Entry-level home recording software

[JustPlaying]

First post on this board so I hope I put this in the right section. I'm not a professional musician, I just play for hobby. But I have lots of music I've written that I want to record and eventually put into MP3 format.

A friend recommeded Cubase VST/32 but (Geez!!) I don't need to pay mucho big bucks for this task.

I was looking at Guitar Tracks 2, available from our friend, Musician's Friend for about $50. It's a 8-track recording program with some cool extras. I also downloaded Cubase's FREE download version (8mb), called Cubasis Inwired but I don't have a clue how it works.

Guitar Tracks 2 looks like my choice. I like the interface and it's cheap too. This is just for home use, so I wondered if anyone had any thoughts.

Thanks.

[GringoKC]

I'd recommend n-track studio for a beginning hpbbyist (like me), see www.fasoft.com. You can also download and read the User's manual from the site.

Good luck

[c7sus]

Do you wanna sequence MIDI as well as record audio????

For a little bit more bread you could get Cakewalk Pro Audio 9.....

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...tem=2021224583

Tons of features.............. if you go this route I would also recommend getting the book "Cakewalk Power" by Scott Garrigus.

[Gidge]

You'll soon outgrown 8 tracks......

id take the above 2 suggestions seriously......

[JustPlaying]

Thanks for the responses. I also found Cakewalk Guitar Tracks Pro-$99. And yes, I want MIDI (for later).

Right now, I just want to lay down some guitar tracks, add some percussion and bass. And then....I will begin to experiment/expand my music. I'm such a newbie at recording. Never done it, actually (recording on your boom box doesn't count).

I'll keep my eyes open for Ebay deals.

I'm just trying to find the best program for the least amount of bucks. Thanks again.

[Gidge]

I would start off with N-Track....its easy enuff for beginners, yet has the features for intermediate and advanced users......it does midi, but not as good as others....when you get to that stage you can use a separate sequencer for midi, usually a dirt cheap or free one will do......

[Chris Shaeffer]

I'd highly encourage you to try n-track at www.fasoft.com. Its inexpensive and has lots of nice features. It easily out performs everything else in its price range.

Try the demo and download the manual and see how you like it. Its a great program to start with because you can learn a lot about multitrack recording with it. You really will outgrow 8 tracks very quickly, and its such a bummer having a compter that can handle more tracks loaded with software that is so limited.

Good luck, and welcome to the board!
Chris

[tdukex]

Here's what I just did. I saw an add from a local store for Cakewalk Plasma for $49 with a $40 rebate. So I paid $10 for it. Once registered as a Cakewalk user, I went to the Cakewalk website and ordered Sonar on sale for $149 + $6 shipping (but no local tax). I don't even know what Plasma is good for, but Sonar for $165 is a pretty good deal.

I guess what I'm saying (other than the fact that I'm a very smart guy) is if you can get some Cakewalk product for cheap (like when GC or somebody closes out an older version of something) you can pick up Sonar for $149 when it's on sale: http://store.yahoo.com/cakewalkdirect/upgrades.html159

It worked for me.

[Lucho]

Cakewalk's Home Studio 2002 is supposed to be a good entry level software. Some people even call it Sonar light. Check out Cakewalk's website for a comparisson on some of their products.
Ooops, almost forgot, I've seen it for as low as $80