best recording program for

[gabrielM]

vocals?


hey everyone, i'm the lead singer for my band and we record using Acid 4.0 (shitty, i know. but free and easy) and for some reason it makes my voice sound different on the tracks then it does when i actually sing. we've recorded a video of me singing with my guitarist and my voice sounded the way it's supposed to and we also recorded on Garageband once with a friend and my voice sounded the way i wanted it to also. but wen we record vocals on Acid, it just doesn't sound right. anyone know of any free or cheap programs that can fix this problem for me?

[Tristan Needler]

What mics do you use? Did you use the same mic with all the different programs?

[gabrielM]

yea, we have an MXL 990 which is also cheap and crappy. but wen we used it with Garageband it sounded really nice. with Acid, it sounds horrible.

[Tristan Needler]

Do you maybe have a clip of a recording in each? Just so I have a better idea of what you're talking about. I've never used Acid before, so I don't really know anything about it.

[TheSkyline]

Yeah, I would definitely say upload clips recorded in each program so we can tell what you mean. Have you checked to see what effects are on each track when you record? Maybe in Acid it has some weird preset you don't know about?

[RecklessXRandy]

I don't really like Acid.

[gabrielM]

ill try to get some clips up soon. but theres no effects on it. just plain recording. what do you guys use to record?

[TheSkyline]

I've used the Garageband the last year or so, and now I'm attempting to switch over to Logic. Garageband is great though, and for a beginner I would definitely recommend using that.

[Esrb99]

Garageband was awesome, I used it for about 3 weeks after I got my mbp cause my uni store decided to make me wait for logic studio. Logic is sexy though, was miles ahead of PT7, and easily the closest competitor to pt8

[gabrielM]

yea, i actually liked Garageband a lot but the problem is that i don't own a Mac and we just used Garageband at a friends house and i was messing with it. i like it. but we cant have it, we have Windows. how much does Logic go for? is it easy to use? and what other cheap, or free, programs do you guys know of? that atleast make the vocals sound cleanly.

[Musformation.co]

Sounds like a monitoring problem, Acid doesn't sound bad per se, just really badly designed. My bet is this is the way ACID does some wierd thing to do with latency compensation. Either check around your monitor routing or get a great piece of software like ardour for cheap. http://musformation.com/2009/05/why-you-should-support-ardour-even-if-you-dont-use-it.html
Jesse Cannon - Musformation.com- Daily Musicians News/ Tips/ Gear/ Business/ Gossip

[dietoseeyoufail]

Download Reaper
It's free, REALLY free
Not like Acid "free"
it's more like legally free.

http://reaper.fm/

it's great, and has everything you need!

[gabrielM]

thanks. ill check these out.

[ignition]

Download Reaper
It's free, REALLY free
Not like Acid "free"
it's more like legally free.

http://reaper.fm/

it's great, and has everything you need!

I wouldn't call shareware "legally free". They don't cripple the program in any way, but you are required to purchase a license if you use it for longer than 30 days.

[gabrielM]

yea i noticed that can you render and actually make your recordings into mp3s without getting a license?

[ignition]

Yes - the program is no different without a license, it's just not legal to use after 30 days. Honor system, basically.

[gabrielM]

ooo ok. i understand. thanks a lot. anyone really like this program?

[TheSkyline]

I've never heard of it. It might be good, but if I were you I would go for something more reliable. Maybe give Cubase a shot? It's easy to use and can probably do what your looking for, if you're just looking to record demos.

But I have to say, I really think you should just sell the computer you have and get a Mac, haha. Then you have Garageband and can later upgrade to Logic, Protools, etc. But that's a biased opinion I guess, I'm a Mac kind of dude. haha

[gabrielM]

yea i'd really like a mac but they run kind of expensive. lol. but maybe in the future ill get one. i'm going to try use that other program and see if it does me good.

anyways, if anyone is interested, our myspace is myspace.com/wheresdongo and theres 1 song on there now. we didnt have drum mics and we used acid and that's the sound we came up with. very discouraging. lol. but hopefully we can get some better sounding stuff soon. i hope so.

[dietoseeyoufail]

It's a great program. I'm not even gonna say for the price it's great, because it stands up to programs like Cubase.

I don't use it because I'm a Pro Tools guy, but back before I had that, I used Reaper sometimes.

It comes with all the plugins you need to process your music (as far as I remember anyway)

and MACs aren't necessary. A nice PC with good RAM and will suffice.

[HipYoungGun]

Free? Audacity should work ok. Except then you battle all kinds of latency issues depending on what interface you're usuing.

Try Ableton Live. Very simple program if you just wanna basically arm, hit record, and lay down tape.

If you have money to spend though, I would definitely recommend ProTools.

Or if you dont have any money to spend and are smart...you'll look for a recording school around your area. They have studios and students who always need bands to record. They'll record you for free...in a studio.

[Esrb99]

don't tell people that money always equates to protools... because 'protools' can be had with shitty m-powered, limited features version. the beauty of logic is that it's as powerful as pthd, at a fraction of the cost, especially if a uni student ($149 baby!!!) what can $149 get you in the PT world? not much. hell, the retail of logic at $499 still is shit in the PT world, and thats not cause logic is worse, it's cause they deliberately limit features in the software until you pay the 35 grand. ridiculous.

I only plan to get pthd if an when I am making a living recording(hopefully,) and get enough clients that bring stuff in pthd files (mixes, demos, etc.) if so, its going straight into pt, and out as .wavs, into logic, If i can help it.

[HipYoungGun]

That's why I told him to look up a local recording academy. The only thing that costs is gas to get there. Logic is a great program.
And yes, PT that comes with the M-Box is awful. But it was roughly the same price bundled when my old guitarist bought it. Either way, we were able to record sound at a bit rate digitally onto a hard-drive.

[Esrb99]

recording academys are hit and miss, and for some (Like me,) they're arn't any a hundred miles around! if that's the case, get Bob Katz' Mastering Audio book. you'll learn MUCH from that. then, subscribe (IT's FREE!!!) to TapeOP mag. then, expand to maybe Sound On Sound, Recording and Stereo Review. Join forums such as Home Theater Shack, Gearslutz, etc... there's so many FREE ways to learn about recording. when at the forums, look out the likes of Glenn form GIK Acoustics, Ethan Winer From Realtraps, Bob Katz, and other reputable pros in the field. they all post at some of the above places, and have years of advice just sitting on these forums, for free!