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How to Network
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2.
You can assign specific uses for the second machine. You can put all your
non-music applications on it, like word processors, graphics programs, internet
software and games so as not to compromise you main music making machine.
The purists out there will tell you that games, internet browsers and other applications
will erode your sequencer's musical performance. I personally do not subscribe
to that view, but I am certain it has some effect.
 With a simple under $100 device you can connect all your computers wirelessly to a your own home WI-FI network Mac Networking items  |
6. You can run a second audio program like ACID, another sequencer, a software multitrack or alogrithmic sequencer from the second computer and sync it to your main machine with MIDI time code. This does not require a network connection, but a midi connection. But if you do this you'll end up slappin' files back and forth before you know it.
7. You can use the second computer as a waveform editor while your main computer runs the sequencer. Don't yawn. Ever try to add a little compression to a 15 minute song? Ever burn a cdr and sit for 35 minutes staring dumbly at the screen. You can reclaim that lost time by offloading the task to the second computer.
8. You can network a Mac to a PC. It's not as hard as it used to be. You can network via ethernet, firewire, or WIFI. WIFI has the advantage of connecting wirelessly. Printers, computers, HDTVs, shared drives, backup solutions can all be on the same network.
9. Some sequencers are made for
setting up networks. The most simple is ACID by Sony Pictures. Acid
can read loops off of a network drive quite well. A more complex example is
Cubase SX. It has a feature called system link which allows you to
chain up different computers to the same project. The idea here is to have
several people working on a song at once. Logic has a sub-application
called Logic Node which allows you to run Logic instruments on a 2nd machine.
9. Saved to coolest for last. Put that old Pentium 200 to work by installing it in the living room next to your TV/ stereo systems. Yep, play your wave file masters for friends, potential lovers, your dog, whoever will listen as you entertain them in your living room. "This is coming direct from my studio's hard drives". Won't they be impressed! Especially effective with potential lovers. They will be amazed at your technological expertise, and you will send all the guys with the tired "wanna hear my CD?" line back to the minors. LOL!
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How to set up a Local Area Network (LAN)
It's really very simple. If you are able to understand how MIDI connects Synths, you will not have a problem understanding how a LAN works. Don't let the jargon scare you off. A LAN (or Local Area Network) is a protocol that allows two or more computers to share their hard drives and the data on them. It's similar to the way a modem can connect two computers, but its much faster than any modem. You can, for example, transfer a typical 50 meg wav file of a 3 minute song in just a few seconds from computer to computer. Look for a complete solution at your local computer superstore. The old school package will include 1) A Hub 2) At least two NICs (Network Interface Cards) 3) Cables. The newer WiFi approach just requires a base station and access points on the machines you want to connect.
You can find solutions like this for under $100. I use the D-Link DE-906 which cost me about $70 bucks and came with everything. If building from scratch you want to use a 10/ 100 Base-T system. You don't have to understand what that means, just make sure it says it on the box. For WI-FI systems, you want to make sure all your stuff is compatible with the protocol used. The current one of this writing is called 802.11.n.
The "hub" is the center of the network. It's just a little box that routes the data to and from the computers on the network reliably. With a typical consumer hub you can connect 5 computers or more. Plenty for a studio and you can even run a line upstairs to the bedroom if you want so you can play audio files as you sweet-talk the significant other. You can network all the computers in your house if you want and access all of them from any one of them.
Step one: (Old) Install the NIC Cards. These fit into the PCI slots inside your computers. No brainer. Just like any other PCI card you ever inserted. (New) Install USB wireless access points into standard USB slots
Step two: (Old way) Connect the cables from the NIC Card to the Hub. The cable ends look like telephone plugs but are slightly larger. Plug 'em in just like you would a telephone. Even guitarists will not have trouble here. (New) Plug the Cat 5 cable into the wireless base station
Step Three: Install the software. Its typically all plug 'N Play hardware, so Windows will automatically sense it and ask for disks. Of course, this is not supposed to be hard, though as we know, sometimes PNP does not work as advertised. It's easier than installing a soundcard, and way easier than SCSI. Recently there are new USB systems which are bound to be easier.
Step Four: Designate which folders (or drives) are to be shared between computers. Simple as any file operation. Just right click the folder, look for the menu called "sharing" and click it on. See the notes on security below.
Step Five: Get an audio switchbox so you can route audio from the soundcard on each machine to your recording devices like DATs, cassette decks, an your mixing board. You do want to be able to record your audio into other machines in your studio.
Step Six: Use the MIDI Out on the second machine
and route it to the MIDI IN of your main Machine. This will allow you to run
midi programs on both machines and keep them in sync with your main computer.
This allows you to use MIDI TIME Code (MTC) or MIDI Clock Sync to keep the systems
playing to the same beat.
A Note on Security of your Files
Ok, as I said above, once a folder is designated as shared, any computer on the network can access it's contents. Here's the security problem. If you use a cable modem or DSL to access the internet, you need to take caution. by connecting to these services you are actually part of a much bigger network, and particularly in the case of cable modems, your neighbors are on the network with you. You don't want to give read write access to the entire internet. Under sharing you can, it's true, restrict access to specific users that know the password, can make the folder "read only" or make it globally accessible. But this is not enough protection. Its a grand idea for anyone with an 'always on' net connection to invest in firewall software or hardware. (There are some shareware and freeware firewalls out there for download). This is like installing an alarm system to your studio as well as locking the doors when you leave.
For Wireless networks, you might be surprised how far the signal travels. Want to know why there are cars parked in front of your house? Some people may be "borrowing" your connectivity. Always put a password on your network connection.
So, by keeping your shared directories on your side of the firewall, you can access your personal network, but others on the larger network will be thwarted from reading your files. Of course, a seasoned hack may still be able to get in. So after your third album goes platinum, you might want to disconnect your music making machine from the net. Internet websites form clusters not unlike neighborhoods. There are good servers and bad ones.
OK, we're done, and the process
of setting up a LAN was painless, and required little technical know-how.
Give yourself a couple of hours to do the job and your studio will become dramatically
more productive as a result.
Q) Can you network a Mac and PC? How?
Things have come a long way since
the introduction of Win XP and Mac OS X 10.1. Windows 7 and Snow leopard both strive to make networking
as easy as possible and it's a simple as connecting them up with a router, setting
permissions and sharing, and using the right network protocols. Make sure
when you buy, the router says, specifically, that it is compatible with your
operating systems. Fortunately, buying a router is not as bad as buying a soundcard,
but don't get too sloppy in your thinking. Firewalls can be set to allow communication
between all computers on the network but with no computers from the outside.
Some firewalls like Norton's will even assist you in this process if you read the
documentation carefully. The good thing is that most music files are common
to both Mac and PC. .WAV, .AIF, .MP3 can be shuttled back and forth with no
loss and without the need for file converters or file compression tools. Of
course, .TXT, .PDF and .HTML files and .JPG, .GIF, .TIFF and many other graphic
files crossover just as well. We have come a long way to iron out the
excesses of proprietary thinking and this is a great thing for all computer users.
Best of Luck in your Music Making
Rich the TweakMeister
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Cool Quote: If mass communications blend together harmoniously, and often unnoticeably, art, politics, religion, and philosophy with commercials, they bring these realms of culture to their common denominator—the commodity form. The music of the soul is also the music of salesmanship. Exchange value, not truth value, counts. Herbert Marcuse (1898–1979), U.S. political philosopher. |
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