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Recording
| Message Board > General Chitchat > Recording |
| Joni User Info... | Alright, I'm looking to do some recording on my laptop and was hoping somebody could point me in the direction of a good program to use. I know there are a number of free ones available for download (ie. Cakewalk), and if anyone has any thoughts or feedback on specific programs I would really appreciate it if you could pass it on. Thanks! - Wed, 1 Dec 2004 8:39pm | ||
| Kris User Info... | I was never a huge cakewalk fan. If you want to do it right your really going to have to be illegal or pay money. I like cool edit cause its easy, and I think garage band is pretty powerful. I dont know alot though. I just like easy stuff. - Wed, 1 Dec 2004 9:39pm | ||
| . User Info... | PRO TOOLS - Wed, 1 Dec 2004 9:49pm | ||
| Kickback User Info... | Pro tools is great if you're running all the external gear like the digistuff, but if you just want something simple i like Cool Edit Pro(now called Adobe Audition). If you are going to use Cool Edit Pro do a search on the web for Peter Quistgard, he seems to be very helpful. - Wed, 1 Dec 2004 10:44pm | ||
| User User Info... | You could try Tracktion, they just made version 1 available for free. http://www.mackie.com/products/tracktion/index.html - Thu, 2 Dec 2004 12:37am | ||
| Ian User Info... | i like cool edit pro but its easy basic and fundamental - Thu, 2 Dec 2004 1:44am | ||
| lonemonk User Info... | I recommend CoolEdit Pro as well. Dont confuse it with Cooledit itself which is an OK program but it is for two-track editing/recording only. Cakewalk has never been free, but I hate that program with a passion anyway. I assume you will be recording Audio alone (no Midi). Even on an older PC, in the past I have managed to get 16 simultaneous recording tracks at a time out of CE Pro. There is no doubt that Cooledit PRO is not in the same league as Protools, but it is infinitely easier to use and will teach you what other features you expect in a multi-track program if you decide to expand upon your idea. I'm a computer geek full-time, and I find protools to be needlessly complicated. Just so you know, I've had awesome results from a program called N-Track as well. (http://www.ntrack.com) Its a small one-man company, but he's been working his ass off on this program for years and it has become a very useable program. Another suggestion is make sure you find a good audio input system for your notebook. Never use the onboard soundcard, because all of them are shit. If you have USB on the laptop, you're laughing. Lots of companies selling high quality Analog to Digital converters which plug into USB. (Products like http://www.m-audio.com/) Finally, there is a two-track editor I use every day of my life. It isn't cheap, but any version of SoundForge (now regrettably owned by Sony) is the best stereo file manipulation program ever made. However, Cool Edit Pro also has a copy of Cooledit (2 track) built in... Start small, find out what features you really need and then start saving your money for the larger programs. - Thu, 2 Dec 2004 11:36am | ||
| Stringbender User Info... | Totally depends on what you want to try and do. Really. How many instruments/channels do you want to record at once? Use any MIDI, or ever intend to? Need compatibility with other software platforms? The freebie versions of all programs are very limited in what they let you do, have few if any plugins that are worth using... Protools is the industry standard, but has financial drawbacks: it is more expensive, and you can only use Digidesign hardware with it, and Digi hardware is more expensive than other companies. The only Protools that works with PCs is Protools LE, which has a lot of limitations compared to the Mac platform. Going the PC route, you have lots of options: Cool Edit (now Adobe Audition) is popular, but fairly basic. Cakewalk and Cubase are the other players. Both Cakewalk and Cubase have various levels that you can get in on. The free downloads are very limiting, the lower end Cakewalk (Homestudio) is okay, but again is very limited. Cakewalk makes Sonar, which is their topend program, and its latest version (4) if you get the Producer's Edition comes with hella plugins. I use it and love it, you can also export files to be compatible with Protools. Cubase is also very good (especially SX), but as I don't use it, I can't say a lot about it. From what I understand, with Cubase SX vs Sonar it is really 6 of one and half a dozen of the other. Neither is better than the other, they are just better at different things. The PC route allows you to use other hardware (sound card interfaces) so you can use either your crappy SOundblaster card (which is very limiting and won't offer great sound), or M-Audio products, Aardvark, MOTU etc. which will give you much better sound. Go to a forum like Homerecording.com/bbs and read around there for a while. Research a lot and buy the right thing the first time. Warning: once you start, you will never stop, it is a serious financial disease. - Thu, 2 Dec 2004 12:00pm | ||
| Bobby User Info... | >>do a search on the web for Peter Quistgard lol, no shit. - Thu, 2 Dec 2004 2:00pm | ||
| Joni User Info... | Hi everyone, thanks a lot for the comments. It looks like Cool Edit Pro is the first choice here - although my experience with that program is limited, it's received some pretty positive responses so I'm willing to go on that. I'll also look into N-Track. If you've got any more feedback, please do keep it coming! - Thu, 2 Dec 2004 2:46pm | ||
| [+} User Info... | i'd go hardware based, 8 track style, if it were me. but for something to hold you over i'd go with pro tools or garageband. are you using your mic input on the soundcard? if so, i'd go with garageband. down with cakewalk! - Thu, 2 Dec 2004 6:36pm | ||
| Kris User Info... | I gotta agree with aiden here. Garageband is relatively easy and it is a hell of a program. - Thu, 2 Dec 2004 9:47pm | ||
| stringbender User Info... | I understand people have different preferences, but has anyone who is saying down with Cakewalk used Sonar 4 PE? And if so, name any technical hole in the program. I don't pan other software platforms, I just pump the one I use and know well. Seriously, what is wrong with Sonar? And no , my panties aren't in a knot, I just would like to see a real discussion here. - Thu, 2 Dec 2004 10:54pm | ||
| Coleman User Info... | My vote is for Cool Edit Pro. It may not be the best program in the world, but you can get some really great results without much effort. It also has a WICKED noise reduction filter, that combined with a little bit of reverb can even make something recorded with a $5 computer mike sound near-pro. below are a couple of examples of music I've made in cool edit pro... all recorded sounds for both bands(guitars, vocals, samples) were recorded & noise reductioned in cool edit pro. http://www.soundclick.com/escapefromwherever http://www.soundclick.com/thequail - Fri, 3 Dec 2004 9:43am | ||
| [+} User Info... | haven't tried Sonar 4 PE yet.. will have to check it out. but really, i'm not using the software for a whole lot.. so i don't need many of the features, just record and go. i just need good reverb algorithms and a decent compressor. everything else besides that is pretty secondary. i'm actually a big fan of the VS2400 by roland as in all-in-one, but wouldn't mind a digirack-protools setup either! does Sonar have a demo for sonar 4 PE? - Fri, 3 Dec 2004 10:32am | ||
| lonemonk User Info... | I've got nothing against Sonar, it appears to be a fantastic program. Not only for direct recording, but I understand it has sampler support and whatnot built in. Lots of integrated components to add to any track, effects, etc. Like you I have simply become used to how certain programs operate. I used to try all of them and use them interchangeably, until I started to run into incompatibilities between them and the like. (Steinberg) Nuendo was nice, but i didn't like the way it created its directories and made it harder to pull all the tracks into a single view in some other program. Also, it absolutely depends on what one is doing. No one program seems to do it all, but each has their own speciality. Its best to match a programs speciality with the one thing that you will be doing ALL the time. Other sub-features can come and go, but the main program must do the main task and do it better than any other. I use NO MIDI what so ever, so things like Cakewalk and Logic Audio are not for me, but still useable to others. For what its worth coming from me, what I saw in Sonar is what Cakewalk should have been years ago. I'll weigh in on the hardware based standalone recorders, even though I don't currently one I have rented them for various reasons: If you are familiar with the old-skool mixing scenario then its the way to go. Ditto if you already have some Mic pres or even a mixer that you want to use. Also, if mobile recorded is your thing, they are at least self-contained. Moving a full-sized computer is useless. The standalone units usually sound really good and these days they have all the bells. My being a geek and all, computer recording has the distinct advantage of the sound files always being immediately accessible. I only burn CDs on the computer because of the control I get with that method. So for my recorded files to be elsewhere and require some means of transfer usually adds to my labour. Some systems allow this easily, others do not. (Some require Burn to CD and carry them over to the computer) My iRiver allows direct connection with the PC as if it was an internal Hard drive. I love it. Hardware recorders also do not have all that fucking around keeping the computer running. I don't have much of a problem there because my machine is not connected to the network. However, its a concern for sure. A buddy sent me this link, and for someone like myself this is the sexiest piece of gear I have ever laid eyes on. Not sure what they're worth yet, but in truth I'm turned on mostly by mobile recording, and this is the shit. http://www.edirol.com/products/info/r4.html - Fri, 3 Dec 2004 3:34pm | ||
| Stringbender User Info... | I am pretty sure that Sonar 4 has a demo version. Not sure if it is the Producers or Studio edition. Wouldn't be surprised if it is the Studio edition though. What the Producers edition has that the other doesn't is that it comes bundled with teh Sonitus fx suite, which really is an awesome set of plugs, Lexicon Pantheon reverb, surround sound mixing, but those things alone are worth the difference in cost. Other differences too. What I love about Sonar 4 is the unlimited bus routing features... no limit to how many ways you can bus tracks, no limit to aux busses, main busses etc or how they are routed. Plus you can stick things in folders in the mixing view (ie once you have the drums all set right, you can collapse them all into a single "track folder", and only have to move the fader on the one track. Track freezing rocks too, you can "freeze" any track, which bounces it down with all the effects/automation/eq preserved, but shuts down the original track with all the plugs so that you can save CPU power. But, you can unfreeze at any time and it recalls all the original settings/fx to be tweaked further. Also Aidan... not going to be able to contribute to your new project, I am moving to Edmonton next month. But if you want to check out the Garnet Mohawk amp, or check out Sonar 4PE, drop me an email. cstockdale @ telus . net - Sat, 4 Dec 2004 8:42pm | ||
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