What Recording Software for a Beginner?

[LiveRust]

Hi,

I'm hoping some of you can offer a suggestion for a newcomer to home recording . . .

I plan to do some very simple home recording on my computer. Basically, I will be recording a few tracks each of acoustic guitar and vocals, via Shure SM57 and SM58 mics.

What program would you recommend that would basically act as an analog 16-track recorder? I am looking first for price (less than $120), second for ease of use, third for quality, and then for features. I have Windows XP and a Mackie Mixer that I plug into my very cheap soundcard, if that makes a difference.

Also, can anyone recommend a cheap drum machine software program? Or, is there a home recording software program that comes with a good drum simulator built in?

Any advice would be much appreciated! Basically, I just want something easy, cheap and reliable . . .

Thanks!

 

[manning1]

powertracks that i use (pgmusic.com). 48 tracks for 49 bucks.
just try the demo. drum machine is included for you to make your own patterns. if you list your pc confign i'll make further suggestions.
peace.

 

[ssscientist]

Download the Tracktion demo here:

http://www.mackie.com/products/tracktion/

The demo version is fully functional for two weeks and if you like it as much as I do it's only $80 to buy your own copy.

 

[Clark_Griswold]

the simplest and cheapest...

http://www.kreatives.org/kristal/index.php

 

[Ronan]

This done not answewr your questions directly, but you may want to seriously consider getting a 4 track cassette if you are complete newbie to recording. It will be easier to use, sound very good once you learn how to record and the cost is very low. It will not give you 16 tracks but its enough for a couple acoustic guitars and vox.

I find that people that start with 4 tracks learn a lot more and spend more time making music than those that start with a computer for recording.

 

[guitar junkie]

how about open source

check into the open source software out there.
i like Audacity its a very good free program you can use
and it is not hard on your PC. athough the effects with it are not all that great
but still work well enough and is a very nice multi track software and if you need to make drums i use a free sampler website here are the links



http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

http://www.artopod.se/groovelab/groovelab/groovelab.html

then with the money you did not have to spend on software buy a better soundcard

 

[fenix]

mbox Protools. You can get it cheap on ebay.

 

[RD423]

mbox Protools. You can get it cheap on ebay.

Protools is not the program for a beginner he needs to start off with something like cool edit/adobe audition. Because just starting out he's probably gonna use more than 32 tracks on somethings until he learns some shortcuts.

 

[beezelbubba]

Ntrack
http://fasoft.com/

 

[shackrock]

I will second NTRACK!!!!
it's crazy easy to learn from the start. and You can really do alot with it too.
again: http://www.fasoft.com

2ndly, I would disagree with getting a 4-track mixer for a beginning. If you want to stick to computer recording, I thought it A TON easier to start with a computer, and N-track actually. You, of course, have to learn at least some basics about computers and how they will deal with the audio....but a 4-track is kinda a different proccess as far as DAW vs. cassette goes, do you know what i mean?

 

[Dani Pace]

I gotta agree with Guitar Junkie, Audacity is a good safe and absolutely free recording program and should serve your purposes very well. It works almost like a cassette recorder (easy to use) and allows you to do most of the basic operations of recording and mixing. Try it and get used to digital recording then if you decide you want a more complex system keep in mind, most of them have a trial version that you can download to try them before you buy the software.
PS Wish I had known about Audacity before I spent a bunch of money on software that i didnt like or really need.

 

[manning1]

dani, with respect i tried audacity recently. its quite limiting particularly in the midi area. just one example. no drum machine emulator.
no music score editing etc
heres a partial list of the features in powertracks that i use.
0.vocal track harmonisation has recently been added.
1. editing of velocity dynamics.
2.drum grid editor, velocity values. plus triplet feel.
3. handling jazz swing music. jazz fonts.
4. channel filtering and rechannelling .
5.gradual increases/decreases in tempo. tempo mapping.
6. editing of note durations.
7. 5 beat grouping of notes.
8. guitar fretboard display showing notes being played, and notation for guitarists. very usefull for midi guitarists.
guitar tracks printed out in guitar tab format
9. printing blank staff pages.
10. slash chord ability eg..Cm/g
11. audio track de-essing and hum filter and noise gating.
12. interpreting chords from an imported midi file.
13. editing of sysex messages.sysex delay handling for synths that need it.
14. filling tracks with a drum style pattern either preset or your own making.
15. on screen pitch bender if the musician doesnt have a synth
with pitch bend.
16. jukebox KAR feature.
17. a slew of effects presets for various types of audio tracks..
like vocals, guitar, bass, drums etc etc
18. very detailed notation editing, and printing features.
including lead sheet production.
any of the foregoing features are very handy for home and pro musicians.
and ive just scratched the surface of features.
and not even mentioned things like handling sound card latency,
endless looping, and all the other audio recording and editing features.
all for 50 bucks.

the product can take one through the whole song process from idea creation, through recording, mixdown and to CD.
in my case i opted to pay a little money for so much functionality.

 

[Ronan]

Hey Manning, Do you work for Powertracks or PG Music? I dont mind if you do, I was just curious. you seem to love the powertracks as much as I hate the Pod, and I was wondering if you are just a happy user.

 

[NYMorningstar]

Manning is a Powertracks spammer. Here's about 50 reasons you shouldn't buy powertracks...http://www.soundclick.com/bands/4/bmanningmusic.htm

 

[manning1]

definitely not ronan. i'm a one hundred per cent ethical honest computer engineer and user of powertracks.
now semi retiring. taking a hiatus after too many years designing
big computer systems and networks. my wife retires soon as well.
we are managing to get out out of work force madness at young ages.

firstly a music software company could never pay me the salary levels ive enjoyed in the past with hi tech companies. i have never worked for any music company. nor never will. i'm just a happy user just trying to save newbies from spending lots of money when they dont need to and trying to help where i can. at this time - i'm redoing my studio , and taking it easy.
ive seen too many newbies, particularly the youngsters overbuying this stuff and hurting themselves with too much debt.
if your sceptical just try what i use. i was sceptical when i started as well.
actually it was a fluke when i started with powertracks years ago.
my wife originally got it as a litttle stocking stuffer xmas like present.
she is a sweetheart.
i also use magix music studio. in my opinion another high value low priced
piece of software. together with powertracks i'm set for ages.
one reason i like powertracks is, and just ask any user on the forum about this at pg,,,,,is the companies attitudes towards its user base.
in a time when users are crapped all over often, this company CARES ...offers free support, ACTUALLY RETURNS EMAILS, and when upgrading software versions doesnt charge huge amounts of money. upgrades in the past are typically 29 bucks. the programming team of powertracks and biab are highly respected by us users because of the carefull attention to detail they put into
certain features and the way they treat us users with decency. i'm a tekkie , and with respect its not easy to fool me,
and i know when a team of tekkies has done a first class job.
just the other day on this bbs someone posted back (after i suggested they try powertracks) they were up and running in 5 minutes. and the ease of use. but hey..you find me better for 50 bucks. because ive yet to.
btw - i'm not a fan of the pod either !! peace.

PS...if as some people claim and question my integrity ....
all they have to do is try the product. OK - lets assume - i'm a complete lier.
JUST TRY THE PRODUCT, and talk to other users. then youll see i'm not.
also on my songs. some like them...some dont. most of my songs were
done way before powertracks came out. if you want to hear songs from people better than i .visit the pg musicians web site .

 

[ecktronic]

Dictaphones can be suprizingly good! no.

 

[NYMorningstar]

i'm just a happy user just trying to save newbies from spending lots of money when they dont need to and trying to help where i can. . OK - lets assume - i'm a complete lier.
.

No need to assume, you are obviously a liar. If you truly wanted to save newbies money you would link them up with freeware that costs nothing but that's not what you do. You try to sell them the cheap $50 software instead and it wouldn't be so bad but you are way to excessive with it. You post that software in about 90% of your posts and the ones don't post in you refer them to seach under your name. If you like the pg forums so much manning you should just go there because you obviously have no respect for the owners here who don't want your SPAMMING.

 

[manning1]

live rust .here some USER reviews of powertracks independent of me.
which proves i'm no liar. scroll down the page towards the end... peace.
http://www.music123.com/PG-Music-Po...33678.music?t=4

 

[Disposable]

When I first started recording...
I used Magix Music Studio Deluxe 6...
It was wonderful for beginning with recording.

The new version (2005) is ten times better (from what I hear)
Than what I was using... and it's still only like $80.

The only thing I didn't really like about it was...
It was (and I believe still is) 2 seperate programs.
One based around midi work (with audio tracks)
The other based around audio editing.

Still definitely worth a look I think.

Check it out at http://www.magix.com
There is a demo there as well.

 

[Ronan]

I responded to all this on the new thread that bears my name. Quite the excitement I have stirred up.

I still think LiveRust should be getting the 4 track cassette, especially since he has a screen name from Neil Young album, an artist that hates digital!