You might be reading this because you want to record and engineer your own music. You may or may not have already been mislead by marketing campaigns geared towards home recordists.
MasteringBox is easy to use free audio mastering software designed especially for android devices to make you provide better sound, effects and loudness to your track with an easy and quick mastering process. You just need to upload your track DJ mix and master it within a minute. You can also do a live recording with this android application.
Before we get to the specifics, the simplest program for audio editing is a two-track editor; probably the most famous example here is the free Audacity. While Audacity aspires to some extremely.
Middle Tennessee State University. Location: Murfreesboro, Tennessee. MTSU’s Department of.
Online Voice Recorder is a free simple application which records sound from microphone. After recording you can trim the sound and save it to your computer. 3- Vocaroo Vocaroo is another web based tool that allows users to easily make audio recordings and share them with others.
Well, that term in itself is outdated. Almost half of the records I make these days are on mobile recording units. It’s hardly a hobbyist way to make a record these days.
Usually a few weeks into your maiden voyage, you’ll realize it’s going to be a bumpy ride. Turns out buying gear recommended by the staff at Guitar Center alone will not yield the sounds you desire. At this point, you will spiral a little.
It’s not as simple as you’ve been led to believe. Engineering a recording is a complicated craft. Just like playing an instrument, it means you’ll have to study and practice.
The learning process can be tricky. Many learn from the Internet. The web is an incredibly valuable resource. But, it doesn’t lay out information in a consecutive manner. Meaning you’re likely to learn phase 28 before you learn phase 2.
I thought that perhaps I can help by laying out some fundamentals for learning. No in any particular order:
1. Don’t worry about mastering
Mastering is a separate art. If you’re new to recording, you need to focus your energy on the many steps before mastering. Yes, you’re going to be tempted with all the fancy mastering plugins for your DAW, but stay strong. Mastering is the last phase.
2. Make sure your gear sounds great in your room
If the drums sound like dung in the room and you place microphones on them, what would logic tell you? You’re going to record poo. This applies to every instrument. You can’t almost get it there … You have to get it there.
3. You don’t need a full microphone closet
Microphone choices are great. But too many will cloud your decision-making process at first. It takes time to learn a microphone. Start with as few as possible and put them on as many sources as you can. Dig deep into each microphone’s identity.
4. Read manuals and take notes
Yeah, we’re all rebels who hate reading manuals. We can just figure it out, right? Yes and no. It takes a lot longer to discover everything that one read of a manual can teach you. I always take notes in a dedicated gear journal so I can find the important stuff later.
5. Take your time getting sounds
You’re going to feel rushed on many occasions. You might have a great idea and want to lay it down. That’s what iRecorder is for on your iPhone. Record the idea so you have a document of it. Now, proceed to figure out what the best way to capture the sound. Sometimes, this is longer than the actual playing.
6. Have sessions where the only goal is to learn
There are sessions that are serious and sessions that are for growth. Make sure you get in as many for growth sessions as possible. Ones where errors are acceptable for experimentation or learning.
7. Don’t overprocess at first
Avoid the impulse to put as many plugins on your channel as humanly possible. I rarely have more than two, it should sound good with none. The plugins you do add are either for embellishment or destructive creativity. Know the difference.
8. Don’t think it will work out in the mix
Some things you can’t fix. You just try to hide the scars with heavy makeup. If it isn’t right, do it again.
9. Phase, phase, phase
Phase is going to baffle you for some time. Get in touch with your inner phase zen. It’s one of the biggest sore thumbs of an inexperienced engineer. Learning how to keep things in phase can make your recordings sound like a million bucks.
10. Learn each plugin like an instrument
Plugins are tools just like microphones and instruments. Limit your collection of plugins. Learn to use a selected few. Know them inside and out. Learn their limitations and the ways you can exploit them.
11. Don’t worry about mixing
Recording isn’t mixing. Like mastering, mixing is its own art. If you’re starting out recording your own music, you need to learn what is going to be easy to mix, not necessarily how to mix it. If you put all the faders up and it sounds good (but unbalanced) you’ve done well. If not, back to the chopping block.
12. Avoid marketing
That one thing you swear is really going to make a difference in your record — it probably won’t. Time spent developing skills will.
13. Move microphones
You may have to do this multiple times for each source. Every time you record, it’s part of the process. Don’t make assumptions that there is a G spot (the myth that all men have been told). Don’t be lazy. Move the mics around.
14. Mono is your friend at first
Two mics are harder to deal with than one. Start by recording mono sources. Try to pace your learning. You’re not going to be Ken Scott overnight.
15. Learn what’s relevant to your style
There is a lot of static about recording. Try to read articles from engineers/producers/musicians related to the type of music you want to record.
If you’re into jazz, reading articles based on recording metal drums isn’t so relevant. Even if it’s good advice. Seek good advice from those who share similar tastes. Branch out later.
So…
If you follow these guidelines, you’ll discover a steady rate of progress. Although you won’t acquire everything you need overnight, you’re less likely to get stuck or sidetracked.
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If you’re a serious musician, podcaster, or budding audio engineer, you care about the quality of your recordings–or you should. And that’s why the audio recording programs you use matter.
However, I’d like to add that it’s not the software that makes the music. It’s your skills as an audio engineer.
To illustrate, I’d like to tell you a story of an interesting email thread a while back. This guy was looking for a home studio, and he was asking around for where to go.
An acquaintance of mine chimed in with his answer, with some details about studios and such but there was one comment that infuriated me:
“You might want to have someone who’s recording onto protools. (sic)”
Ugh…
Now, I know that not all musicians are engineers so I should let that slide. And this person is a great musician, but he’s a little off in what makes up a great studio.
The thing that bothers me is that software companies are so good at brainwashing the public into believing that their software is crucial to the makings of a good record.
It REALLY isn’t.
It doesn’t matter whether you use Pro-Tools, Nuendo, Cubase, Sonar Producer, Logic Pro, Digital Performer, GarageBand, Live, or any of the other software that’s for sale out there.
It’s the least important thing in the grand scheme of:
“hey I want to know how to record my songs or have someone do it for me….what should I buy first?“
The software isn’t going to tell you what sounds good. It’s not a robot that knows how to engineer a great guitar sound. It can’t tell you if you’re overcompressing your drums or flooding your vocals with reverb. This is something that the engineer needs to know. This is the skill of the engineer, regardless of what software he’s using.
Pro-Tools is not going to make your music sound any better.
Ask yourself:
If you install [insert preferred software here] onto your computer, is it going to make the acoustics in your room any better?
No.
Is it going to make the sound of your pre-amps any better?
No.
Will it walk out of the computer, look at your monitors and say, “Gee, maybe you should space those monitors a little further apart for better imaging.”
No, it’s not some mega nerdy Cylon engineer.
It’ll just do what you tell it to do. And if you feed it garbage it will give you trash.
Skills Make Sounds – Not Software
So think more about what skills you need to record a great sound than the software that “they” tell you that you desperately need to get.
Yes, you need software. But any software is great if you, or the engineer you hire, is excellent at using it. I use Logic. Do I recommend Logic to everybody. Not really.
My philosophy is that any software that you’re comfortable using is the best software for your situation. The skills and knowledge of engineering are infinitely more important than any audio recording software that’s out there.
Now that we’ve got that rant out of the way let’s talk about what software solutions you have available, both free and paid.
A quick search on Amazon will show you a lot of different options that will give you decision anxiety, so we’ve compiled a list for you to reduce your hyperventilating so that you can go back to what you set out to do before, make music.
71 Free Shortcuts to Easy Separation and Balance in Your Mixes
If you’ve been struggling to hear all the instruments in a mix, my EQ cheatsheet will help you out.
Learn to clean up your low-end, reduce bleed in your drums and eliminate annoying resonant frequencies from your recordings.
Get rid of muddiness in your low-mids, tame the harshness in your mix, and get rid of your boxy sounding drums.
Learn where to add presence to your vocals, brilliance to your acoustic guitars, thickness to your keyboards or weight to your bass. These tips are broken down by instrument and help you fix your frequency problems with simple solutions that you can use right away.
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Top 5 Free Audio Recording Programs
Most run-of-the-mill, audio recording apps that come pre-installed on your computer just won’t cut it (with the possible exception of GarageBand for Macs, a reasonably high-quality recorder for simple projects), and you also may not be willing or able to spend an arm and a leg for professional grade software.
However, you’re in luck. There are some great free tools that actually don’t suck and can produce the kind of quality recording that will make anybody who listens to your works of art — or wit if you’re a podcaster — it up and take note of what you have to offer.
Here are some of the very best, completely free recording tools that will help bring your sounds to life.
1. Audacity
Available for Windows, Mac OS, and Linux
Audacity is the go-to open-source audio recording application, and as long as your goals aren’t overly ambitious, it puts an enormous amount of power in your hands. It can record just about anything you throw at it, whether it’s from a microphone, through the line-in jack, or live streaming audio (if supported by your sound card), all in a lightweight and clean interface. Many recording enthusiasts, especially podcasters, appreciate Audacity’s uncomplicated user experience and ease of use.
Audacity supports recording in sample rates from 44.1 to an excessive 192 kHz, which sets the stage for studio-caliber and even ultrasonic recordings if you have the hardware to handle it. Also included is support for 32-bit floating point, providing ample headroom for your recorded signal.
It comes with effects such as an equalizer with helpful presets, pitch, speed and tempo controls, delay, reverb, compressor, fade in/out, and a noise remover. You can expand this palette thanks to Audacity’s generous support of VST, LADSPA, Nyquist and Audio Unit plugins.
Audacity’s strength is its simplicity. While you can make it do multi-track recording if you’re so inclined, it will never gain centerpiece status in a true recording studio. However, it is beginner-friendly, easy to use for quick edits you need to make on the fly (whether that means filtering out unwanted noise, boosting vocals or other frequencies through equalization, or just cutting and pasting), and extremely well-suited for hobbyist and podcast recording applications.
2. Garageband
Available for Mac OS only
Garageband comes free with any Mac computer and is pretty legit for most recording needs.
Although it can’t do major processing like its big brother Logic, it’s more than able to do any multi-track recording and minor mixing work.
Highly recommend for the bedroom recordist that’s just starting out and needs a simple solution to lay down some demos.
3. Traverso
Available for Windows, Mac OS, and Linux
Traverso, another fully featured DAW that’s sure to meet common recording needs, is all about convenience.
This program eschews a traditional “menu” structure in favor of innovative keyboard and mouse shortcuts, which brings a crisp immediacy to recording tasks. There’s no doubt about it–there will be a bit of a learning curve–but the developers claim to have integrated input and execution so seamlessly that you practically learn how to do things as you go along. Furthermore, users have an array of options that make recording demo CDs a snap. You can create tables of contents and burn discs without ever leaving Traverso.
Other features that dovetail nicely with the “stay out of the way” philosophy behind Traverso include non-destructive editing, or the ability to use plugins and make edits without changing the actual sample, and lockless real-time audio processing, which reduces latency and streamlines performance. Traverso’s commitment to intuitive recording and mastering controls makes the program stand out among its similarly free counterparts.
4. Ardour DAW
Available for Mac OS and Linux
Ardour is yet another great free DAW: one that is taking aim at cream-of-the-crop professional software and is promising for real studios with low budgets.
It features non-destructive editing, 32-bit float, supports unlimited tracks, and has extremely flexible routing capabilities. With support for LADSPA, LV2, and VST plugins, you’ll be able to make your favorite customizations without a hassle. Synchronization with video is supported, and full handling of MIDI recording, playback and editing are expected with the highly-anticipated release of the third edition of Ardour.
The thing that sets Ardour apart from the rest of the pack is what’s under the hood. It runs on JACK, an underlying sound server that facilitates low-latency audio recording and communication among various programs. Although Ardour itself only runs on Mac OS and Linux at present, a Windows port has been conceptualized, and efforts towards building one are in full swing as of June 2012, and JACK is already a true cross-platform utility that runs on the aforementioned systems as well as Windows. JACK is excellent at handling MIDI so that Ardour will take full advantage of that upon the release of the third edition.
Ardour is complex and certainly not for newbies. Some have complained about the potentially confusing graphical user interface (GUI), which is quite inaccessible to someone who’s never seen or seriously worked with a DAW before. But if you’re an audio engineer of any level of experience and strapped for cash, you may find that Ardour fits the bill for your projects quite nicely.
5. Jokosher
Available for Windows and Linux
Jokosher is billed as the “musician’s DAW” and the Linux alternative to GarageBand, the standard, pre-installed, easy-to-use workstation for Macs. Here, you won’t find advanced editing and mastering tools by the names that most engineers know: it’s a program that speaks in a music maker’s language.
While not as heavyweight as its counterparts, Jokosher takes a lot of the guesswork out of the recording process for people who are new to it. All of the basic, expected editing tools are at the user’s disposal. Startup is fast, easy and straightforward. Tracks are called “instruments,” and you can set them up based on the type of instrument you intend to record. If it’s an acoustic guitar for example, simply select “Acoustic Guitar,” and the track will be clearly labeled as such with a cute picture to boot, providing an excellent visual layout of instruments used in the mix.
Jokosher supports LADSPA plugins only, and as of June 2012 it’s still in its early development stages. But for musicians and podcasters who want to record simple products and get a first taste of manipulating tracks in a DAW, this simple program is hard to beat. Google sketchup for macbook pro.
Alternative to Pro-Tools That Won’t Break the Bank
Most of the big pro studios are using Avid Pro Tools to make all the records going to the radio these days, but it’s slowly losing its status as an industry standard due to the quality of its competitors. There are plenty of lower-cost DAWs and a wealth of free and inexpensive plug-ins that bring professional studio sound right to your computer.
Even though Pro Tools is the premier name in the industry, there is really no special voodoo under the hood. It is simply a graphical user interface that lets you move some bits (and thus sounds) around inside your computer. There is no difference in the way Pro Tools sounds and the way any of its competitors sound, period.
So you can comfortably make a foray into saving money by purchasing one of the many alternatives to Pro Tools –none of which will cause even your fans to hear a difference.
1. Steinberg Cubase
There is the perennially popular Steinberg Cubase, which is perhaps the granddaddy of them all so to speak. The German-engineered application is perhaps the Mercedes-Benz of DAWs, offering pioneering technology and reliable performance.
And if you need a guide to Cubase, my buddy Chris Selim over at Mixdown Online has just the training you need. (affiliate link)
2. Logic Pro X
Apple has two DAWs in its stable: Garageband, a veritable staple discussed before, and Logic Pro. In both cases, the quality of these programs is very high and both will work with a wide assortment of audio hardware.
3. Cockos Reaper
Perhaps the best-kept secret in the world of DAWs is Reaper. Reaper is a heads-on contender for any other DAW on the list, including Pro Tools. The best part is that Reaper is not only among the best, it is also one of the least expensive, coming in at only $60 for the discounted license. All the features are there: real-time recording and editing, unlimited track count, VST and DX plug-in support, and more.
4. Studio One
Presonus’s Studio One is a great option as well. It contains everything you need to produce music and seems very intuitive and easy to use.
Audio Engineering Software Free
In fact, it’s probably the only DAW that might make me switch from Logic. A lot of my producer and engineer friends use it, and they swear by it, citing its ease of use, sound quality, and simplicity with production.
There is nothing wrong with using Pro Tools, of course. But if you can’t afford to shell out the big dollars for the industry’s biggest name, you still get the great results with the above applications.
Audio Recording Programs for Any Situation
All of the above are solid apps with unique feature sets and strengths, dedicated fan bases, and active support and development teams. The free DAWs don’t have the advanced functionality of much more expensive, industry-standard solutions, but depending on your needs I’m sure you’ll find something that works for you.
Try them out and decide which combination of user experience and specific features works best for you.
Happy recording!
Audio Engineering software, free download
Parts of this post were contributed by Daniel Kimbrel and Jessica Josh. If you would like to submit a guest post, check out the guidelines here.
Daniel is a movie buff and freelance writer. He contributes to a number of music sites online. Jessica Josh is an Australian freelance writer and blogger. Since 2007 she has been writing about weddings, fashion, and music.