How many people use audacity?

[hflsmg17317]

I've never needed anything more. It has a few effects you can add in (i've only used the one to increase the bass on a track) and you can fairly easily correct mistakes by muting a track for a certain period of time.

I know a lot of you probably use software that you need to buy, but what is the real advantage to your software?

[BryanEdward]

I had used audacity when I first started recording, its one of the few free editing programs that is Mac compatible. After installing iLife and using Garageband I will never go back, its an exponential increase in capability without much additional effort. For PC I have used Ableton and found it to have about the same learning curve as Audacity and would recommend it as well. Audacity is a great tool though, making recording and editing possible for anyone with the drive!

[moon]

I use Ardour (see my sig). Advantages over audacity:


non-destructive editing
better mixing (eg pre/post fader sends, inserts & plugins)
buses
inserts
sends
latency compensation
mixer automation
plug-in automation
manually editable volume graphs
precision audio segment editing and alignment
studio templates save complex set ups of buses, sends, FX, etc
time stretching
recording punch in/out


I could go on...

No midi yet, although that's in the pipeline.

[razztazz]

I use Audacity. I used it to record/edit the stuff I had up on iTunes. Unless there's something pros or high end users, or just persnickity perfectionists need that I haven't needed yet, I can't see wasting time looking for anything

[KevWind]

It all depends on what your needs and/or wants are in terms recording, if you don't need or want anything more then you don't . There are however tons of added features and capabilities as you move into the more complex DAWs ,along with more expense.

[rmyAddison]

I use Audacity. I used it to record/edit the stuff I had up on iTunes. Unless there's something pros or high end users, or just persnickity perfectionists need that I haven't needed yet, I can't see wasting time looking for anything

C'mon, folks who don't use what you use need to be criticized......lame!!

Live and let live!!

[bbrown]

OK, being more specific, how about Audacity for YouTube fingerstyle solos?

Is there really much point in paying for another DAW if one only has a single track, or at most two mics (my H2 Zoom), no other instruments, no voice, etc.

I ask because, I am looking for a way to optimize sound for YouTube vid's and Audacity looks to be simple and free.

The other two factors for me are: I am NOT interested in spending the precious little time I have to play on reading 200 pages of instructions for the DAW. I need user-friendly!

Secondly, I have a newer PC with Windows 7. Does Ardour, etc. all work on that?

Lastly, does anyone know of a good place to learn about how to use the effect plug-ins on Audacity? Many options and it's a bit confusing what they are all for and how to use them. I think I only really want a little EQ, dleay or reverb maybe, and some increase in volume. Although it would be fun to learn how to add some more pronounced effects for the right tune.

Should this be a new thread?

Thanks,

--Bill

Forest, VA

[moon]

Unfortunately Ardour is Linux & Mac only. Of course you could create a linux partition just for music. Ardour is donation-ware so you pay what you want. Don't let that fool you though: it's a very powerful DAW.

Reaper seems to be a rough equivalent for Windows.

If you have just one instrument and work in whole takes, you might not need any advanced mixing. It can help though. I find that I often use several tracks for a single guitar part. I'll record a short section over and over again, chop up the audio to pick out the best segments, then stitch it all together again.

That really helps if you're a bit of a clumsy player. Even if you're a good one, something as simple as punch in/out can be a godsend to tape over a little error where you coughed or tapped your foot or something.

As you get deeper into home recording I bet you'll find lots of useful features in a proper DAW. For example Ardour can export CD markers if you ever plan to make a CD. For now, just keep making music the best way you know how :)

[bbrown]

Hey thanks Moon,

That's some good sound advice. About 'clumsy playing' - had to laugh. That's me! If I could splice and cut and paste all would be well :)

But, alas, I have no idea how to do that, so guess I'll just have to get better at playing guitar.

I'm hearing a lot of good things about Reaper. Is this pretty easy to use? I probably should spend the $40-60 and learn to use a good DAW at this point.

I am not clear why or how one uses multiple tracks for solo guitar recording.
obviously I have a lot to learn.

--Bill

[Fran Guidry]

OK, being more specific, how about Audacity for YouTube fingerstyle solos?

Is there really much point in paying for another DAW if one only has a single track, or at most two mics (my H2 Zoom), no other instruments, no voice, etc.

I ask because, I am looking for a way to optimize sound for YouTube vid's and Audacity looks to be simple and free.

The other two factors for me are: I am NOT interested in spending the precious little time I have to play on reading 200 pages of instructions for the DAW. I need user-friendly!

Secondly, I have a newer PC with Windows 7. Does Ardour, etc. all work on that?

Lastly, does anyone know of a good place to learn about how to use the effect plug-ins on Audacity? Many options and it's a bit confusing what they are all for and how to use them. I think I only really want a little EQ, dleay or reverb maybe, and some increase in volume. Although it would be fun to learn how to add some more pronounced effects for the right tune.

Should this be a new thread?

Thanks,

--Bill

Forest, VA

Since Audacity can host VST plugins, its power is basically unlimited.

For a solo performer capturing YouTube audio on an H2, Audacity will take care of your business.

Visit http://www.kvraudio.com/get.php and search for the tools you need. The VSTs you find there will give you a user interface that's a bit more friendly than the parameter based effects that come with Audacity, some with presets that will get you headed in the right direction.

Fran

[moon]

I haven't used Reaper but they probably have a demo to try out, or if you hunt around on youtube there will probably be some vids.

The multiple tracks thing works like this: first I'll set up a "clipboard" track and record a section over and over again. In Ardour you can store a big stack of takes in one track, although only one is ever active.

If I'm lucky, one of them, or part of one of them, will be just right. I'll chop out that segment and drop it into a separate track - "guitar 1".

You can't just drop all the segments into one track however. Suppose you have a single Am chord strum in one audio segment, and a bass string riff is played just after. You probably need to let the chord ring out and decay naturally while the riff is played on top. So the riff goes in another track "guitar 2" so that both audio segments can play together.

Same sort of thing applies if you record with FX like delay or reverb. (People will often advise you not to do that but it's OK so long as you know exactly the sound you want). Separate tracks for individual chords or riffs allows you to preserve the decay, if you need to.

Conversely, segmented audio also allows you to deliberately chop a sound for effect in a way which might be very difficult or impossible to play.

And there's more... you can experiment with a better sound by doubling the guitar ie same thing on two different tracks. Stringed instruments are incredibly sensitive; two takes will never be exactly the same and you can sometimes add a little sparkle by doubling up. Or pan left and right to create a kind of stereo effect. Note that the timing will have to be exactly the same, but subtle (or deliberate) differences in timbre will be enough to give a new kind of sound. If a guitar sound thin, overlay the same music picked higher up towards the fretboard then mix in some of the fatter, sweeter tones. Actually, on good guitars you don't need to do that but it can create a richer sound with cheaper models.

Note that with multiple tracks for just one guitar part, you need to gather them all up in a single bus so that you have one convenient location to control volume or apply an effect like reverb.

Lots of short audio segments also allows you to correct errors of timing or expression. Segments can be dragged around the timeline with sub-millisecond accuracy. If a chord is too quiet it can be made louder, or if too loud it can be turned down.

Be advised though, this is a lot of work. You can spend hours trying to perfect just one minute of one track. Sometimes you lose sight of the forest for looking at the trees. You might lose some feel and narrative flow. All the bits have to come together in a meaningful whole.

If you can play the part right through, perfectly each time, that's the way to do it :)

[Cue Zephyr]

I've used Audacity, but it quickly found it limiting. I am using REAPER (used to use FL Studio, still do occasionally) now and loving it. I like it's recording system - I click arm and go to town. I can do mixing with it, use VSTs and DXes (I do that a lot) and all. Thing I don't like about REAPER is it's MIDI interface. I still think FL Studio has the best MIDI editing GUI. REAPER doesn't take all the VSTs I want to use well, either. FL is still better at this. BUT, I can do very simple video syncing in REAPER which I think is great. REAPER is only nearinv version 4 and they have a long way to go (but they've done outstanding work already). I'm pretty sure REAPER will be able to compete with the current studio standars.

[GibbyPrague]

ALL my recordings have been done on Audacity.

Not that I like it so much Ive just been too lazy to move and OP stated, it does the job adaquately.

My wife of course swears by Garagband, but i dont use a Mac ..

[Losov]

Another vote for Audacity. I simply don't do all that much tweaking of the tracks.

[shortymack]

I use it and find that it fits my needs for now pretty well. I just need a better mic setup. I am thinking about getting a H2, can I use it as a stand alone mic directly into Audacity?

[hflsmg17317]

I haven't used Reaper but they probably have a demo to try out, or if you hunt around on youtube there will probably be some vids.

The multiple tracks thing works like this: first I'll set up a "clipboard" track and record a section over and over again. In Ardour you can store a big stack of takes in one track, although only one is ever active.

If I'm lucky, one of them, or part of one of them, will be just right. I'll chop out that segment and drop it into a separate track - "guitar 1".

You can't just drop all the segments into one track however. Suppose you have a single Am chord strum in one audio segment, and a bass string riff is played just after. You probably need to let the chord ring out and decay naturally while the riff is played on top. So the riff goes in another track "guitar 2" so that both audio segments can play together.

Same sort of thing applies if you record with FX like delay or reverb. (People will often advise you not to do that but it's OK so long as you know exactly the sound you want). Separate tracks for individual chords or riffs allows you to preserve the decay, if you need to.

Conversely, segmented audio also allows you to deliberately chop a sound for effect in a way which might be very difficult or impossible to play.

And there's more... you can experiment with a better sound by doubling the guitar ie same thing on two different tracks. Stringed instruments are incredibly sensitive; two takes will never be exactly the same and you can sometimes add a little sparkle by doubling up. Or pan left and right to create a kind of stereo effect. Note that the timing will have to be exactly the same, but subtle (or deliberate) differences in timbre will be enough to give a new kind of sound. If a guitar sound thin, overlay the same music picked higher up towards the fretboard then mix in some of the fatter, sweeter tones. Actually, on good guitars you don't need to do that but it can create a richer sound with cheaper models.

Note that with multiple tracks for just one guitar part, you need to gather them all up in a single bus so that you have one convenient location to control volume or apply an effect like reverb.

Lots of short audio segments also allows you to correct errors of timing or expression. Segments can be dragged around the timeline with sub-millisecond accuracy. If a chord is too quiet it can be made louder, or if too loud it can be turned down.

Be advised though, this is a lot of work. You can spend hours trying to perfect just one minute of one track. Sometimes you lose sight of the forest for looking at the trees. You might lose some feel and narrative flow. All the bits have to come together in a meaningful whole.

If you can play the part right through, perfectly each time, that's the way to do it :)
In audacity, you can highlight sections and only make changes to that section. That how i solve that when i record in one take. Also, if i make a mistake, i will cut off the track wherever it makes sense, and start up from there in the next take. Alternatively, if i can get away with it, i will use your copy and paste methud instead of having to record the entire remainder of the track again. All of this only works if you can preserve decay like you said. Sometimes its hard to do that, so i may correct a mistake starting earlier in the track where the decay in a chord isnt noticable anyway.
there are instances where its better to record the section over again instead of spending all of your time trying to make just one take perfect.

Another tip for audacity, is that if you need to add in bass or reverb (there are effects in audacity and i find them quite useful) wait until the entire track is perfect before doing so. This way, if you need to re-record a section, it will still flow with the song.
Thanks all for your input.

[tkviper]

I use Audacity everyday even though I have other commercial sound editors. I love the GVerb filter and apply it to most of my recordings...especially for the flute.

Here, check out this video where I used the iPhone App "A+ MIDI Guitar Controller" to control and record the woodwind sounds in Garageband and Quicktime X to record the guitar part; the Blue Yeti External USB mic was used.
Then I imported all the sound files into Audacity. After applying the GVerb filter, everything was edited in iMovie 2011. and Voila. I hope you like it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KoKRIP0EV2g
The video has a link to the iPhone App if you're interested.

I've never needed anything more. It has a few effects you can add in (i've only used the one to increase the bass on a track) and you can fairly easily correct mistakes by muting a track for a certain period of time.

I know a lot of you probably use software that you need to buy, but what is the real advantage to your software?

[GibbyPrague]

I use it but have been meaning to upgrade to a more sophisticated program, just havent gotten around to it.

Probably as Audacity is so simple that its the one i turn to the most.

[moon]

A good DAW provides flexible routing options. Take string noise: loud squeaks can be tamed by cutting and pasting the squeak to a new track in reverse phase. If pan and volume are identical to the original, the squeak magically disappears (well, almost).

Trouble is, if you fiddle with guitar pan and volume later, the squeaks will pop back up again if you forget to match changes on the reverse phase track. Best practice is to create a new bus and pass both tracks through that.

Fader automation is another essential feature for good mixes. Admittedly both these points are more important in large, multi-track mixes.

Simple gear can be good too - whatever works for you - but I'd definitely recommend getting to know a good DAW sometime.

[DaveG]

The biggest problem I found with Audacity is the lack of non-destructive editing. For example, say you apply reverb to a track and then, after doing a half dozen other changes to it, decide that you want to tweak the level of the reverb. You can't do this without undoing everything you have done after origially applying the reverb effect. Much easier to just be able to tweak or remove effect anytime.

I'm suprised I don't see more people reccomend Kristal. It's very easy to use and it's free.

http://www.kreatives.org/kristal/

[flagstaffcharli]

I use Audacity as a quick way to record new songs and ideas & also do work on arranging my tunes. It's a great, simple tool.

We're using Digital Performer now for serious recording.

[KevWind]

Dont use audacity personally but it may be just fine depending on the situation. The DAW now comes in so many flavors, because there are so many variables in individual goals and needs needs in recording. . Much like, oh say transportation, in which the main point is to get from point A to point B which of course can be accomplished quite well with a single speed bicycle. But if you have to move a load of furniture from LA to NYC it's going to take a while.

[Queequeg]

I used to use it. The price is right.
that's the best thing I can say about it.