New to everything: Macbook Pro, Logic 9. Any patient, smart people to help?

Question

Hello world
I finally bit the bullet, bought the computer and the software, and want to make my music permanent (I will be hoping to record using both organic instruments and vst's). But....I really have no idea where to begin. I know all of these unconnected things about set-ups and music recording, but can;t seem to bring it together.
So I have some questions, and I need someone who is patient, intelligent, and can break it down into newbie terms for this sort of thing. I'm hoping thats where you come in.
1. What do I need to get started? I know I need a Firewire interface, but I'm not sure why. How is this different than a mic preamp? Are they interchangeable?
I have heard I should use external drives for sample (ex. Komplete), but don't know how. I just read that some people have loaded Logic 9 on an external drive, but I don;t know why or how. I don;t want to screw it up. The shipment comes tomorrow.
2. What sort of other "before I load anything" things should I know? Again, I want to get it right before I put anything on the computer. For example, is boot camp something I want to consider right at the start, or can that wait? I have a copy of Windows 7 from my other computer that I can use.
3. Back to the drive question. I got the 17" because of the express card slot and I figured that I would be able to expand for whatever I need, but again, I really don;t know what it is that i MIGHT need. I have read but don;t understand about eSATA drives.
4. The last thing to consider is that I want this to be a performance mobile rig, too. In other words, I want to (hopefully) use Mainstage to play my guitar and keyboard through the MBP. This being said, I am worried that if I use all of these other drives, then it's going to be a jumble of wires and daisy chains that makes me anxious to think about in a live, "setting-up" situation.
I'll stop there, because it continues on. Please know that I have spent the better part of the past year reading forums and trying to figure this out, but again, it's all kind of in the ether, floating around, not making cohesive sense. I'm just exited to have finally gotten the **** computer.
It;s only up from here. Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

We're all patient and smart in here. Except ErikSimon. Don't listen to a word he says But seriously...
First up, don't worry. You have a good machine arriving and the technology will work. There will be a learning curve and some hurdles, but that's to be expected. On to your points:
1. An audio interface (Preferably Firewire, but USB can be OK) in it's simplest form is a way of getting high quality audio in and out of your computer (via either XLR/TRS/phono/digital etc). They are totally separate things from mic preamps BUT many interfaces (most) have mic preamps incorporated into them. But a mic preamp is a separate box otherwise, designed for powering a microphone and won't be any good to your computer on it's own. Hope that clarifies.
Always install Logic on the internal system drive. Any external drives are only for recording/storing audio or for large sample libraries (e.g. Logic Jam-packs & Komplete). They should also be as fast as possible (7,200rpm) and running via firewire (prefarbly not daisychained).
2. As mentioned, not sure why you want to install Windows. You mentioned VST's earlier... be aware Logic uses AU's instead. Before you install anything, run every single software update Apple has to offer, then 'repair disk permissions' in 'disc utilities'. Then install any drivers for interfaces etc. then Logic, but you can add interfaces later without any problems.
3. I can't advise you on this.
4. Yes you can take the rig out as a mobile setup. I do it regularly and, it can be a pain but it's perfectly normal. Under these circumstances you will want to consider reducing the setup to take out for various reasons... above all it minimizes risk of crashes etc and also it's usually not necessary to have everything running live on stage: consider backing tracks etc and running it from the internal drive.
Hope this helps to some extent.