ehm1@wally.CC.MsState.Edu (Eddie Mikell) (03/15/91)
Greetings: First I'd like to thank all the wonderful people who sent me their system descriptions, along with the cost of their equipment. Got some real insight on how people are using their setups in a live performance atmosphere. Here's what I finally ended up with. I decided against using my home stereo. I decided to run a repeated song for about 3 hours at mid-volume, and check to see what would happen. I don't think the system was damaged, but it was HOT... Could probably have cooled it with a fan, but that would mean extra equipment. Bought a rack- mountable Peavy CS-260 amp. It's actually meant for monitors, but at 130 watts per channel, it was enough for me. While I was at the Peavy outlet store (check my address, I'm only 40 minutes from where all this stuff is designed and manufactured), I noticed Peavy had a condensed cabinet with a 15" black widow, and a wide range horn. The cabinet is so narrow that I doubt if there is a 1/4' space between the speaker and the outside cabinet wall. Semi transportable, so I bought 2 (my second choice was the TOA with the same setup, but they were more expensive). Got a small Yamaha 8 channel mixer board from a store that had taken it in on trade-in. Nothing fancy, but had enough in's and out's, and switches and knobs, that I can make it sound like I want (second choice was the new Peavy 8 channel board which list for $495, but can be had for a lot less). After sweating about a dedicated sequencer, or a computer, midi card, and the right software, I found a Alesis MMT-8 cheap ($90), so I bought it to play with until I decide if I want to lug a computer around. I figure worst case I could compose on Cakewalk, and possibly dump it into the Alesis, but don't know if that's possible right now. Okay, here's the price break down: Peavy CS-260 Amp $100 (used, but less than 6 months old) Peavy 15" cabinets $369 pr (new) Yamaha Mixer $250 (used) Alesis mmt-8 $ 90 (used) Yamaha sy22 $600 (new Music Alley) Total --------->>>>>> $1409 In the future, I'll need the following: Some composer software. I probably go with Cakewalk, since it's bundled with a midi card and sells for $199 at Leigh's computers (anyone found a better deal?). Some sequences for the Alesis. After recording the first 4 or 5 songs, I realized I'm going to need to get some songs on disk or tape in order to meet a few deadlines. Does anyone has some they wish to swap, or know of a place to buy this for the Alesis? A small 4-track recorder. Nothing fancy, but something to record some of the music that I'm playing in order to give out as demo disk, etc.... Well, I've booked enough weddings that I should be able to pay for the above stuff in a few years..... Again, thanks for the help and suggestions, and get ready for a barrage of MIDI questions. Eddie Mikell