40gb hardrive
( hard drive sounds likes it a western digital or
a quantum ) lol

Cubase 5 VST/32
Rackmount bag with a sholder strap

now I have to purchase a Furman Power Filter and Audio Patchbay,. so I dont have to crawl in the bag to plug cables up , some plugins. and maybe Propellarheads reason and Rebirth to take the place of my dream Korg Triton rack

[lamatek]

Thanks a bunch for the replies.

I've gone ahead and ordered the MOTU 828. It should be here early next week. My next live show is in 2 weeks, so expect to hear back from me with a bunch of questions like...

"How the hell did ..... happen"
"How do I make it stop doing...."
"Am I stupid or is this thing...."

All the classics.

Thanks.

[hypedave]

"How the hell did ..... happen"
"How do I make it stop doing...."
"Am I stupid or is this thing...."

i'll be joining you with those questions, lol