Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum
Forum Ringside => Guitars, Amps and Effects => Topic started by: Jonesy on April 22, 2007, 07:01:57 PM
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have any of you lot got any suggestions for some good recording software to start off with...im not realy too familiar with it all
And im not sure what kind of price rang eI should be looking at
Cheers for any help!!
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i use adobe audition 1.5, works pretty good, but you can't easily add fx after as it wasn't rly designed for recording
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I'm mostly familiar with Cubase SL/X and find it's very easy to use and gives great results.
Cakewalk is also quite popular.
However most recording software out there can be rather costly. A couple of free downloadable pieces of software are Reaper and Audacity.
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My best recommendation is this:
Get a decent DAS. This will imrove your capacity to record over a soundcard TREMENDOUSLY, and you get free (that should be "Free": the cost is in there somwhere!) stripped down DAWs with it. The DAS costs less than a full software package from, say, stienberg or cakewalk, and you get a decent DAW that will be more than enough to learn on and make stuff with. Then, if you ot grow it (thats a big if, actually, I find sonar and cubase LE to be rather suprisingly powerfull tools) then you get a big discount on the full software package.
Sorry for the acronyms, BTW (he he):
DAS = Digital Audio System. For example, this is what I got http://www.dolphinmusic.co.uk/page/shop/flypage/product_id/28380/a/r/e/base and its superb.
DAW - Digital Audio Workstation. Cubase, Sonar, Nuendo, Audition, whatever.
P.S. I dont recommend audition 1.5, since it doesnt support ASIO. Audition 2.0 does, if you like audition.
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and buy something like computer music..give away free software(ain't cubase but ain't bad) also how to's and reviews on what to buy
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I use Cubase LE, I got it with my EMU soundcards. It's a very good software yet easy to learn compared to the SX version for instance.
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yeah sx is great but is a steep learning curve
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I once bought a pirate Cubase 3 on ebay (I have no moral :oops: ) and got totally swamped with all the options. Didn't work very well with the Toneport I had trouble hooking it all up but that's probably just me not using it properly. My cr@ppy old PC didnt help either.
For my recording I think I'll go with MDV's idea of buying a DAS with student versions of softwares.
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The program that is still sadly overlooked in these forums is Reaper. It's uncrippled shareware that costs a mere £20 to register and receive free software updates.
The Sound on Sound forum has a frankly huge thread on it a few months back which is well worth reading. It's got very low CPU overheads, so it's possible to run it on an less than ideal computer, fantastically flexible routing, and a good sounding audio engine. It's also small enough that I've heard of some people running it froma USB pendrive.
I made the move from Cubase to Reaper back in february and I've been very happy from my experience so far, to the extent where Ben (TO) and I are talking about doing a trans-Atlantic project using the software in the near future.
There is also a number of professional studios in America who are reportedly moving from Pro Tools in favour of Reaper due to the excellent support (the development team are currently issuing 2 or 3 new updates, new features, and bug fixes a week as well as listening to user ideas), the flexibility and stability of the program.
To my mind, £20 buys you a leading contender for consumer level DAW's. And possibily if some of the pro's are to be listened to, a leading professional DAW too...
*Rahnooo*
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Thanks for that will give it a try
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No worries. I can't remember the url, but if you googlesearch "c--kos" and "reaper" you should find it.
I forgot to mention that the braine behind Reaper is Jutsin - the chap who developed winamp and then sold it for millions to AOL. By all accounts he's a pretty smoking guitarist too, and it developing Reaper out of a passion for music rather than to make money (because when you've sold winamp to AOL for millions, why would you need much more right?).
*Rahnooo*
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*LMAO* true just been trying reaper..silly question can you use vst instruments in it
Ignore tht found out how to do it
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I Didn't work very well with the Toneport I had trouble hooking it all up but that's probably just me not using it properly.
I also had problems with this combination. Cubase wasn't able to load the ASIO driver of the Toneport. Now I use its digital out and record through my soundcard.
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I use Mackie Tracktion, easy to use, powerfull and works fine with my toneport ux2.
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would it be better to use software or a mic from the amp
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ableton live...
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on a toneport?
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I use Adobe Audition, it works perfectly well for me as it's completely no frills.
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I use Mackie "Tracktion" too. the software came with my Mackie USB interface all for about £99. There are two inputs, so you can use a microphone straight from the amp, ( phantom powering provided if needed for condenser Microphone).
I use guitar straight into one input and then through 'Guitar Rig' effect/amp/cabinet/microphone modelling software. (It was easy to integrate FX modelling software into 'Tracktion').
I do not have/use a microphone as I just add bits to a mates pre-recorded studio tracks at home.
For Forum sound clips, I can imagine that the only 'true' representation of each pickup would be microphone on the amp for pure demonstration purposes.
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For your distortion sound?
I'd only use software if you must play at low volumes.
In order of tone goodness I'd say its this:
VST
Amp modeller (pod XT, for example)
Mic'd amp.
This is just my experience of it though. Opinions may vary ;)
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For your distortion sound?
I'd only use software if you must play at low volumes.
In order of tone goodness I'd say its this:
VST
Amp modeller (pod XT, for example)
Mic'd amp.
This is just my experience of it though. Opinions may vary ;)
or a low wattage valve amp? I've used Amplitube, Guitar Rig, and the original Pod. Out of the choice of those 3 I'd say Guitar Rig was the most convincing VST amp simulator. I never really got on with Amplitube though.
For my money nothing beats a good quality low wattage valve amp. I get far better tones out of my Matamp Minimat mic-d with a Rode Nt-1A than I ever did with any of the other 3 products I mentioned. It may not have the same uber-polished studio sound, but the tones are much more intuitive to dial in. And I sometimes find that the studio polished pod sounds don't always work in the context of a mix where everything else has been recorded in DIY conditions :)
*Rahnooo*
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I like to use Sonar 5 Studio Edition, it only cost me £60, and it's amazing! I use it with my M Audio 192 card, and (for now) a tapco mixer. I plan to upgrade to a Mackie Oynx desk soon though.
Prefer Sonar much more than Cubase, Logic, Pro Tools or any other I've tried, because you get unlimited tracks, fx and it has 64 bit proccessing, and a Lexicon Reverb plug in that really is proffessional quality. Compare the specs of Sonar to any other DAW out there.
The choice is yours in the end.
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I use GarageBand. It's Mac only, but it's got pretty much all the power than most of us will need and is extremely user-friendly and effective, IMO. I might upgrade to Logic Express sometime, but I haven't exhausted what I can do with GB yet.
If you haven't got a Mac, I'd recommend going out and buying a Mac mini for 400 quid (list) and plugging your existing keyboard and monitor into it. ;) It comes loaded with GarageBand 3. 8)