Seeing as there are a lot of musicians here, I'm sure a lot of you do your own home recordings... right? What program do you use? Do you post your stuff online? I've heard all these raves about ProTools and how it was what the pros use and everything, so I was wondering exactly what it is that makes it so great. Does anyone use this program? I just bought a new MacBook pro and it came with Garageband, and at first I thought it would be really basic and nothing would sound good, but I started working with it and found it extremely easy to use. The built-in synthesizer doesn't require you to buy a MIDI, and it also comes with a built-in amp and pedals so I just need a cord and a couple of adapters to plug my guitar/mic directly into my computer (it's a bit noisy, however.. I guess because it's an acoustic with pickups and the adapters aren't top notch or anything, so I generally record using just the mic built into my Mac, and it works pretty well)... I would be interested in hearing about your experiences with home recording...
I do a fair bit of home recording, and I found lots of good free software. I use: Hydrogen, a drum machine. I've managed to find some realistic sounds to use, so the drums that I program sound as close to real drums as I can get them. Set some humanisation settings, tinker with the velocity of the hits, and I'm doing some good drum patterns. Audacity, an audio editor. I use this to record my guitars and bass and vocals, after importing the drum track in as a wav file. LMMS, a DAW (I think). It's an alternative to FL Studio and whathaveyou. Handles synthesisers, MIDI, samples, etc. I don't post my stuff online.
learn the basics using garageband. but first, if you want to use anything other than the built-in mic (which is noisy) you will need a usb/firewire audio interface. they are pretty cheap, you will be able to find one for less than 100 dollars. other wise you can continue using your built-in mic, and reduce the noise using an equalizer, and shelving off the high frequencies until you don't hear noise. however you won't be able to record direct, or use external microphones without an interface. once you learn the basics of how to record and such, read up a bit on the internet on how to process your recordings using: equalization, compression, panning, reverb/delay, modulation fx, automation you can do anything with garageband once you know your stuff, its just a matter of knowing your stuff. don't worry about protools for now. once you get tired of the built in effects of garageband, pm me and i'll show you some good vst's.
My studio isn't computer based, but I have a Roland digital workstation I use to record my albums with. I might upgrade the setup to something like ProTools at some point in the future, but I'm happy with my current setup in the meantime. My music can be heard online, yes, and can even be purchased... But I'm not on HF to promote my work, so I choose not to post any links.
