Free Music Recording Software

[YLG]

any advice on which is the best of these? i.e. the quickest to learn.

thanks

[guitar junkie]

Originally Posted by YLG

any advice on which is the best of these? i.e. the quickest to learn.

thanks

You my friend must be the type who thinks it is possible to go right in and blow out a record with about two hours under your belt....

I really don't want to tell which is best here, for that matter.... You did not us what you want to do with the software... Midi? General audio? basic editing? film scoring?

You see none of these programs are "the best" they are all good for one thing or another, at times they have places where they fall short. I happen to love Audacity for some things, hate it for others... I also happen to like things that can be done in Reaper...

How much time are you willing to put into your music? How many details are you willing to gloss over, in order to do this faster?

Also what is your goal with your music recordings?

All these questions you have to bring to yourself if you want to just dive into things then that is good.... But if you work out what it is you want to do in ADVANCE you have a clear head to be creative... As I wrap up my third CD I can still see myself finding all the new stuff in Audacity (which I spent the better part of a year learning to use to the fullest) I find that if it had not been for the times when I started with a clear plan and a goal for my projects... I might still be trying to track songs for the very first one.

I would say that if you really want to get a good chunk of software then you need to look into REAPER which is shareware.... spend the $40 when you feel ready to, when I first started this thing called "studio recording" I would have killed to have that stuff ready for me to download and use.

Good luck my friend and stay focused.

[brandondrury]

You may want to read this:The Problem With Simple Recording Software

Quick is good if you are looking for an oil change. If it was me, I'd think a little further down the road.

The hours spent watching Cubase SX3 DVDs, reading the manual, etc this last summer seamed like hell at the time. Now I consider it to be one of the best investments I've ever made.

Brandon

[YLG]

With a young family and a full time job spent sitting at a computer I just don't have a lot of time to spend learning a sophisticated program (much as I would like to.) I use a 4 track tape machine... that is about all I need i.e. just to record and play back my songs (although 8 tracks would be better). I'm not looking for professional sounding recordings. But at the same time I would like to make mp3s to share my music. Any advice on how to do this, on a laptop and a limited budget?

thanks

[brandondrury]

If a 4 track does everything you need it to, stick with it.

To get your music onto a computer isn't a big deal. I wouldn't be super comfortable recording you 4 track mix straight into the PC, but I would try it first before upgrading the sound card.

All you really need is free recording software like Audacity. Plug the stereo output of your mixer into the input of the laptop's sound card. Arm the track in Audacity, hit record, and push play on your 4 track.

From there you will be in the digital domain and shouldn't have much problem converting them to mp3. I use Razorlame for that, btw.

Brandon

[kyleknapp]

I didn't see N-Track on this list.

N-Track Studio www.ntrack.com is not free, exactly, it's shareware, and the "free" version has some limitations that cost you $49 to unlock (it was $29 when I tried it a few years ago. inflation...)

Supports both DirectX and VST plugins. I was fairly impressed with it (but then, that was a few years ago when I knew even less than I know now).

[flapdoodle]

which free software supports MIDI? i have a keyboard which i want to plug in to record :s thanks!!

[DT Chris]

Originally Posted by YLG

With a young family and a full time job spent sitting at a computer I just don't have a lot of time to spend learning a sophisticated program (much as I would like to.) I use a 4 track tape machine... that is about all I need i.e. just to record and play back my songs (although 8 tracks would be better). I'm not looking for professional sounding recordings. But at the same time I would like to make mp3s to share my music. Any advice on how to do this, on a laptop and a limited budget?

thanks

The only thing I didn't like about my 4-track, a Fostex Multitracker XR7, is having to sift through hours and hours of cassette tapes to try to find the cool ideas that I came up with a year or 2 ago, and don't know where to find them.

Yes, you can label the time ie., 12:30 Cool Idea in C#m, but your search will always entail fast-forwarding, reverse, etc which takes way too much time. This is sequential access, the slowest form of retrieving information, which is a creative-juice 'killer'. The sooner you and I can be comfortable recording to the computer rather than the 4-track is the day we are happier. At any time we can access that DVD we recorded a year ago and listen to every sample, wave file, mp3 file we ever made anytime we want.

Not to mention,there is no bleeding between tracks, you can bounce tracks indefinetly with no sound loss... It's the way to go in my opinion.

I'm still in the midst of getting my computer set up just so I can plug and play anytime I want. It's a hard thing to do when I use the same computer for everything else from business to intense online gaming, but I'll get there.

[MusicGrains]

Thanks for the info I'll definetely check them out.

[wallzo298]

Originally Posted by flapdoodle

which free software supports MIDI? i have a keyboard which i want to plug in to record :s thanks!!

http://www.download.com/Absynth/3000...ml?tag=lst-0-1
There is a software synthesiser you can use with a MIDI keyboard, from download.com. It is free to try.. but apparently has no limitations...
I havent properly used this, I havent got my MIDI keyboard working with my PC yet (due to school exams) but have messed about using the alphanumeric keyboard, and the sounds on it seem to be pretty good. I dont think it records though.
That link is for the windows download, Mac users who want to download it, just search "Absynth" on the search bar at the top.