DAW

[canu49]

Looking for a real user friendly DAW just to record acoustic tracks on. Nothing fancy. No need for midi and a bunch of plugins. Just record and mix acoustic stuff. I've been using Audacity to convert files to mp3. It seems pretty easy to use. Any other suggestions? Thanks

[canu49]

Forgot to mention, Windows

[Ghostpicker]

Audacity is pretty basic and... it's FREE

[Chipotle]

Well, Audacity is pretty simple. But once you get going with even basic effects--you want EQ? Reverb? A little compression?--other DAWs are a better choice.

The basics (set up a track, hit record, mix them down) are not very difficult in any DAW, really. You don't have to use all the bells and whistles if you don't want.

I like Reaper because it's cheap/free (free 60 day trial, then converts to nagware, and only $60 if you do buy). There are also stripped-down free versions of other DAWs, like Cakewalk, Pro Tools First, Cubase LE, etc. Any of them will do the job you're talking about; which one is "easiest" is personal preference, really.

[Coop47]

Originally Posted by canu49

Looking for a real user friendly DAW just to record acoustic tracks on. Nothing fancy. No need for midi and a bunch of plugins. Just record and mix acoustic stuff. I've been using Audacity to convert files to mp3. It seems pretty easy to use. Any other suggestions? Thanks

I'm in the same boat. ProTools, Reaver and Cubase are the answers I see a lot. In addition to a recommended DAW, I'd love to see a basic tutorial geared toward recording and layering acoustic stuff.

[min7b5]

Originally Posted by canu49

Looking for a real user friendly DAW just to record acoustic tracks on. Nothing fancy. No need for midi and a bunch of plugins. Just record and mix acoustic stuff. I've been using Audacity to convert files to mp3. It seems pretty easy to use. Any other suggestions? Thanks

I understand not wanting all the MIDI, loops, sampling, etc, if you just wanting to making purely acoustic music recordings. But if you are wanting to mix your recordings I think you would likely want some plugins to get your recordings to sound more professional. I have not used Audacity, but I assume it has some native plugins and it's not just for the capture(?). Otherwise I'd get another DAW that works on Windows, maybe just ignore all the stuff you don't need.. where you'd have some good native plugins and/or you could spend a few bucks and buy some. I think to mix something you'll likely want some solid EQ, compression, reverb, a limiter, and some metering.

[Rudy4]

Originally Posted by canu49

Looking for a real user friendly DAW just to record acoustic tracks on. Nothing fancy. No need for midi and a bunch of plugins. Just record and mix acoustic stuff. I've been using Audacity to convert files to mp3. It seems pretty easy to use. Any other suggestions? Thanks

For a DAW I'd recommend Reaper. There are scads of Youtube tutorials to show you the process of recording. Do you really want to to chained to your PC for doing recording?

More importantly, what are the details of your room treatment, your audio interface, your microphones, and monitoring capabilities?

You might wish to consider going with something like n H series Zoom recorder to do recording and THEN port your tracks to your PC to do editing, mixing, and rendering to finished file.

If you want something REALLY simple and you are already using Audacity, why not just use it to record?

[Chipotle]

Originally Posted by min7b5

I have not used Audacity, but I assume it has some native plugins and it's not just for the capture(?).

Audacity has some plugins and you can add VSTs. The big downfall with Audacity is that effects are destructive--when you apply them, they overwrite the track. So you either have to be ready to Undo, or duplicate tracks and keep both the original and the effected track.

I used Audacity for a while, and once I went to a real DAW where you could apply effects in real-time and just turn them on and off, I never wanted to go back. A real DAW also makes overdubbing and editing much easier, and when I finally got to wanting to use more advanced techniques, my DAW was ready to go.

Audacity can work, but I really think it's worth learning a bit of the DAW of your choice, and your life will be much, much easier in the long run. That's my experience.

[Glennwillow]

I've been doing recording on my Windows based PC for some years now. I chose to use Steinberg Cubase because my son was using Cubase and I figured if I got stuck, he could help me out. He runs his own Internet music composition business, so he knows the ins and outs of all this stuff. He has helped me a few times, though most of the time I just look for instructions on the Internet for how to do something when I'm stuck and 99% of the time that gets me there.

I use Cubase 10 Pro right now. Cubase 10.5 Elements from Sweetwater costs $100 and it's quite powerful. It's more than you want right now, but my own experience is that as you get your feet wet, you realize you want to do more. At least I did. Check out my YouTube channel linked at the bottom of my post to see how I am using Cubase with video.

There are certainly other pieces of software that will get you where you want to go. I am hardly an expert on all the other options out there.

You might call an organization like Sweetwater and ask what they recommend. I have found their advice to be generally quite good.

Best of luck to you.

- Glenn

[KevWind]

Originally Posted by canu49

Looking for a real user friendly DAW just to record acoustic tracks on. Nothing fancy. No need for midi and a bunch of plugins. Just record and mix acoustic stuff. I've been using Audacity to convert files to mp3. It seems pretty easy to use. Any other suggestions? Thanks

Just solo acoustic guitar or guitar and vocal ? And what are you doing with the recordings/MP3 's ?



I am going to say something that I think contradicts a fairly widespread misconception in the Acoustic guitar world. And that misconception is that audio processing effects were not used in the "good old days" in either live performance or recording.
In reality analog FX they were more the norm , not the exception from the 60's on . The only difference is now there are digital plugins in lieu of analog.

With that said even though I use Pro Tools , Using Windows if I were you, I would consider Reaper there is a 60 day trial version and you will find out fairly quickly how you get along with it

[lkingston]

Auria on an iPad Pro is pretty incredible.

[rick-slo]

Originally Posted by Chipotle

Audacity has some plugins and you can add VSTs. The big downfall with Audacity is that effects are destructive--when you apply them, they overwrite the track. So you either have to be ready to Undo, or duplicate tracks and keep both the original and the effected track.

I used Audacity for a while, and once I went to a real DAW where you could apply effects in real-time and just turn them on and off, I never wanted to go back. A real DAW also makes overdubbing and editing much easier, and when I finally got to wanting to use more advanced techniques, my DAW was ready to go.

Audacity can work, but I really think it's worth learning a bit of the DAW of your choice, and your life will be much, much easier in the long run. That's my experience.

When you import a recording into Audacity it give you the option of copying the recording and working with that. The original recording is preserved and untouched.

The big drawback from that point is working with the copy. Effects on the copy are destructive to the copy (though you can do a short duration demo of the effect
you are using) and the big one is that you can't make changes to effects while listening in real time.

[Chipotle]

Originally Posted by rick-slo

The big drawback from that point is working with the copy. Effects on the copy are destructive to the copy (though you can do a short duration demo of the effect .

Then, every time you want to add an effect, you need to make a *new* copy (at least of the track) or you can't go back. For example, you add EQ. Then you add some reverb. Now you can't change the EQ, unless you go back and start the process over again.

Don't ask me how I know this. After moving to a real DAW, I wondered how I ever worked with Audacity in the first place.

[phcorrigan]

Here are some options:

Cakewalk by Bandcamp is now free. I haven't used it, but it used to be quite popular.

PreSonus Studio One Artist is bundled with PreSonus audio interfaces, so you can get it, with an interface, for about $100. Artist doesn't let you use third-party plug-ins, but those that are included should give you everything you need.

Reaper is free to try, and $60 to buy. You can use it without paying, but it will nag you and you really should pay for it. It is a full-featured DAW with a large user base and is well-supported by the user community.

I use Studio One, pro version. I started with Artist and was considering Reaper when I decided to upgrade to SO pro.

If I were starting again I might go with Reaper.

BTW, Audacity is useful tool for some things but IMO it's very limited as a DAW.

[rick-slo]

Originally Posted by Chipotle

Then, every time you want to add an effect, you need to make a *new* copy (at least of the track) or you can't go back. For example, you add EQ. Then you add some reverb. Now you can't change the EQ, unless you go back and start the process over again.

Don't ask me how I know this. After moving to a real DAW, I wondered how I ever worked with Audacity in the first place.

On my dedicated music computer I have been using Ableton Live since day one.
I have Audacity on my regular computer and I use it occasionally for capturing
audio off the internet via the SPDIF out of my sound card.