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Posted by: THE BUZZARD Oct 10 2008, 02:46 AM

hi guys & gals......i was wondering what is the best and easiest recording software out there? you know something you don,t need a computer degree to use, i,m looking for something that i can make excellent drum beats and bass lines with, and maybe some synths stuff too !....if anyone knows of a good one please let me know....thank you so much

Posted by: Outlaw2112 Oct 10 2008, 02:49 AM

I like audacity... its simple to use

alot of people like reaper, but its too confusing to me compared to audacity

Posted by: UncleSkillet Oct 10 2008, 03:05 AM

+1 to that. Those are the most popular and there free

Audacity is good for doing something quick.

Reaper is not that hard to use IMHO and gives more control over the mixing and placement of more than one track.

Both are free so try them both and see what you think.

Posted by: SensE Oct 10 2008, 03:07 AM

Both of these work just great. You may consider Fruity Loops too.

Posted by: Emir Hot Oct 10 2008, 03:32 AM

I use SONAR. It's very simple and one of industry standards. You will need a week (maybe less) to feel comfortable with the program. Later you can discover more things as you are working but to mix the whole track you need about a week to learn it. I recomend learning industry standard software because once you learn it you are up to date and nothing looks strange anymore. After is very easy to switch to any other program as all those recording software work on a very similar principle. If you learn how to use some cheap program I am sure after 2 months you will want more from it and that program will not have what you might be looking for. This way you spend some time learning the proper stuff and you can be happy.

Posted by: Bogdan Radovic Oct 10 2008, 11:57 AM

I use Cubase and it gets the job done very well.But regarding free stuff , Reaper is the way to go in my oppinion..It will allow you to do everything you wanted..But make sure you obtain proper VSTs (virtual instruments) for drums and bass in order for your backing tracks to sound good.

Posted by: Jose Mena Oct 10 2008, 07:12 PM

I like pro tools and sonar, but lately I've been mostly using Pro Tools, I think is very straight forward.

Posted by: Ivan Milenkovic Oct 11 2008, 04:14 PM

IT depends how much money you have mate. If you have a big budget, then I suggest buying the best DAW software you can, because the better the software, the more easy it is to work with. But if you do want to save a bit, then Reaper is a great choice. It gives plenty of possibilities and it is free, so a very good choice.

Posted by: DeepRoots Oct 11 2008, 04:25 PM

Just wanna remind you guys that Reaper isn't free. There is an unlimited (in terms of functionality) trial period but if you like and use the software you really should buy a license for it, the software will prompt you after about 30 days i think (~$50 i think it was?!). The more people that treat it as free software then the less likely we are to see updates- and that makes me a sad panda

Posted by: Gus Oct 11 2008, 04:29 PM

Audacity is easier to use than reaper, but it also lacks on functionality compared to it.

Reaper is my current choice, going to cubase maybe in the future.

Posted by: Daniel Robinson Oct 11 2008, 04:39 PM

I too like Emir use Sonar, it has been my DAW of choice for a long time, being a long time cakewalk user.

I have also used Adobe Audition which is a great program as well. But a bit pricey.


I think you should try the free demo's of alot of software and see which ones you like and make an informed decision based on that.


Daniel

Posted by: Nemanja Filipovic Oct 11 2008, 04:50 PM

Well best there is out there IMO is Pro Tools,but Nuendo is not bas also.Pro tools costs a lot,and you need to by to much additional software that costs like hell.
I use Nuendo,and I am pretty fine with him.

Posted by: Marcus Siepen Oct 12 2008, 12:58 PM

I am also using Pro Tools, by far the best recording software in my opinion, but of course there are other good options too. If you want a free and easy to use software you should check out audacity.

Posted by: wollace03 Oct 12 2008, 01:52 PM

audacity is free and it is quit cool...
my friend uses mixcraft for making loops and mixing things and i tried it for recording and it is really cool and not complicated. it has many vcery useful features, not only for recording but also for slowing down or speeding any track - or for changing the key..
http://www.acoustica.com/mixcraft/download.htm
you can try it for a few days - it also comes with lots of drum eats and other virtual instruments...

i also tried reaper, which is a littel it more complicated i think.....

Posted by: Jose Mena Oct 12 2008, 10:46 PM

What I really like about the Digidesign (pro tools) software, is that you buy a plug and play hardware software bundle, it works out of the box, no hassle, that was at least my experience with my Digi003, which is probably a little expensive, but I also have an Mbox which is cheaper that I ocassionally use with a laptop, and works great.

Posted by: Marcus Siepen Oct 13 2008, 12:01 PM

I am also using the M-Box version, and it just rocks.

Posted by: Jeff Oct 13 2008, 02:36 PM

I love Pro Tools LE. Very addicting! They've just introduced version 8 which includes a ton of plug-in's that look to be pretty impressive. You'll have everything you need in one DAW.

Can be costly compared to Reaper and Audacity, however, I think it's worth the investment. Mbox will do fine. You won't regret it.

www.digidesign.com

Posted by: THE BUZZARD Oct 14 2008, 10:17 PM

hi guys, just wanted to thank you all for the great advice, i,ve been checking out your suggestions on pro tools, sonar, and cubase...again thanks to all of you who replied.

Posted by: Piotr Kaczor Oct 15 2008, 07:56 PM

I'm using Samplitude 9.0 LE (limited version of Samplitude professional) - the most intuitive (for me) DAW I've ever seen ( I've tested Adobe Audition, Cubase, Nuedno, Sonar, Mackie Traktion, Reaper, Acid). Samplitude sounds amazing and it has awesome plugins! LE version is available for free in music press like Future Music.

Posted by: Nemanja Filipovic Oct 15 2008, 09:25 PM

Can you tell us some thing a bout the prog,for exemp.Does he haw some defolt plug ins that are good,or instruments.I never had the chance to use one,so I am interested.
Thanks.

Posted by: Piotr Kaczor Oct 16 2008, 08:02 AM

Of course :-) Samplitude has great vintage suite plugins (vintage compressor, tape saturation, awesome reverb) - in SE ver. plugins work in demo course but they are really functional. All external vst plugins and virtual instruments operate perfectly. Mixer window looks like real analog console and its very comfortable in use.
More info: http://www.samplitude.com/eng/sam/se.html