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Question for Musicians


Ice Storm

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Does anypony know of any recording software for computers that works decently, but isn't crazily expensive? The only thing I can use to record anything with at the moment is a version of Guitar Pro 5, and a cell phone, and sadly... the cell phone is better quality... Any tips or suggestions would be appreciated.

 

@Mods: I didn't know whether this should go in the discussion section or the non-pony section. If this is in the wrong section, I apologize in advance and could please move it to the correct location? PLease and thank you!!! :D

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Thanks, I'll give it a try, I'm mostly going to be recording from my guitar amp, and as soon as I get something up that's of decent listening quality, I'll post some of my works so that people can listen.

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+1 for Audacity. I own the entire Adobe Creative Suite (yes, I actually do), and Adobe Soundbooth (supposedly a super high-end audio recording + editing package) doesn't even come close to the breadth, speed, functionality, and ease-of-use of Audacity. Highly recommend that little open-source miracle. :)

 

This is the right section, by the way. You're discussing software for making music - it fits better here than with all the political and religious debates in General Discussion.

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(edited)

+1 for Audacity. I own the entire Adobe Creative Suite (yes, I actually do), and Adobe Soundbooth (supposedly a super high-end audio recording + editing package) doesn't even come close to the breadth, speed, functionality, and ease-of-use of Audacity. Highly recommend that little open-source miracle. :)

 

This is the right section, by the way. You're discussing software for making music - it fits better here than with all the political and religious debates in General Discussion.

 

Awesome, I'm just finally tired of everything I write that sounds amazing when mixed together, is kind of put down on the fact that it's obvious that it sounds like a Midi file. The chords, the progressions, the rhythm, everything is great, just the sound of playback is atrocious. It sounds so much better off my amp. I just hope that my Mic is good enough to pick everything up without a lot of feed back. That will be my next goal.

Edited by Ice Storm
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Awesome, I'm just finally tired of everything I write that sounds amazing when mixed together, is kind of put down on the fact that it's obvious that it sounds like a Midi file. The chords, the progressions, the rhythm, everything is great, just the sound of playback is atrocious. It sounds so much better off my amp. I just hope that my Mic is good enough to pick everything up without a lot of feed back. That will be my next goal.

 

Hope you have a good mic. My mom purchased a $100 Yeti for use with her grand piano, and she couldn't be happier - the sound is super-crisp.

 

If you're working with a lot of music on your computer, a good instrument library will make it sound infinitely better. I recommend the ones from EastWest, and this is a piece I've written and rendered entirely with one of their libraries.

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Hope you have a good mic. My mom purchased a $100 Yeti for use with her grand piano, and she couldn't be happier - the sound is super-crisp.

 

If you're working with a lot of music on your computer, a good instrument library will make it sound infinitely better. I recommend the ones from EastWest, and this is a piece I've written and rendered entirely with one of their libraries.

 

yeah, I wish I could get my hands on Finale, I used to have an old version of note-pad, but Finale is so expensive anymore. The only thing I like about it that I haven't found in any other music editing program though, is the use of crescendos, decrescendos, Retardondos, and other dynamic and tempo inflections. The stuff that I write, is more in the metal to alternative rock, and I do a lot with tempo change.

 

How much to the sounds from east west cost? I ask because well, I'm jobless at the moment, so every penny counts. (it's the main reason why I'm looking for cheap software at moment...) I've been trying to turn my music into my profession though.

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yeah, I wish I could get my hands on Finale, I used to have an old version of note-pad, but Finale is so expensive anymore. The only thing I like about it that I haven't found in any other music editing program though, is the use of crescendos, decrescendos, Retardondos, and other dynamic and tempo inflections. The stuff that I write, is more in the metal to alternative rock, and I do a lot with tempo change.

 

How much to the sounds from east west cost? I ask because well, I'm jobless at the moment, so every penny counts. (it's the main reason why I'm looking for cheap software at moment...) I've been trying to turn my music into my profession though.

 

Finale and EastWest's libraries really are quite expensive, but they're top-notch packages. My mom's a professional piano teacher, so she lets me use her equipment and stuff.

 

It's possible to... ahem, acquire them for free, if you know where to look. Google is your friend. ;)

 

But please, if you do this and your music profession does take off because of it, you should purchase a proper copy of anything you torrent as soon as you are able to.

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Finale and EastWest's libraries really are quite expensive, but they're top-notch packages. My mom's a professional piano teacher, so she lets me use her equipment and stuff.

 

It's possible to... ahem, acquire them for free, if you know where to look. Google is your friend. ;)

 

But please, if you do this and your music profession does take off because of it, you should purchase a proper copy of anything you torrent as soon as you are able to.

 

I "would" attempt to acquirethem through other means, but I have a rule, and I stick by this rule. I don't torrent things that I support. The only exception was when I downloaded How To Train Your Dragon because I wanted to use it for my amv. I promptly bought the movie afterwards. Being a musician myself, I don't like torrenting anything I don't have to. Not to mention the last time I tried, I've had difficulties getting SN's to work right. If my current situation doesn't improve though, I may "have" to resort to means I wouldn't normally resort to just so I can get something going. At the moment, I'm struggling even to just get a band together, and We're nothing without a singer.

 

That being said, I can't do any singing. There's a reason I'm a guitar player. Sadly, Finale can only do so much. At the very least though, I can get a couple recordings of me actually playing up soon. I'll still have to use my GP program for drums and bass, but I can record both guitar parts without a problem, (separately of course, haha) everything I post though would be without lyrics, unless I magically get a singer within a couple weeks.

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I "would" attempt to acquirethem through other means, but I have a rule, and I stick by this rule. I don't torrent things that I support. The only exception was when I downloaded How To Train Your Dragon because I wanted to use it for my amv. I promptly bought the movie afterwards. Being a musician myself, I don't like torrenting anything I don't have to. Not to mention the last time I tried, I've had difficulties getting SN's to work right. If my current situation doesn't improve though, I may "have" to resort to means I wouldn't normally resort to just so I can get something going. At the moment, I'm struggling even to just get a band together, and We're nothing without a singer.

 

That being said, I can't do any singing. There's a reason I'm a guitar player. Sadly, Finale can only do so much. At the very least though, I can get a couple recordings of me actually playing up soon. I'll still have to use my GP program for drums and bass, but I can record both guitar parts without a problem, (separately of course, haha) everything I post though would be without lyrics, unless I magically get a singer within a couple weeks.

 

It's a good rule to have. I admire your integrity. :)

 

In that case, ask around and you might find a few members with access to great sound libraries who may be willing to render your MIDI files for you. A "Need someone to render a MIDI file" topic, with the MIDI file attached, should hopefully garner a few responses; I know we have a few active composers around here. Even I could produce a render for you, although I tend to be really busy. Using Audacity, you could then combine the rendering with any recordings you make.

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It's a good rule to have. I admire your integrity. :)

 

Yes, and unfortunately, integrity isn't a common trait among most people anymore. At least not people that live around me.

 

In that case, ask around and you might find a few members with access to great sound libraries who may be willing to render your MIDI files for you. A "Need someone to render a MIDI file" topic, with the MIDI file attached, should hopefully garner a few responses; I know we have a few active composers around here. Even I could produce a render for you, although I tend to be really busy. Using Audacity, you could then combine the rendering with any recordings you make.

 

I could try to do that, or I could if anyone has Guitar Pro, upload the GP files as well. GP uses a real sound engine but it's so horrible it might as well be MIDI. My ultimate goal is to get an in-home studio. I can actually play everything I right, I just don't have a bass to play the bass ling on. Drums are a different monster though. If everything goes well, and my computer decides to Cooperate, I might be able to have my first recording up in a week or so.

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Well, it entirely depends on what genre of music you're working with. Either way, you need Audacity as a splicing tool, it's easy to use and is basically the Swiss knife of Audio editors. That being said, perhaps you would consider using it in junction with other Trackers/Studio tools? Some suggested software on my part would be OpenMPT, also known as Open ModPlug Tracker. It's the free, entirely open fork of ModPlug Tracker, and it's really excellent. IT supports both MIDI soundbanks and VSTi plugins. In addition, LMMS (Linux Multimedia Studio) is nice for really advanced audio editing and composition.

 

EDIT: And, both are as free as the gum stuck under benches in New York City -- except they're quite a bit more desirable.

Edited by Ashbad
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If i had musical talent i would totally try audacity, but, i wish you all the best of luck

 

Audacity doesn't require any musical talent whatsoever. It's solely a recording program. I use it to record audio for YouTube videos.

 

I "would" attempt to acquirethem through other means, but I have a rule, and I stick by this rule. I don't torrent things that I support.

 

I have something similar in place, I torrent things to try them out. Games or programs that I figure I'll actually use, such as PhotoShop, Minecraft, and PowerDirector, I will buy promptly after (usually a few weeks) and others I just delete anyways.

 

+1 for Audacity. I own the entire Adobe Creative Suite (yes, I actually do), and Adobe Soundbooth (supposedly a super high-end audio recording + editing package) doesn't even come close to the breadth, speed, functionality, and ease-of-use of Audacity. Highly recommend that little open-source miracle. :)

 

The glory of open source programs. I actually feel they might be the future for companies. Some of them, like Thunderbird and OpenJDK, completely destroy their corporate combatants in weight and ease of use, and allot of them, such as Inkscape, Blender, OpenOffice, 7zip and GIMP are on the rise.

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  • 4 years later...

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