Dirty Deeds Done Cheap on Mac

What's the best audio scratchpad on the Mac? I'm looking for the equivalent of my old cassette recorder.

I used to record loads of cassette tapes, just me playing into the damn thing, never recording over anything, just letting it build up. I would then listen to these in the car and they would eventually form themselves into songs.

On the Mac I use Logic Pro and (occasionally) Garageband, but that's not what I'm looking for. What I'd really like is the equivalent of the FourTrack iPod app on the mac. Something dead simple and dirt cheap that I can record into on the fly and then dump as an MP3 into iTunes or something without even thinking about it. Any ideas?

posted by sweet mister (6 comments total)

How many tracks are you looking to record at a time? I'd recommend Audacity or Reaper, which are free or cheap, respectively.
posted by askmeaboutLOOM at 5:17 PM on November 26, 2010

Actually, one track would be absolutely fine. I'm looking for something that's as easy to use as an old shoebox tape recorder.
posted by sweet mister at 7:32 PM on November 26, 2010

Then Audacity may be perfect for you. It's great for pick up and play recording, and the price is great: free.
posted by askmeaboutLOOM at 10:09 PM on November 26, 2010

Thanks for that. I already had Audacity which I've never really gotten along with. But Reaper is terrific. It is much more instant-on than Logic but not as frustrating as Garageband. For dumping stuff out of my brain onto the laptop it is going to work superbly for me.

I also found this completely crazy deal which I am horribly tempted by: a Tascam 4-track digital recorder for less than $70.
posted by sweet mister at 8:07 PM on November 27, 2010

Ahh - I use TapeDeck for this - it's great for quick recordings, recalling old material, and the like.
posted by tmcw at 7:52 AM on November 28, 2010

Wow, TapeDeck is great. I really needed something like that too.
posted by unSane at 7:13 PM on November 28, 2010