Switching from GarageBand to ??????

Kerry Brown

Kerry Brown

Ambassador of the Great Northern Bar Jams
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I've been using an old Mac Mini with GarageBand for recording The Mac can't take the latest OS updates. If I get more than six or seven tracks it starts locking up. I can't afford a newer Mac but I do have a decent laptop I can dedicate to recording. It has a Core i7 CPU with 16 GB RAM. It's running the latest version of Windows 10. I'd like to try recording with it but I know nothing about PC based DAWs. I know some have free and/or trial versions. I don't want to learn one DAW only to find out I need a different one. I currently use an Apogee JAM interface for guitar and bass. I have an Apogee Mic+ and an Akai MPK mini keyboard. They are all USB so I'm hoping I can use them on the laptop. If not I will get a Scarlett or something similar. Looking for recommendations.
 
Kerry Brown said:
I've been using an old Mac Mini with GarageBand for recording The Mac can't take the latest OS updates. If I get more than six or seven tracks it starts locking up. I can't afford a newer Mac but I do have a decent laptop I can dedicate to recording. It has a Core i7 CPU with 16 GB RAM. It's running the latest version of Windows 10. I'd like to try recording with it but I know nothing about PC based DAWs. I know some have free and/or trial versions. I don't want to learn one DAW only to find out I need a different one. I currently use an Apogee JAM interface for guitar and bass. I have an Apogee Mic+ and an Akai MPK mini keyboard. They are all USB so I'm hoping I can use them on the laptop. If not I will get a Scarlett or something similar. Looking for recommendations.
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Well
the whole advantage to using PC is that you can fish good parts and software out of trashcans and salvage shops.
It costs almost nothing if you do the footwork.
Start at the Goodwill store. You can find a functional quad core for less than $100.

I built my first PC out of trash cans / free parts literally....
I fished software out of a dumpster.
Right now I'm using MS office 2000 and it cost zero.
I got 6 flat screen monitors, 6 keyboards, 6 mices, and a Brother printer for zilch. The printer even had a refill cartridge !
All from a junk pile.
 
I have a copy of Abelton Live Light. Got it free years ago. Don’t remember if it came with a piece of hardware or software I purchased. Had it on my desktop but deleted it since I never felt I’d use it. Fast forward 10 years and gee whiz. Sure wish I still had that for my laptop. As luck would have it. My logon and password for Abelton still worked so I was able to re-download it. Now just have to figure out how to use it.
 
iblive said:
I have a copy of Abelton Live Light. Got it free years ago. Don’t remember if it came with a piece of hardware or software I purchased. Had it on my desktop but deleted it since I never felt I’d use it. Fast forward 10 years and gee whiz. Sure wish I still had that for my laptop. As luck would have it. My logon and password for Abelton still worked so I was able to re-download it. Now just have to figure out how to use it.
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I just recently began dabbling with recording software so i am GREEEEEEN with this lol i can record and make a sound but production/EQ wise? Forget it. Its basically like recording into a cassette recorder at this point lol
 
Clockworkmike said:
Audacity is a free recording software. Very basic though
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I use Audacity in my home studio. Its good...

Listen to WATCHTOWER 2020 in HD - Jimi Hendrix Cover by Von Herndon on #SoundCloud
soundcloud.app.goo.gl

WATCHTOWER 2020 in HD - Jimi Hendrix Cover

My Cover Of The Hendrix Classic. Special Thanks To Nashville Session Drummer Chris Brush, Who Performed All Drum Tracks And Created The Unique Drum Arrangements For This Song. I Am Playing All Guitars
soundcloud.app.goo.gl soundcloud.app.goo.gl
 
Reaper. REAPER | Audio Production Without Limits

Low cost, low overheads. Doesn't hog the processor and runs very happily on a 2.2GHz 8GB laptop.

Simple to use. Other than downloading the tiny installer and regular updates, no internet connection required. No iLok, dongles or other silly "security".

It can use all kinds of plugins and comes with a shedload.

Reaper 6 has a free full feature 60 day trial (which will continue to work forever) but it's only $60 for a licence that will last until version 7.99, probably three or four years.

It also handles video.

Video tutorials for anything you might want to do on YouTube.

This is mine, running AIR Expand and Steven Slate Drums VSTi on MIDI tracks to make a backing track.

Reaper SShot.png
 
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Robert Herndon said:
I use Audacity in my home studio. Its good...

Listen to WATCHTOWER 2020 in HD - Jimi Hendrix Cover by Von Herndon on #SoundCloud
soundcloud.app.goo.gl

WATCHTOWER 2020 in HD - Jimi Hendrix Cover

My Cover Of The Hendrix Classic. Special Thanks To Nashville Session Drummer Chris Brush, Who Performed All Drum Tracks And Created The Unique Drum Arrangements For This Song. I Am Playing All Guitars
soundcloud.app.goo.gl soundcloud.app.goo.gl
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That sounds AWESOME! Excellent playing too! I have got to figure out how to use this then, like i seriously need a For Dummies tutorial lll
 
Beagle said:
Reaper. REAPER | Audio Production Without Limits

Low cost, low overheads. Doesn't hog the processor and runs very happily on a 2.2GHz 8GB laptop.

Simple to use. Other than downloading the tiny installer and regular updates, no internet connection required. No iLok, dongles or other silly "security".

It can use all kinds of plugins and comes with a shedload.

Reaper 6 has a free full feature 60 day trial (which will continue to work forever) but it's only $60 for a licence that will last until version 7.99, probably three or four years.

It also handles video.

Video tutorials for anything you might want to do on YouTube.

View attachment 51258
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I was told to try Reaper and maybe still should!
 
Beagle said:
Here's the track I was doing in the screenshot above

https://soundcloud.com/id%3Duser-330173805%252Fhouse-bt%3Btrack_id%3D919869379
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Robert Herndon said:
I'm not too smart, so I appreciate how easy Audacity is to use....
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Beagle: that sounds lovely sir! Really nice

Robert: thats what sold me on trying it but i still am trying to figure out how to do things with it. I havent messed with it a whole lot but a dumb question: you can multitrack with it right?
 
Robert Herndon said:
I tried Reaper and didn't like it. It didn't feel right to me...but I did purchase the license and all.
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Before Reaper I used Cakewalk Pro Audio 9. When that stopped working, I tried Cubase, Sonar, Traktion, I even tried Ubuntu Studio. Just the last few days I had a look at Reason. I didn't like any of them.

Audacity is no good to me, latency is dreadful, it doesn't use ASIO drivers unless you recompile the source (which would waste music making time) and doesn't record MIDI anyway.
 
Maybe someday if can get ambitious to (1) learn Abelton and (2) actually record something to share with this awesome group..... I can put up a review.

Sneak preview. First song I’d be posting is my version of The Who’s “Behind Blue Eyes”.
 
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