Having decided to find and download a program for recording songs, beginners are lost in the options proposed by him. In many studios, sound engineers use Pro Tools, Cubase, Logic Pro, but all this is professional software that is hardly suitable for beginners. In this article, we will look at which songwriting programs you can use at home.
Audacity
Audacity is one of the simplest and most common programs for recording and processing demo audio material. Download the instrumental, record vocal parts using a microphone, clear the track from excess noise, apply compression, equalization and save it in WAV or MP3 - the demo is ready. You can also record a guitar or other instruments by connecting through a line input. To improve the quality of post-production, you can connect third-party VST-plugins to Audacity. As a result, we have the simplest program for recording songs through a microphone and their easy processing, suitable for beginners and people with a specific purpose (for example, removing excess noise from a recording). It is not very convenient for large projects, unfortunately, its capabilities do not allow to realize all desires. Platforms - Windows, MacOs, Linux.
Goldwave
Another easy to learn program for recording songs. As in Audacity, in GoldWave you can record from a microphone and line-in, export to many formats is supported, including WAV and MP3. The program has a built-in basic set of effects, including a gate, a denoiser and a declicker, which is important for people working with a low-quality microphone or in conditions that are not ideal for recording. Goldwave has many positive reviews, despite its simplicity. A trial version with a limited number of teams but with full functionality is available on the official website. The cost of a license for a year is $ 15, forever - $ 45. Supported platforms - Windows (Windows 7, Vista, XP (32 bit) - from the fifth version), Linux using Wine - from the fifth version.
Adobe audition
Audition is considered one of the best audio editors. Popular among amateur musicians, video bloggers, podcasts, it is intended for recording, processing, restoration and correction of audio. The program has an impressive package of effects (spatial processing, compression and limiting, modulation, frequency analysis, processing, etc.) with many blanks, but if necessary, you can add third-party VST plugins. Convenient processing system: you can process both individual records and entire tracks at once. The workspace is easy to set up with ready-made presets, guided by the purpose of the work. Supports almost all audio formats. Platforms - Windows, MacOS X.
PreSonus Studio One 3 Prime
Studio One 3 Prime is a stripped down free version of the popular Studio One 3 sequencer from PreSonus. What distinguishes it from previous programs? Studio One 3 Prime - not just a program for recording songs, but a full DAW. You can not only record and process audio, but also add instrumental parts of synthesizers or romplers, which will significantly enrich the sound. Studio One 3 Prime has everything to initially become your favorite DAW. The kit comes with a set of effects, as well as a good sample for beginners, the Presence XT sampler with a 1.5 GB sample library and access to the sample pack store. The disadvantage is the lack of the ability to connect plug-ins, except for paid packages from PreSonus. Support for Mac and Windows.
Cockos REAPER
Reaper is one of the most powerful and functional DAWs in existence today. It is recognized by professional sound engineers, and some musicians believe that “Ripper” is the future of sound recording and sound processing. Let's consider some pluses. In Ripper, the recording process is very conveniently implemented - just a few clicks. For processing, DAW has a lot of very decent plugins built in. An incredibly flexible interface allows you to customize almost any parameter and any key combination for yourself, and a variety of themes and scripts are available on the official website of the software to make working with Ripper even more convenient and enjoyable. The number of tracks and effects on one track is unlimited.
In addition, users acknowledge that when working with heavy projects, the Reaper performs better than some other popular DAWs, which is due to the simplified graphical content of the interface and plugins. Interestingly, having such functionality and performance, the program is notable for its ridiculous size and low demands on PC resources. Platforms - Windows, Linux with Wine, MacOS X (versions 10.5-10.13) The cost of the program for personal use is $ 60. You can download a free trial version of Reaper with full functionality for 60 days.