What software do you advice?

  • Thread starter Thread starter george7a
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george7a

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Hi All,

Intro:

I want to start recording my own music at home. I have already recorded some songs in a professional studio, but I am looking for something simple to start with in my home.

My goal is to play the song once on the keyboard (piano), save it, edit mistakes.. and then play another track, bass (for example) and so on..

Currently I would like to use the same sounds that my keyboard has.

Question 1:

I am looking for a free software. If there is none, then the cheapest! What do you advise?

Question 2:

My keyboard has a Midi out. What hardware must I have? I know there is a midi to USB.. is that enough or do I have to buy another piece of hardware?

Thanks in advance!
 
Welcome to the site.
Audacity is free and simple to use.
 
Thanks for this suggestion. I looked a bit at it and did not see that it has a midi editor.

I need to fix my mistakes with the midi editor.
 
You can download and try Reaper for free. It's super cheap to register and the trial version runs forever so you can be 100% certain before you purchase. There is a Reaper forum on this site (https://homerecording.com/bbs/user-forums-brand/dont-fear-reaper/) where you can ask questions.

It has a bunch of built-in effects, awesome editing capabilities and MIDI support.

There is a bit of a learning curve at first, but well worth the effort. I would highly recommend it.

REAPER | Audio Production Without Limits
 
Sorry, forgot about Question 2.

A simple USB MIDI interface should be enough. As far as I know, most will come with both MIDI in and out.

Does your keyboard have a MIDI in as well as out? To play back the sounds on your keyboard it will have to have a MIDI in. Otherwise, you can record the MIDI data and use a software synth for playback. If you want to record the sounds on your keyboard, you'll have to record the MIDI data, edit the MIDI track, then replay it through the keyboard while you record the analog track by connecting the keyboard's analog output to the sound hardware on your PC. Does that make sense?
 
u can get a midi-to-usb cable on ebay cheap - works fine for me
 
I'd give my left nut to be able to play a keyboard track through just once and have a complete take.

Reaper.

You'll want an audio interface to play back your recorded tracks. Some have MIDI I/O included. If the interface you are interested in doesn't there are standalone MIDI over USB options available too.

MIDI-OX is a handy freeware app too that allows different routing options and MIDI setups and MIDI filtering too.
 
fatstrat said:
You can download and try Reaper for free. It's super cheap to register and the trial version runs forever so you can be 100% certain before you purchase. There is a Reaper forum on this site (https://homerecording.com/bbs/user-forums-brand/dont-fear-reaper/) where you can ask questions.

It has a bunch of built-in effects, awesome editing capabilities and MIDI support.

There is a bit of a learning curve at first, but well worth the effort. I would highly recommend it.

REAPER | Audio Production Without Limits
Click to expand...

Reaper is the way to go if your getting started.
 
Like others have said, Reaper is definitely the way to go here. The trial is free, and runs forever to assure that you actually want to buy it. And when you do, it's really cheap and I think if you buy the current version (3.76), you get covered for free upgrades through version 4.99. If you wait until version 4.0 comes out (it's still in alpha testing I believe), you'll have coverage through version 5.99. Really can't lose with that.

Good luck!
 
I downloaded Reaper to test out and its probably going to be supported for a long time. FREE for now and cheap enough if I decide to buy.
 
Is there a good program for recording videos? I am using a Logitech 9000 Pro webcam and a Samson CO1U usb mic.
 
CoolCat said:
I downloaded Reaper to test out and its probably going to be supported for a long time. FREE for now and cheap enough if I decide to buy.
Click to expand...

Reaper is not free, FYI. They're trusting people to buy it if they use it. You should support a company that trusts you to do that.
 
CoolCat said:
FREE for now and cheap enough if I decide to buy.
Click to expand...

FunkDaddy said:
Reaper is not free, FYI. They're trusting people to buy it if they use it. You should support a company that trusts you to do that.
Click to expand...

I don't think anyone has suggested not paying for Reaper :) for $40 it's totally worth it. If I didn't get Cubase with my mixer I would buy it....
 
I stole reaper from a garage forecourt



nope hang on that was a David Cassidy CD
 
Thank you everyone for all your suggestions.

My friend got SONAR for free when he got his sound card and he does not want it! He is using Cubase. What do you say about Sonar? shall I start with it or forget it and check reaper?

Here is the USB 2 MIDI cable I saw in ebay for 6.5$ (I could not post the link since I have only 3 posts!). Is this good enough!? In our country it about 55$!!!
 
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