recording software help

BassDissonance · #1 02-10-2013, 04:37 PM

Hi everyone

I would like some advice on recording software. I play with my guitarist and we are without a drummer. Right now we're toying around with cubase and using drum samples from monkey beats to create a drum beat behind what we record...ive messed around with it for maybe an hour and i find looping and just editing the sampled beats that i imported into the mix very complicated and time consuming...maybe its because im new to the program and im still trying to figure it out but i was wanting to kno if anybody could give me some advice on some easy to use simple recording software that i could easily record with and import drum patters or even create drum patters with. im looking to just record my bass tracks and or my guitarist guitar tracks and put the drum "idea" behind it to get the feel for what we're looking for and maybe hand them out to future drummers.

thank you very much

seamonkey · #2 02-10-2013, 10:09 PM

There are hundreds of options.

Razoon.com Jamstix
http://www.rayzoon.com/

It has a learning curve, but drum parts created are absolutely realistic.

pgmusic.com, Band in a box, or RealBand, with "Realdrums"
You can drag a realdrum track to your DAW. Extremely simple and realistic and simple to use.
http://www.pgmusic.com/realdrums.php

SquierJazz72 · #3 02-11-2013, 12:11 AM

For Windows or Linux, there is Hydrogen, which is a decent drum machine. That is the one I have been using for creating drum tracks. The sounds are pretty good, it has several different drum sets built in, and more are probably available. I like it a lot. You can create different patterns, and then combine them in different ways to form whole songs.

The is also one called Hammerhead Rhythm Station, for Windows. Works okay, but is fairly basic.

I've tried both, but really like Hydrogen better.

I use Audacity to record, and you can export tracks from Hydrogen, and then import them into Audacity, if you want to edit them further, or mix them with instrument tracks.

That's how my setup is, and it works pretty well.

stingray96191 · #4 02-11-2013, 08:01 AM

Lay down the drum loops first, and play to them. It sounds like you are going at this backwards.

RustyAxe · #5 02-11-2013, 08:19 AM

I get great results with Reaper and EZDrummer (with some add-on packs) and Groove Monkee packs. Drag and drop the midi files right on the track. Easy to edit. It was a relatively low-cost experiment that panned out.

But ... if you are new to DAWs and recording in general there's a pretty steep learning curve just to get to the basics. And yes, it's time consuming. Many things worth doing are.

BassDissonance · #6 02-11-2013, 10:41 AM

thanks everyone ill check these out and see how things work out...would any of you suggest using fruityloops?

straycatstrat · #7 02-11-2013, 11:10 AM

If you are into Loops and sampling Ableton live max suit your needs. Live is like a Big Sampler and Easy to learn.

Einherjar · #8 02-11-2013, 11:45 AM

There's going to be a learning curve with any DAW and it will be frustrating at first. I've used Cubase for about 6 years and honestly I love it and find it a more powerful tool and more user friendly than many other DAWs. But, it's not the same for everyone YMMV, etc. Also, reaper is a very good budget choice. For Cubase's full potential you really need the whole version (which runs about $499 these days, I think, unless you're upgrading from a more limited version)

seamonkey · #9 02-11-2013, 04:17 PM

Give this guy a watch to learn about recording your track in Sonar, then pulling it over to BAIB to analyze the chords, add drums and other instruments, and pulling the new tracks back to Sonar

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58UZPnS2sqY

Sonar could be any DAW here.

It's yet another options to add in tracks

mystic38 · #10 02-15-2013, 10:23 AM

recording software is like religion to many folks.

Any and all of them will tell you it is easy, and any and all of them lied to you.
Any and all of them can do what you want but any and all of them take time to learn.

Get something cheap, spend time on it..then if you find that you actually enjoy this stuff (some artistic/masochistic tendencies emerge) then get something that is a) capable and b) offers a solid bang for the buck package...c) does not cost an arm and a leg to upgrade

Note at this point i did not say cheap, I use Sonar, and the best value package is X2 Producer... not the cheaper essentials or studio.

Raymeous · #11 02-21-2013, 12:04 PM

Click track. I know I hate them too, but they do help to ensure your drum loops, and real world guitar and bass stuff all lines up at the "1" and not the "1-e"

There is a learning curve to any recording software so don't let it get you too discouraged. The more you mess around with the software, or read some books on it, or watch the DVD's on your particular DAW the better things will go. $50 on reference material is a worthwile investment and will save you many hours/days of work in the long run.