M-Audio Fast Track and ProTools free...

S

seedyapartment

New member
I have a few questions, and they're probably dumb, but I thought I'd ask them anyway.

First of all, I'm looking to start recording in my home on a very small scale; just voice and guitar, that sort of thing.

I recently got M-Audio Fast Track (here: http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/FastTrackUSB-main.html) and I was wondering if any of you knew what else I need to use it? What sort of software? What's the best? The easiest? The cheapest?

Now, the link for ProTools Free is here:http://www.digidesign.com/ptfree/, but it can only be run with Windows 98 or ME. Is there any way to get around that? I've got XP, as most people do...

And in any case, is ProTools the kind of software I should be looking for in the first place?

Any info or help anyone could give me would be really appreciated.
 
seedyapartment said:
I have a few questions, and they're probably dumb, but I thought I'd ask them anyway.

First of all, I'm looking to start recording in my home on a very small scale; just voice and guitar, that sort of thing.

I recently got M-Audio Fast Track (here: http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/FastTrackUSB-main.html) and I was wondering if any of you knew what else I need to use it? What sort of software? What's the best? The easiest? The cheapest?

Now, the link for ProTools Free is here:http://www.digidesign.com/ptfree/, but it can only be run with Windows 98 or ME. Is there any way to get around that? I've got XP, as most people do...

And in any case, is ProTools the kind of software I should be looking for in the first place?

Any info or help anyone could give me would be really appreciated.
Click to expand...

If you're just getting into computer based recording, you might want to try out a few programs to see what will work for you. There are a couple of free programs that will get you started. Kristal Audio Engine and Audacity are both freebies. There are demo versions of Cubase and Sonar available on the web. N-Track is inexpensive and popular with the HR crowd. Cool Edit Pro is another that people seem to think is quite user friendly. While ProTools may be the recording industry standard for computer recording, it may not be the best option for you.
 
No...Protools Free is 98/ME only, and by many accounts it sucked anyway. M-Audio (which is now owned by the same company that owns Protools) is now offering a version of protools that will work with M-Audio interfaces called Protools M-Powered. There are a host of other programs that'll let you "record tracks over top of each other," or multitrack.
 
seedyapartment said:
Thanks so much for the helpful suggestions.

Now, will programs like Audacity let me record tracks over top of eachother?
Click to expand...

I'm not quite sure what you are asking. The ones I suggested all have multitrack capabilities, meaning that you can record multiple instruments to individual tracks and then mix them all together into a final stereo track. You might want to read this article about basic home recording:

http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1558,1818497,00.asp
 
Audition- yes, if you can get it running, will let you record multi-track audio.

M-audio and Pro Tools: PT m-powered only works with SOME m-audio hardware. Unfortunately it does NOT work with the fast track.

Pro Tools FREE: forget about it. Its very buggy. Pro Tools LE is rock solid, but PT Free isn't worth much.

Check out n-track (www.fasoft.com)- as cheap and as good as it gets.

Take care,
Chris
 
scrubs said:
If you're just getting into computer based recording, you might want to try out a few programs to see what will work for you. There are a couple of free programs that will get you started. Kristal Audio Engine and Audacity are both freebies. There are demo versions of Cubase and Sonar available on the web. N-Track is inexpensive and popular with the HR crowd. Cool Edit Pro is another that people seem to think is quite user friendly. While ProTools may be the recording industry standard for computer recording, it may not be the best option for you.
Click to expand...

KRISTAL and Audacity are very good free multitracking software esp for newbie. Even a fool like me find them relatively easy to use. Then move on to CEP or Audition.
 
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