recommended PC software for mixing and adding drums

[Jonny_White]

Hi all,

I'm new to the forum (and to PC-recording) and have been looking through - there's a wealth of information here, thanks to everyone.

I guess what makes things so interesting though, is that everyone has a slightly different setup requiring different things. I wanted to ask for recommendations for mixing software. I have a Zoom PS-04 (tiny little 4-track recorder with virtual-tracks for 4+ track recording) which I use for recording guitar/bass/vocals. What I would like to do is to mix these tracks on my Windows-PC and add some drums (the PS-04 has very basic drums but not great and limited variety) - ideally the software would have the facility for clicking & dragging lots of drum loops/fills etc. I'm fairly technical but I still want it be relatively easy - i.e. I suspect the likes of Cubase are just too professional/complicated/expensive for me (I had though up to about $200 but maybe that's unrealistic). My only reason for not recording to the PC directly is because my PC sits in a different room from my guitar equipment.

Adobe Audition looks interesting (and seems to have moved on a lot since CoolEdit) - but quite pricey (around $400). Are there other good alternatives?

thanks very much for your help,

Jonny

 

[legionserial]

Audacity...which is completely free.

Reaper..which is available as an evaluation version and then for $39.95 if you like it....whic I'm sure you will. Very highly regarded software. Worth every penny. If I hadn't bought and learnt Cubase already I'd be using it full time.

 

[Jonny_White]

Hi legionserial,

Thanks for the extremely quick reply. I was just having a quick look at the Reaper web-site. It looks very impressive but I couldn't find any mention of drum loops - are they possible with Reaper, or more to the point, does it come with sample drums?

-Jonny

 

[Freddy]

Reaper is excellent. It's a full-blown DAW. It doesn't come with drum samples, but will work with any package you like.

The main ones that people seem to go for are EZDrummer or Jamstix, but there are others that I am sure people will recommend.

If you have samples/loops already (can be midi or audio) you can just drag them in, or use some of the built-in tools to use samples and build your own. There is a user-made template on the forum to set up a sample-based drum track (search on the Reaper site for Readrums). There are also tools to map drums onto the piano roll.

 

[pipelineaudio]

heres an easy, FREE way

go to Naturalstudio's page, (http://www.naturalstudio.co.uk/bb/viewtopic.php?t=548)

look around, lots of goodies there but for now, grab nskit7 free lite sf2 here:

ftp://ftp.futurenet.co.uk/pub/computermusic/ns_sf/ns_kit7freesf2lite.zip

Next go to rgc:audio ( http://www.rgcaudio.com/ ), makers of fine plugs who have graciously made a free soundfont vsti called sfz. Grab it here:

http://www.rgcaudio.com/downloads/freeware/sfz197.exe

And here is a sample REAPER project with sfz already loaded with ns_kit7Free lite

http://stashbox.org/28380/sfz.RPP

 

[anteroom123]

the newest version of FL studio has some pretty impressive drums. you can create all kinds of beats.. i havn't really explored to much but they have a free version but you cant save any work on it. if you like it the full version is like 70 bucks or something.
you can do audio recording in it too but i prefer a sequincer like sonar or cubase for mine, audacity is a good free program for recording audio, it also works with vst and other plugins, i dont think you can use soft synths in it tho. if you have the money Sonar 6 PE (im not sure if others do) comes with session drummer 2 for creating beats. pretty cool program, but for beats i like FL studio.

sorry if i seem to be rambling but im tired

-Matt

 

[Jonny_White]

I just wanted to say thanks very much for the replies and all the information. It sounds great.

@Freddy: I installed Reaper - looks really excellent. I think if I get the hang of it I'll be happy to pay the $40. I also had a look at EZDrummer and JamStix - they seem a bit pricey so I'll take a look at the other cheaper/free options first but they do look like what I need.

@pipelineaudio: fantastic - I'll be downloading and installing all that in the next day or two. And all for free. Thanks very much for all the links.

@matt: I'll also look at FL Studio - the price seems more reasonable than Sonar. If the free stuff doesn't work out then it's next on the list.

Thanks again. I've had bits & pieces recorded for ages but never done anything with them simply because I didn't know what to do. This'll be a lot of fun I'm really motivated now - wish me luck

 

[anteroom123]

hey good luck buddy. hope everything works out. post some tunes when you get them done, id like to hear what you got.

good luck
-Matt

 

[Nandoram]

I just wanted to say thanks very much for the replies and all the information. It sounds great.

@Freddy: I installed Reaper - looks really excellent. I think if I get the hang of it I'll be happy to pay the $40. I also had a look at EZDrummer and JamStix - they seem a bit pricey so I'll take a look at the other cheaper/free options first but they do look like what I need.

@pipelineaudio: fantastic - I'll be downloading and installing all that in the next day or two. And all for free. Thanks very much for all the links.

@matt: I'll also look at FL Studio - the price seems more reasonable than Sonar. If the free stuff doesn't work out then it's next on the list.

Thanks again. I've had bits & pieces recorded for ages but never done anything with them simply because I didn't know what to do. This'll be a lot of fun I'm really motivated now - wish me luck

Take a look at some of the SONAR products, or even the Sony ACID products for use with loops. They have lower priced entry-level versions that go for $75 to $100. Then you can buy drum loops, and then re-set the tempo to match your tracks.

I hope you've used some sort of click track, and that you know what the BPM (beats per minute) are... this will help you match the tempo with suitable loops. Honestly, you may have to re-record the material to make sure it is in perfect time with the drums.... if you have trouble matching the tempo exactly. I know there are construction kits for ACID that you can use to build the drum tracks, but this may take a lot of time.

Personally, I use DRUMS ON DEMAND (loops) and build my songs around the tracks I like, or find interesting. I can't even imagine how to write my material without at least a click-track. I use PRO TOOLS, and it doesn't have the kind of support for loops that software from Cakewalk or Sony has.

 

[Reilley]

People who refuse to use Reaper should be injected with the AIDS virus.