LarryUK Posted July 5, 2011 Share Posted July 5, 2011 As some of you may know. I've come back to playing after a long break. This question is. I see everything being done on computer now. I'm not behind with tech. But what's the best programme to use and how do you do it? Preferably a free/cheap one. I'd like to do some instrumentals and perhaps some short instuction things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enmitygauged Posted July 5, 2011 Share Posted July 5, 2011 As some of you may know. I've come back to playing after a long break. This question is. I see everything being done on computer now. I'm not behind with tech. But what's the best programme to use and how do you do it? Preferably a free/cheap one. I'd like to do some instrumentals and perhaps some short instuction things. I bought the KB37 Line 6 Interface comes with guitar box Riff World and Abeleton Lite. Although I use magix 12 usually for basic recording cos its cheap as and easy as sin. the Line 6 UX1 is about as simple and easy as it gets.If you want cheap midi effects use SONAR or Cubase. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tman5293 Posted July 5, 2011 Share Posted July 5, 2011 Well in my experience the best free recording program is Audacity. I use it to record all my music. It gets the job done! Audacity: http://audacity.sourceforge.net/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LarryUK Posted July 5, 2011 Author Share Posted July 5, 2011 I bought the KB37 Line 6 Interface comes with guitar box Riff World and Abeleton Lite. Although I use magix 12 usually for basic recording cos its cheap as and easy as sin. the Line 6 UX1 is about as simple and easy as it gets.If you want cheap midi effects use SONAR or Cubase. ? I don't understand a word of that? Guitar box riff world? Line 6 UXI? Don't forget that I'm 52. :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
damian Posted July 5, 2011 Share Posted July 5, 2011 Check out REAPER............4.0 is coming out soon........I'm hybriding it; A Korg D3200, REAPER, Superior Drums 2.0, and a mix of other software I don't have a clue how it works yet.........REAPER takes up little space, it is FREE, although they ask for around 40.00 U.S. dollars to use it.................. What Tman jr and Emmitygauged use is good stuff as well...........I'm not very computer savy, and I get by with getting lost.....So, you already have a heads up........You'll want a 1gb graphic card, and as much memory as possible, and fast memory as well, like the DDR memory.......Recording is fun, especially when you have talent !!!! :unsure: ..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enmitygauged Posted July 5, 2011 Share Posted July 5, 2011 Sorry Ian, To put it in simpler terms. You need a module to record into something your Guitar or mic can connect into. This is the UX1 from Line 6, From there you need software that can run that module and also handy if it has built in sounds like stomp boxes noise gates and amp sounds this is the software Gearbox. From there you need a recording suite any mentioned so far will do the job brilliantly. If you want to use MIDI synths (digital sounds) like bass or strings like violin or even drums I recommend using a midi controller like the KB37 it is essentially the same module as the UX1 but with more lines in and a Keyboard that controls all the sounds that your software can make. hope that helps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Searcy Posted July 5, 2011 Share Posted July 5, 2011 This is an improve song clip I recorded using a $15 junk store lap top, $4 worth of cords from Radio Shack and some free programs off the web. This was all done and documented on another web site to see just how much money had to be spent to do some recording. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChanMan Posted July 5, 2011 Share Posted July 5, 2011 +1 for Audacity. It's free and I was able to figure out how to use it., so I figure you can too :). I got one of these from my daughter for Christmas: http://www.musiciansfriend.com/pro-audio/yamaha-audiogram-6-computer-recording-system It came with software and is a pretty nice all in one solution when paired with my laptop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riffster Posted July 5, 2011 Share Posted July 5, 2011 Hey Lashurst, First I assume you have a PC. MACs come with GarageBand these days so that's all you need. A computer recording interface is nothing but an external computer sound card fitted with inputs/jacks/controls that you need to record music, like a 1/4" phone plug for your Guitar or an XLR input for a Microphone or an input for a Line In, headphones to monitor, etc. I use a Line 6 model UX2, it is the model above the UX1 which has more inputs and actually allows you to record 2 inputs at once, it also has phantom power for condenser microphones. Once you get the hang of recording you will need a versatile interface so I would recommend to start in the right place. Both the UX1 and UX2 come with modeling software, the UX2 has more effects/amp models. So if you have an idea/riff you can use the modeling and put it down and then later on re-record it mic'ing an amp. Ableton Live came with it but I use the trial version of RiffWorks (that also came with it) I find RiffWorks to be intuitive from a guitar player perspective. Good luck, recording at home is cool stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShredAstaire Posted July 5, 2011 Share Posted July 5, 2011 ^^ These guys gave good advice... You need an audio interface...There's a ton out there in various price ranges so check everything out and see what you need. If you need to record with a condenser mic, you'll need one with PHantom power like StiffHand said. For SW....both Audacity and Reaper are great tools. Audacity is simpler and easier to learn I think but Reaper can be more powerful and has more "tools" within it as far as I know. They are both free so you can download them both and decide which one makes sense to you. There's nothing more fun than home recording...well maybe playing live. :) My playing improved a ton since I started recording myself...I can hear the improvement over time in my tracks. Good luck!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zigzag Posted July 5, 2011 Share Posted July 5, 2011 I really like Audacity, but I recently bought a MacBook Pro for Garage Band. When I put Audacity on my PC about a year ago, it made enough sense to me that I was recording almost right away. Garage Band is killing me! It makes no sense to me at all. I've done some of the tutorials, but still have problems laying down simple tracks, playing them back, and editing. Does anyone know of a simple tutorial for Garage Band that will allow me to use it effectively within a couple of short lessons? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milod Posted July 5, 2011 Share Posted July 5, 2011 Audacity. If you want to save in MP3 format, you've gotta mess with a second download that handles that - but it's explained on the Audacity site. I've used others and this still seems to work best although it's short a few bells and whistles. I have a cheapie audio interface that plugs to the line out of an acoustic amp that has mike and guitar separate inputs and controls. So I can do a solo vocal and guitar and run it mono thru the computer and Audacity. Some more expensive audio inputs have phantom mike power, guitar preamps, etc., that also go through USB or firewire. You've gotta mess around a little, but it's not all that complex. m Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShredAstaire Posted July 5, 2011 Share Posted July 5, 2011 If you want to save in MP3 format, you've gotta mess with a second download that handles that - but it's explained on the Audacity site. Yup, most will not export in MP3...usually in WAV or some other uncompressed format. Though, if you have iTunes, you can use that to compress to MP3. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drathbun Posted July 5, 2011 Share Posted July 5, 2011 +1 on Reaper. It is free but they ask for $40. It is actually worth a lot more than $40. I use Sonar X1 which is hundreds of bucks and will do everything you can think of but I recommend Reaper to people new to computer recording on PC. It has a great intuitive interface; a great improvement on Audacity. Reaper 3.76 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
damian Posted July 6, 2011 Share Posted July 6, 2011 The main issue is how you record, if you use PC based effects it will put a huge drain on your cpu since the computer is recording and doing effects. I also use Line6 software (riffworks) and hardware (Pod X3 live) so the strain is less because the PC is only recording. Also you need to remember that recording of any type requires huge amount of hard drive space so a PC that has less than 500mb of space left is not something I would suggest doing. Also most programs use the USB to communicate so the most current hardware (USB 2.0, loads of ramm, and a fast hard drive) also the most current drivers from the device mfg and for windows also. And......Most CPUs are powerful enough these days to record just fine......Hardware space and FAST memory speed are the most important factors......And, a PC used for recording should be a DEDICATED computer....I have lots of awesome recording software I'm not using because I don't have a dedicated recording computer........ A good dedicated recording computer should have a 1 TB hard drive and at least 8 GB of DDR3 memory...... This can be built or bought for $600 to $1200 bucks....Oh, and a VERY GOOD graphics/sound card as well........ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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