# Possible to Create Music with Old System?



## VGA (Jul 16, 2018)

Hello everyone. I have been playing with the idea of recording some music. I'm trying to figure out if it is even possible to do what I want with the "setup" (if you can call it that) that I have.

Maybe it is unavoidable, but I want to avoid spending any money upfront on this, unless I can actually record music of a licenseable quality (even if it is just on RF sites), and use the proceeds to get some real upgrades to what I have.

I've previously only recorded (maybe 8 years ago) with Cubase 3, but I did not know anything about virtual instruments at the time. I literally used a webcam microphone, put it in front of my guitar amp and on top of my keyboard, and recorded that way. I was happy with the songs, but the recording quality was awful (as you might imagine). Looking to do another run at it, but with quality in mind.

So now, to my main question to you experienced folks. Everything I read about using VSTs seems to require a decent amount of RAM. I have an old Toshiba Laptop with 512 MB RAM and Windows XP (probably close to 15 years old). I have downloaded the trial of Reaper, and some free virtual instruments/samples to play around with. For example, I have been able to make MT Power Drums work for a simple beat, with a simple free bass VST over it. Will it even be possible for me to make tracks much more complex than this if I keep using virtual instruments, or am I better off splurging $100 on an audio interface, so I can at least record real guitar and keyboards into it?

I am also seeing the limitations of these free virtual instruments. Seems to be from my research that Kontakt might be a way to go, but I am currently trying to track down where I might be able to get version 5.2, which is the last one that works with Windows XP - is this something even worth trying to find?

I have the music in my head, but do not have the spare cash for a new computer.


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## MarcelM (Jul 16, 2018)

you better get a better used laptop or pc. use the onboard sound for a while and safe up for some cheap audio interface like the ur22 from steinberg (used for around 50 bucks).

you can find for sure a laptop for like 100-150 bucks which would be quite alot better than the one you have at the moment.


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## fretti (Jul 16, 2018)

Honestly: I don't even know if Kontakt 5 will work with that kind of system (or how fast it'll be);
But I guess theres only one way to find out right?!
You can find and try it here (have to be logged in though I think):
https://www.native-instruments.com/en/support/downloads/update-manager/?q=kontakt&t=updates

But that's only the Kontakt Player, wich has a few instruments with the Kontakt Factory Selection to try it out, but all freebies that are around on the internet won't work (/only for 15 minutes) as they require the Full Kontakt Version


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## Jeremy Spencer (Jul 16, 2018)

VGA said:


> unless I can actually record music of a licenseable quality



With your system specs, I highly doubt it. 15 years ago, no problem. Today's licensing market is usually higher quality recordings, which means you would need to invest in some good VI libraries. And in turn, a decent computer to run them. I don't think you could do really anything 512 MB RAM, including audio recordings. You're better off saving up for a system that has an absolute minimum 16 GB RAM, along with a few good libraries.


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## Wally Garten (Jul 16, 2018)

Well, you could definitely record and edit music on your computer (I started out on a 2005-ish Mac laptop), so your idea of buying an interface and playing guitar into it is at least plausible. But I think you might run into problems with drivers, etc., which might all have been updated to work with more current operating systems.

Another possibility, of course, is you could buy a good quality recorder, like this Zoom for $160, record your guitar and keys in real time, then upload to your computer at your leisure for editing. Lotta synth players trying to get "out of the box" do it this way. If you're a good live player (or your keyboards have useful sequencers), that might be a workable solution until you can afford a better laptop.


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## Jeremy Spencer (Jul 16, 2018)

Wally Garten said:


> you could definitely record and edit music on your computer



With 512 MB Ram?


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## Wally Garten (Jul 16, 2018)

Wolfie2112 said:


> With 512 MB Ram?



Not saying it's ideal. But as I said, I started out on a 2005-era white Macbook, which had similar specs, if Google is to be believed. Especially if you're recording to a field recorder first, and just using a simple DAW to put it together, add effects, maybe a few samples... I dunno. Seems possible.


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## Andrew Goodwin (Jul 16, 2018)

I started out on a mac laptop from 2006, though painstaking I was able to make music. If you're into it, make whatever you can, develop work arounds until you can upgrade. I couldn't run kontakt initially so I stitched together live string samples. You can also render things down so you'd only have to have 1 instance of kontakt/sample library running at a time, not pretty but you can make music


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## Wally Garten (Jul 16, 2018)

Right. And let me put it this way -- I think OP could get better quality than this:



VGA said:


> I literally used a webcam microphone, put it in front of my guitar amp and on top of my keyboard, and recorded that way. I was happy with the songs, but the recording quality was awful (as you might imagine).



Wolfie's point about needing higher-quality recording to license music is well-taken. But at the very least, I'm guessing OP could get some tracks down and start learning to edit and mix, maybe put together a demo that would lead to other things.


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## Tyll (Jul 16, 2018)

As stated above, people have been making music on computers for a few decades now so your system isn't even close to the worst someone has been using to make great music.

This is a nerd's board with many people being used to make music on high end computers for several hours a day. And most of those people will have their expensive systems for a good reason. 

This however, does not mean that you can't make great music on a much lower budget/worse computer. You just need to do adapt way more, which might (=definitely will) cost time instead and might also require some more knowledge at this point as you'll want to learn how to use your limited resources efficiently.

Whether or not it's worth to spend some $$ or not - you can find out by just giving it a go with your current computer and see how far you can get.


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## Jeremy Spencer (Jul 16, 2018)

For sure you can make music....as I did with my 486sx with only 2mb Ram in 1992; but I was sequencing within Cakewalk and recording the audio that was outputted from the external synths (onto reels and ADAT). However, I'm skeptical one could import raw audio files and render them with half a gig of Ram. If you can, then all the power to you. You would also need a soundcard with quality drivers as opposed to onboard sound. Perhaps Reaper has some decent VST plugins that will run on these specs?


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## DavidY (Jul 16, 2018)

As someone who is quite risk-averse I'd say Windows XP really isn't secure these days, so I would be looking to get off that. I'm in the "save up for a new(er) computer" camp.


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## Saxer (Jul 16, 2018)

Try getting the software "Reason" version 1 or 2. The today version is 10 but that needs a modern computer. The old versions might work for simple arrangements. It doesn't do audio, it's for the internal instruments only (own format, not VST). But it can sound quite good. I did some chillout tracks on a G3 Macbook back then...


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## VGA (Jul 17, 2018)

Wow, thank you everyone for such quick responses to this. I really appreciate the analysis of my situation by people who are much more expert than I am. Ideally, I will try and save up for a modern computer and go from there, but for now I will satisfy my needs by taking some of the advice offered here, using what I have.

I think there is some good sense in learning how to make something more basic work. I'm going to try to reach down Reason 1 or 2 (would 2.5 work?). I've searched online and people have made some interesting stuff with those early versions - inspiring!

I'm at a point in my life where in order to preserve sanity, I need to slice out a chunk of time every day to try and create the music in me. Time, of course is another piece of the puzzle that's up to me to figure out. 

Again, I am very thankful for the responses provided here. I will post back once I have a working solution in place, for some closure.


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