Easy PC Midi/Recording Software

[mousdrvr]

Hey Guys,

I have a friend who's really a pretty smoking piano player, but is completely naive when it comes to the whole home recording deal. He has a pc and he's a smart dude, just never looked down this road. I'm wondering if there is a reasonably priced pc software bundle with a pretty straight forward UI that might be good for him. He's asked me for a rec but being a Logic guy I really have no Idea what would be appropriate. If he were a little more into recording audio, and I'm sure he will be in future, I'd recommend PT LE but he just has a key board at the moment so we're taking midi right now. I'd appreciate any thoughts.



-mous

[magicchord]

Have him try REAPER.

Development is ongoing on this app and it's pretty mature at this point. I don't do MIDI but I understand it's pretty good at that too.

And it's shareware, so the demo is not crippled, you just get a subtle nag screen when you start it up. Downloadable from this site:

http://reaper.fm/index.php

The developers are very active on the REAPER message boards and they listen to users.

[mousdrvr]

Thank you Magic! that's just the ticket.



-mous

[otek]

I think for PC, Cubase SE 3 is a good choice for the budget-conscious.

It doesn't feature the same amount of possible inputs, and it doesn't have the latest 2.3 audio engine, but whaddaya want for 150 beans? :D

The midi features are still powerful as ever, and that's the main thing, no?

[mousdrvr]

I'll pass him that one as well.

Thanks Big-O!


-mous

[MacGregor]

I agree with both Reaper and Cubase, in fact in some cases
(e.g. routing, VST chaining and re-arranging) Reaper is more
flexible. Give this guy another year or two and Steinberg won't
like him anymore.

If he's looking for an audio card for his PC anyway have a look
what software is bundled with it, some brands include
Cubase LE with the card.

LE is nearly identical to the older version of Cubase SE, IIRC
only the number of ins and outs and the number of busses
are reduced.

Mac

[magicchord]

Now that Reaper is skinnable, a user has developed this skin he calls Reabendo. Does it really resemble Nuendo or Cubase? I don't know.

[Tim Halligan]

Does it really resemble Nuendo or Cubase? I don't know.

Well...not so much :Roll eyes:

It certainly doesn't look like an SX screen I've come across. I can't speak for Nuendo.

Cheers,
Tim

[Brendo]

it very loosely looks like nuendo, as much as reaper possibly could i think... but they are totally different programs.

it is steinbergesque.

is there a protools skin? that could be a laugh.

[Brendo]

I think for PC, Cubase SE 3 is a good choice for the budget-conscious.

+ 1 for Cubase.

[vocalnick]

Yes, there are a couple of flavours of Pro Tools skin for Reaper, but the skins basically only swap out the icon images & colours - there's no layout changes, so the look is never a perfect emulation.

Personally, I think the current focus on the aesthetics & interface bling is a waste of development time - It's a DAW, not frickin' WinAMP - but I guess I'm in the minority there. The default interface is fine and dandy for me. Clear & functional.

I'd agree with any of the options suggested thus far. Cubase LE is quite use-able and can be had gratis with many pieces of hardware, as MacGregor has pointed out. It's pretty much halted at SX version 1 level features, but that's still pretty powerful for a beginner.

Definitely give Reaper a look as well. You can try it for free, so it seems a logical first port of call.

[Brendo]

Well - it's programmed by the guys who MADE Winamp. So no surprises there.

[vocalnick]

True dat :)

Hopefully now they've got the fancy-pants skinning up & running they can spend some more time on actually bolstering and enhancing the feature set.

[Brendo]

I think skinning is a clever idea, though - I know I can be put off a DAW by the look of the interface... if it's ugly I find it hard to work in. ProTools 5.x on OS 9 for example. While 6 or 7 on OS X looks gorgeous in comparison.

[pipelineaudio]

If your buddy has any trouble running reaper, have him click this link:

http://www.mixxnet.net/java/?channel=reaper

He will be taken right to the reaper help chat channel, there will likely be someone friendly around to answer his questions