# Just starting out



## andyhy (Nov 6, 2019)

At the age of almost 71 I may be one of the oldest members of this forum but nevertheless I'm strictly a newbie having only recently started using Reaper and today took the plunge and purchased my first library - SA BBC SO. My studio setup consists of an Acer Nitro 5 mid range laptop (256GB SSD and 1T HD with (shortly) 32GB RAM), Zoom 16 audio interface, Roland Fantom G midi keyboard (edited Win 8 driver works fine Win 10), Roland Fantom XR rack module (for additional audio patches) and a 1T Sabrent Rocket Nano (on order from US) which I hope I can connect to my USB C socket for 1000MB/sec loading. I have played guitar (amateur) for many years. Guitar is Godin LGXT with 3 outputs: electric, acoustic and midi into Roland VG-99 guitar synth. I'm here to learn from others and have found the feedback on the SA BBC SO very informative. Despite the teething problems I've decided to take the plunge as I have confidence that SA will in time sort out the bugs. Having PCs with so many dfferent specs is the challenge but a pattern of how to optimise our PC settings is gradually forming. I am a retired British expat living in the Philippines since 2009.

Update: If anyone is interested I'm nearly 72 now. Still subject to strict lockdown here in the Philippines due to my age so thank goodness I have my music interests to keep me busy. Still enjoying Reaper. My laptop RAM has been increased from 8 to 32 GB, constraining with some libraries, but I've learned how to compensate, and I added a cooling pad, essential imho for laptops as the motherboard slots for the ddr4 cards tended to loosen when it became hot under heavy use which generated RAM errors. Magically these disappeared once the cooling pad was added. A WD external My Passport SSD 1TB and a widescreen monitor have also been added. My libraries now include BBCSO Core, Spitfire Chamber Strings, OT Phoenix Orchestra, LABS, Layers and, from today, Abbey Road One Orchestral Foundations.


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## Willowtree (Nov 6, 2019)

Welcome to the forum, glad to have you.

While I don't own it personally, from what I've heard BBSCO is absolutely perfect for anyone starting out and should last you a long time.

Good luck on your journey.


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## Monkey Man (Nov 6, 2019)

Hey Andy, welcome, mate.

I'd love to come visit you up there (in the cold, southern part of Australia) 'cause the cold kills me, but alas, I don't have the dosh. You lucky bugger, you!


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## Zero&One (Nov 6, 2019)

Welcome!

Nice guitar! You have to mix that in with BBC SO at some point


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## Monkey Man (Nov 6, 2019)

... or he could trigger it from his guitar's MIDI pickup...


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## andyhy (Nov 6, 2019)

Willowtree said:


> Welcome to the forum, glad to have you.
> 
> While I don't own it personally, from what I've heard BBSCO is absolutely perfect for anyone starting out and should last you a long time.
> 
> Good luck on your journey.


Thank you


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## Bluemount Score (Nov 6, 2019)

Welcome to the forum, Andy. There is a huge lifetime gap between us, still I'm gonna say that it's never too late to start out


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## andyhy (Nov 6, 2019)

Bluemount Score said:


> Welcome to the forum, Andy. There is a huge lifetime gap between us, still I'm gonna say that it's never too late to start out


Thank you. I have much to learn.


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## andyhy (Nov 6, 2019)

James H said:


> Welcome!
> 
> Nice guitar! You have to mix that in with BBC SO at some point


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## andyhy (Nov 6, 2019)

Yes that would be interesting to do. As a matter of fact one of the user patches in my guitar synth is based on the sound of classical jazz violinist Jean-Luc Ponty and I have sketched out a composition that could find its way into a piece using the BBC SO. Time and me learning the basics first will tell. I must learn to walk first


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## MWMelis (Nov 7, 2019)

Welcome aboard Andy. That sounds like a great setup you've got going. I am interested in hearing your experience using such a high-caliber library in your (I believe) first foray into virtual instruments.


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## andyhy (Nov 7, 2019)

Thank you. Well we'll have to see. I've not downloaded BBCSO yet. I'm still waiting for a dedicated Sabrent Rocket Nano 1T SSD to arrive from the US first but I thought I'd better take advantage of introductory price. In the meantime I've been optimizing the performance of my new Acer laptop, taking all the Win 10 bloatware off and stopping background apps etc. Running the free XMeters app to measure the improvement. BBCSO is a bit of a gamble for a newbie like me but I like a challenge


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## BassClef (Nov 7, 2019)

Welcome aboard Andy... another old (68) rookie here... only been making VI music for less than a year... have acquired a few VI libraries to work inside Logic... as you said... much to learn here... learned a lot so far in less than 3 months on this forum... but what fun for retired old guys!


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## andyhy (Nov 7, 2019)

Too right  Good to meet you. I'm doing it all on a tighter budget than many VI users but there have opportunities to cut costs like discovering the way to make my aged Fantom G work in Windows 10 by editing the Win 8 driver as Roland have not provided one for Win 10. Makes a perfect midi keyboard. Stops us getting bored


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