Anyone using Audacity (or similar) for Recording?

[Stevo]

I got a new computer and it has Windows Vista on it :crazy: Not a fan, especially since I don't want to spend more money to upgrade my cakewalk program, which ran great on XP.

I downloaded Audacity to a linux machine and to the Vista Machine. It seems to run fine on Vista, but I have not pushed it yet. That computer has 4 gigs of memory.
The linux machine has 1.5 gigs of RAM on it and Audacity runs like a snail. I put it on my other linux machine with 3 gigs of memory, but have not tried it out yet.

It seems intuitive and versatile, I guess, but I am wondering if there are any show-stoppers that would make me regret the time spent.

Anyone tried it with an actual recording of a full song? 16 tracks or more?

 

[korovamilkdud]

Re: Anyone using Audacity (or similar) for Recording?

I use it. It's difficult to play with brutal unholy death metal distortion though. After a couple bars it takes on this weird quality (there must be a name for it, I've heard it on other devices and on the interwebz) where it suddenly warbles slightly and then sounds muted, like a blanket was placed over it.

 

[rashayritto]

Re: Anyone using Audacity (or similar) for Recording?

audacity is great if youre completely just dicking around with it (like me). cant you install XP on your system and save some trouble?

 

[Ascension]

Re: Anyone using Audacity (or similar) for Recording?

I got a newe machine with Vista 64 a couple of weeks ago. I'm going through the same mess with Vista :banghead::banghead:! You may also want to try Krystal. I dowloaded both it and Audacity and so far like the Krystal a little better.
Vista is a PITA on drivers and programs and to top it I have the 64 which is worse than the 32 on compatability and finding drivers for.
My old Creative Sound Blaster unit was not supported so I wound up with a Berringer U-Control UCA202 works like a chap so far though!

 

[uOpt]

Re: Anyone using Audacity (or similar) for Recording?

Audacity works fine for me. I wish there was better accessibility to modules, not to mention more modules but for recording I haven't got anything to complain about.

 

[ImmortalSix]

Re: Anyone using Audacity (or similar) for Recording?

I use it and love it.

 

[dystrust]

Re: Anyone using Audacity (or similar) for Recording?

I use Audacity in Ubuntu to do demos, and I've worked with up to 20 tracks (mixing). I haven't had any issues with it, but it's just too ghetto to use on a serious project. Once a song gets past the demo stage to actual recording, I re-do it in Logic Express on my Mac Pro.

 

[Stevo]

Re: Anyone using Audacity (or similar) for Recording?

Thanks for the responses guys Last night I actually did a quick little demo with Audacity on Linux. It's a little quirky but the sound quality is good and it's somewhat intuitive to use. Not bad at all for free software.
Are you guys exporting to mp3?

 

[shaka]

Re: Anyone using Audacity (or similar) for Recording?

Another great free multitrack recording program is Reaper. I use it on my Vista 32 machine. Runs great.

 

[NUNOSLASH]

Re: Anyone using Audacity (or similar) for Recording?

I use it, im a noob at recording but you can hear it here:

www.soundclick.com/nunoslash

 

[dystrust]

Re: Anyone using Audacity (or similar) for Recording?

Thanks for the responses guys Last night I actually did a quick little demo with Audacity on Linux. It's a little quirky but the sound quality is good and it's somewhat intuitive to use. Not bad at all for free software.
Are you guys exporting to mp3?

That depends on what I'm doing with the demo. If I'm just showing it to band mates, I typically export to mp3 and drop it on my flash drive. Remember to install an mp3 encoder if you want to do this as I do not know of any distro that includes one.

 

[Koreth]

Re: Anyone using Audacity (or similar) for Recording?

perhaps not stock, but just about any distro worth it's salt should have an installation package for LAME.

 

[NecroPolo]

Re: Anyone using Audacity (or similar) for Recording?

Stevo, which Cakewalk stuff did you use?


In my experience, problem-free PC for recording = XP + decent budget soundcard (Echo MIA MIDI, EMU 0404, M-Audio 2496, e.t.c.) + no excess data junk in the operation system and no running applications in the background. Then, everything will run smooth on a straight-to-the-point setup. I've recently assembled a little PC for our rhythm guitarist for demo purposes. 1.7 GHz, 512MB ram, XP SP2, ECHO Mia MIDI soundcard, Audacity. Bulletproof and runs like a dream.

 

[DankStar]

Re: Anyone using Audacity (or similar) for Recording?

I'll often open a file in audacity to look at the waveform quickly because it has a nice viewer, or if I want to easily open a guitar hero rip, or to quickly change a WAV to an MP3 (not one of mine), or to do a quick scratch track idea.

No serious stuff with it though - the resultant sound just isn't good enough. Plus I don't think you can do any effects in real time, which renders it pretty much useless for serious work.

I did this song in Audacity mainly: http://www.soundclick.com/util/getplayer.m3u?id=5423026&q=hi Not sure what I was smoking when I did it. Oh now I do, it was weed.

 

[supernosher]

Re: Anyone using Audacity (or similar) for Recording?

:chairfall

Yo Dankstar, that song is so badass man... Nothing like hearing fresh new music, and the guitar tones are really good man.

 

[DankStar]

Re: Anyone using Audacity (or similar) for Recording?

:chairfall

Yo Dankstar, that song is so badass man... Nothing like hearing fresh new music, and the guitar tones are really good man.

thanks man! I was really trying to get away from metal tones during that period of my life - used lots of old tube amps and low gain settings. heck, maybe Audacity does work OK!

 

[Stevo]

Re: Anyone using Audacity (or similar) for Recording?

Well, I finally messed around with Audacity on my Ubuntu 8.10 machine.
Here's a little demo: look for "goopentyd.mp3" on this page: stevo tunes

I like the way the zoom narrows in on the area around the cursor. Unfortunately, my guitar tracks program did not do that. You need to download a LAME file for mp3 exports, which is easy on Ubuntu, once you figure out what you need. Hopefully there is a config file somewhere that lets you burn at higher rates than 128kbs.
I downloaded some reverb effects and other effects. Free stuff is cool. I am going to try out the windows version of Audacity and see if it is a little more stable.

 

[Stevo]

Re: Anyone using Audacity (or similar) for Recording?

Hey NunoSlash those are some very nice blues chops. It's hard to tell the recording quality but the tune is cool.

DankStar nice tune and recording. Right up my alley, sorta Tommy Bolin or the like.