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Which mixing software is easier to start with?


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Given the following:

I am going to HAVE to multitrack everything because i'll be using a

Korg Nanokey which has two octaves at any given time (space issue for me in a dorm, though I do have an ancient Roland Juno 106 at home).

I've only recently picked up the keyboard as an instrument.

I've previously played the clarinet.

I can acquire any software possible.

I'm just looking for something good (or a good package) of simple software with a simple interface, less controls so much (I'd like to just be able to practice recording songs, not so much tweaking them at this point).

When I open fruity loops its like a nuclear bomb going off in my eye. Theres just way too much going on.

I hope that gives someone a clue of where I'm coming from. I just need introductory software to learn what I'm trying to learn better, not to make anything submission-worthy.

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Given the following:

I am going to HAVE to multitrack everything because i'll be using a

Korg Nanokey which has two octaves at any given time (space issue for me in a dorm, though I do have an ancient Roland Juno 106 at home).

I've only recently picked up the keyboard as an instrument.

I've previously played the clarinet.

I can acquire any software possible.

I'm just looking for something good (or a good package) of simple software with a simple interface, less controls so much (I'd like to just be able to practice recording songs, not so much tweaking them at this point).

When I open fruity loops its like a nuclear bomb going off in my eye. Theres just way too much going on.

I hope that gives someone a clue of where I'm coming from. I just need introductory software to learn what I'm trying to learn better, not to make anything submission-worthy.

Well, Cubase is my favourite for everything, and if you're gonna be multitracking then you can't do any better as far as I'm concerned. If by "acquire" you mean illegally download, then you should reconsider seeing as this will be the last piece of help you get from this place.

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Well, Cubase is my favourite for everything, and if you're gonna be multitracking then you can't do any better as far as I'm concerned. If by "acquire" you mean illegally download, then you should reconsider seeing as this will be the last piece of help you get from this place.

This school actually keeps licensed copies of the more popular software out there on their student-and-staff-only server. I was just referring to those. I can run them off the actual network without having them on the computer, or we can copy them and use them on the VPN.

Thanks for the reply though, I'll try out the Cubase interface (that rhymes!)

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Well. See what works best for your work flow. and go from there, is what many have told me.

Theres none that are "easy" to use, it takes time to learn what the software can do, and if it fits your work flow.

I agree with snapple, as well.

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I don't know what kind of knowledge you already have in terms of audio engineering.

-First, you may want to learn using a simple wave editor. Try Audacity. It's free, powerful, quite easy to understand, and it's also well documented.

-Next you'll have to get a sequencer, commonly known as DAW, short for digital audio workstation. They will allow you to do multitrack editing / recording.

Free ones includes LMMS or Reaper. Well documented too.

-After playing with midi a little bit, you'll probably want to use some virtual instruments, or VST instead. You can find some free ones here.

On a side note, the Korg Nanokey got some nice octave up/down buttons, and pitch modulators. So you'll have access to the whole range in a few button press. ;-)

Don't forget to check this site tutorials, you'll find some great tools.

Hope this helps you getting started.

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How useful is Finale for anything? I've played around with that a bit, and tried reaper last night (its pretty easy to jump into once you figure out how to get it to use your keyboard lol), and was pretty surprised with the quality of sound I got from reaper.

Whatever I played with in Finale had terrible samples.

But are there better samples I'm missing, or should I just stay away from finale?

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Finale isn't a DAW. Reaper is.

DAWs work with real audio, whether you record it from an instrument or record MIDI and have the MIDI trigger a software instrument. Notation programs are used for writing notation so that real people can read the music; they happen to have some playback capabilities so you can hear what you're doing as you write it, but the quality won't be good. For your purposes, you want a DAW, not a notation program.

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I take it you probably don't have a Mac because you tried Fruity Loops, but Garageband, to me, is by far the simplest DAW interface. It's limited on features, but just for recording, it gets the job done easily and quickly.

Yeah, you would think MS would have package something into windows vista for it. Especially since most of that OS is being removed in Windows 7.

Edit: Turns out they DO have a garageband. Its cheap but not free, and its AWFUL.

Just look what Songsmith did to The best song on the internet:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nd2oDClUw20

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Songsmith isn't really Garage Band if that's what you're suggesting. It lets you record a single melody line and doesn't really let you shape a piece. It's more of a toy.

Also: don't bother with LMMS; you're not exclusively a Linux user, which would be the only reason to create music in Linux.

And don't bother with Audacity right now unless you have a need for it. Knowing a tiny bit about waves can be helpful, but as a complete beginner, the first thing you'll want to do is figure out how to arrange a complete song and get the sounds you want. It's unlikely that you'll need to touch a wave editor for a significant amount of time. When you do, however, Audacity is definitely the way to go.

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Edit: Turns out they DO have a garageband. Its cheap but not free, and its AWFUL.

Just look what Songsmith did to The best song on the internet:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nd2oDClUw20

Firstly, I thought you were gonna try to LEARN on of these, how can you know that it's awful if you don't know how to use it properly?

And lol at that video... but ya, songsmith takes one melody and automatically builds the rest of the song around it.

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