Best software

[William J. Lawyer]

I record with a Tascam dp-01fx deck. I've been pleased with the results so far. I'm essentially a guitarist, singer, songwriter. My recordings are typically 10 tracks or fewer. I would like to invest in some software for my computer that I could use for additional processing of the tracks on the "dp" deck. I've looked at Pro Tools, Sibelius, Cakewalk, and a few others, but frankly, I'm not sure which is the most practical.

I am not a rocker....I record with a variety of acoustic guitars, an electric bass, and occasionally am joined by others for vocals, "egg" shakers, harmoncia, etc. Primarily finger-style. Think Jim Croce or Gordon Lightfoot you'll be losely in my genre. What software would you guys suggest?

wjl

[brandondrury]

So what are you expecting to do with the software again?

Brandon

[William J. Lawyer]

I've heard that software such as ProTools can be used to enhance a recording's sound after the inital tracks have been laid down. For instance, I'm under the impression some software can increase "punch," do pitch-correction if needed, add strings, remove hiss, etc.

Perhapse a better question would be, if I'm already producing fairly clean, quality recordings on my Tascam deck, what can a product such as CuBase or ProTools do for me?

wjl

[brandondrury]

I'm under the impression some software can increase "punch,"

"software" like Cubase or Pro Tools doesn't necessarily do this. Compressors can do this. Of course, compressors can be used with your Tascam or inside recording software.

do pitch-correction if needed

I'm not aware of any software that comes with a good pitch corrector. However, the two big boy plugins are Melodyn and Auto-tune. This 3rd party concept is a big reason I like the computer recording setup. I can use specific 3rd party compressors for specific tasks. If I decide that I want to fire up my 3rd party sampler software, I can program an orchrestra piece. There really isn't anything that a good computer based recording can't do, but it's just an issue of deciding what you need.

Most of the rock bands I record could use a tape machine.

Perhapse a better question would be, if I'm already producing fairly clean, quality recordings on my Tascam deck, what can a product such as CuBase or ProTools do for me?

It depends. Maybe nothing. Maybe everything. I have a full chapter dedicated to this in my upcoming home recording book.

I love having a sequencer and a full blown audio recording rig all in the same setting. I love various features like looping a section and recording 4 vocal takes and then comping them together. I like the idea of not having to buy 25 hardware compressor channels. I like the idea of instantly recalling my mixes. However, maybe none of these would improve your recordings.

Brandon