You'll need a decent to good quality soundcard, preferably with ASIO type drivers. Otherwise you will notice latency, or delay between the time you press a note or use a pitch wheel and the time you actually hear it. Even a Soundblaster is ok, if it has updated kx drivers, or you use the freeware ASIO4all, which pretty much makes any soundcard ASIO compliant. There is a link to Asio4all on the main SZ page BTW.

For now, if you are using a lesser soundcard, try ASIO4all and see if that eliminates the sticky note problem.

You'll need a host. If you just want to try out one softsynth, with no added vst effects, try Tobybear's freeware Simple VST Host, available at KVR audio. It works fine. Otherwise, you'll need a soft sequencer / daw ( Sonar, Cubase, FL studio, edtc ) or a standalone app like Xlutop chainer ( approx 49 Usd ) or Brainspawn Forte. There are even a few freeware daws out there that now support multiple Vst instruments and effects.

Does this stuff tie me to the computer ? Absolutely. Does it hamper my music making ability ? Only if I let it. Often I used to start a piece out on hardware, but the finished product would go to software if I thought it would be sonically better ( usually it is ). But... using a simple app like Chainer has freed up so much of the technical workings for me, that it feels like I'm playing a real instrument again. My laptop is simply another module now, and I use Chainer to host the instruments. I keep all of my Vst instruments and effects on the laptop, but I generally use no other daw software on it, except that I keep One Man Band on it for live work and Adobe Audition on it so that I can make it a portable daw for recording away from the home studio. I also kept FL studio on it in case I want to make quick beats away from home.

All of the daws and actual software programs ( Band in a Box, FL Studio, Sonar, jammer pro etc ) now reside and are primarily used on my PC, and I connect the laptop output to the PC's daws by going right through my hardware mixer, just like all of my hardware instruments do.

AJ



[This message has been edited by Bluezplayer (edited 03-17-2005).]