Rudimentary My Dear

What kind of simple, cheap-ass software is out there right now for a simple, cheap-ass noisemakin' dude like me?

I have a newish computer running Windows 7 Professional (this one here) and I'm wondering what might be available for it in terms of basic freeware recording software.

Rudimentary would be a plus for me, as I have a tendency to get lost when given too many options to mess around with. What I would like is something like a four-track Tascam or Fostex level recording ability in software form. Options for minimal plugin effects would be good, but I mostly want to keep things really basic.

General computer specs are . . .

Intel Core i5-650 3.20GHz Processor

3GB 1333MHz DDR3 UDIMM Memory (I've bought memory to max this system out but have not been able to get the system to accept it as of yet.)

500GB SATA 3.0Gb/s 7200rpm Hard Drive.

Sound card is integrated, and I can't really afford to get anything better at this point, but I have to say it sounds pretty good to my ears.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

posted by metagnathous (3 comments total)

Audacity is open source and bare bones but works pretty well. Given your desire for not-too-many options this might be a good start.

Reaper is very popular and very well supported. Costs money ($60 for non-pro license) but their demo is completely functional and technically lasts beyond the 60-day window (you're on the honor system but if you like it you should totally pay the devs, they work hard). It also has a lot of options so maybe not the best fit right now...

There are other options as well, but this depends a LOT on what you're doing. It sounds like you want to record actual audio. The issue with your soundcard will be getting any decent sind input into it. Do you have microphones? Other equipment? Need to know more about this.

But since you mentioned TASCAM you might want to look into this little guy, which even has built in mics and has some good reviews. It would probably be simpler than software and it sounds like you're already familiar with that sort of thing.
posted by Doleful Creature at 11:20 AM on June 27, 2013

I have a couple of old Shure dynamic mics, but only a 1/8'' mic input into the computer. I think I'll give Audacity a try and see what kind of results I can get with that. That TASCAM DP-008 looks interesting. Technology has marched on since my home taping days, for certain. Many thanks for the reply and links.
posted by metagnathous at 1:43 PM on June 28, 2013

i would really suggest getting a usb audio interface for your computer - something like this or this, which i have and use, will make your life a lot easier - you can use your mikes and whatever guitars/synths you have

you're not going to be happy using your computer's 1/8 mic input, as hum and noise could be a serious problem

also, although you can work through the usb interface for recording and even mixing, if you're going to mess wtih softsynths or in the box mixing and effects, you will want to install asio4all - it's better than any sound driver that came with your system and it's free

your internal sound care is decent and usable, i'm sure, but to really do this the best way, you need a usb audio interface - you could go with a tascam portastudio, but i'd go the usb route
posted by pyramid termite at 7:01 PM on June 28, 2013 [2 favorites]