Gear: Ableton, audio interface, portable digital recorder

[anothernewbie]

Hi there,

For an interactive sound installation I'd like to have a do-it-all kinda instrument that allows me to do the following:

* Create simple melodies (or sequences), trigger them via external MIDI and then output them on separate channels to active loudspeakers (think: melodies 1-4 go to loudspeaker A, melodies 5-8 to loudspeaker B, melodies 9-12 to loudspeaker C, etc)
It is important that I can trigger each melody with a single, external MIDI command e.g. from a MIDI keyboard and not have to send an long series of MIDI commands playing a single, simple melody.

* Use built-in "natural" sounds e.g. piano, as well as synth sounds I'll design myself.

* Sample my own sounds, e.g. spoken word and trigger them via MIDI or use them as components in the "melodies".

Instead of buying an old school sampler it’s probably the best to simply get a good, multi-channel audio interface for a laptop and use Ableton as software.

Since M-Audio's Fast Track Ultra interface already comes bundled with Ableton Lite I assume this would be a great interface.
Any recommendation for a portable digital recorder e.g. the ZoomH4n, ZoomH2 or a Tascam DR-05?
Any recommendations for an economic PC laptop for Ableton and audio interface?

Thank you for your time!

Erwin

[AaronYeo]

While I'm not sure if you're looking for a VST, a controller, a synth, a combination of all those, or whatever, but I can comment on the Zoom H4n.

Just get it.

It acts as a very solid interface (not top-of-the-line, but definitely very capable of 90% of the stuff you'll need) as well as a portable high quality recorder, both in terms of having XLR capability and decent built-in mics. If you need the portable field recording, it's worth it. Plus, you can also use it as a portable guitar amp to practice with. Get it if you need a recorder, then the interface is a huge bonus.

[23kon]

In terms of Audio interface, i've got a Cakewalk UA-25EX
Good stable card that can handle a lot, also lots of ins and outs for the price!