Which recording software should I buy?

  • Thread starter Thread starter markinho
  • Start date Start date
M

markinho

New member
I'm a guitar player who is looking to find the right software with which to start doing some home recording. The problem is that I'm not sure which software best fits my needs, budget, and hardware. Any advice, feedback, or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. First, my needs: I'd like to be able to lay down some rhythym tracks and then add some lyrics, guitar overdubs, drums, and other instruments. Being able to record more than one track at a time is not essential, but it might be nice to have the flexibility to do that in the future. In a nutshell, I'm looking to make a do-it-yourself demo with my computer without using an analog 4-track.

My hardware includes a Pentium II 450 running Windows 2000, 196 MB RAM, and a Soundblaster Live card. I don't have any good microphones yet beyond those which came with my sound card.

Overall, I'd like to not spend more than $250 on software, and if I can get by with less than that, well that would be awesome. If you have any suggestions, pointers, pitfalls, or otherwise, send 'em along!

Thanks,

markinho
 
Hey,

There are a ton of different progs you can use for recording. I have tried a few of em, Cakewalk, Sonic Foundry, Cubase, but the one I keep coming back to is Cool Edit. I just think its the easiest to use for multitracking. Its real straightforward, I didnt even really have to think to figure out how to overlay tracks. The other programs I thought were pretty difficult to use.
 
Thanks KingNothing for your response,

I just downloaded the Cool Edit Demo. I'm also looking at some of the Cakewalk stuff, Sonic Foundry, and the n-track program. I appreciate your having shared your experiences trying different programs, especially concering their relative complexity. There are, indeed, many competing recording programs out there, but unfortunately I haven't seen many objective head-to-head comparisons.

Best regards,

markinho
 
Logic Silver-Gold or Platinum. Silver version is only $199 and gives you 24 tracks and VST
plug-ins etc. You can also get synth and samplers and upgrade later to Gold or Platinum.
Rock On!
 
Welcom markinho,

I would suggest n-Track. It's cheap, easy to use and sufficient for most people's needs. There's even a beta version out that can run VSTplug-ins. Also, the author of the program recommend that it should be run on WinNT, which implies that you would benefit from having Win2000 as well. I haven't tried too many other recording programs but I tried out Cubase VST24 at a friend's place a bunch of times and while you can do more with it, I find it more difficult to use.

Many will suggest this too: Get a decent mic and a preamp and use the line-in on the soundcard. The mic in on soundcards that are not dedicated recording card really suck. As n-Track is only $55, you can spend the rest on mic+preamp. The ART Tube preamp and either Shure SM57 or SM58 is a very common setup. It even costs less than $200 so you actually get it for free with the money you save if you go for n-Track. The SM57 is a very common mic for guitar amps, if that's what you're recording.

Good luck

/Ola
 
The n-track site has a pretty wild running thread that is a helluva lot better than a stack of manuals; gives you an interactive manual, so to speak. www.n-track.com
 
Thanks again to everyone who's responded to my question. I'm looking closely at n-track, Cool Edit, as well as some of the cheaper versions from Sound Forge and Cakewalk. I'll be sure to keep you posted of my developments. Just watch this posting!

Best regards,

Mark
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top