Multi-tracking freeware.

[the_beastly_one]

Could anyone recommend one? Not looking for anything too complex, just something to mix maybe 2 or 3 tracks, and free.

Thanks.

[Daniel]

you can download the pro tools 4 track for free, aslo theirs goldwave

[the_beastly_one]

you can download the pro tools 4 track for free' date=' aslo theirs goldwave[/quote']

I already have Goldwave and only operates on single track..........

But I'll check out the Pro Tools one, cheers.

[threeornothing]

ProTools free is Windows 9x only, it also doesn't seem to work very well on Athlons. Plus its fucking shit

Try the Cubase SX H20 "Try before Buy" version

[Humey Whilem]

I'm using N-track, (freeware download) and although I'd never ever do it of course [cough-cough], there's a crack available so you don't get the annoying beeps in the end result....

[Ray]

mackie were giving away tracktion for free not so long ago

www.mackie.com

good vst support too

[Compuphonic]

Check out some of the Linux audio apps at www.linuxaudio.org

Rosegarden is probably the one you want..

http://www.rosegardenmusic.com/tour/audio/

[spellchecker]

http://www.aberdeen-music.com/forums/showthread.php?t=18061

there was a thread or two like this before, note the post from neubeatz in the above thread, about something called kristal, seems totally free.

[spellchecker]

also, here is an email i wrote to someone recently who was thinking about setting up linux workstations for music in a school in englandshire.

--------------------------------

The logistics of getting some of this stuff running can sometimes be quite

tricky unless you are quite computer proficient. However, I'm happy to

help out/give advice if you are actually keen to try it out. I can't quite

remember what software and hardware you said you used at school, so I'll

just make some comparisons to software that is currently available for

Microsoft Windows.

One of the great benefits of Linux is that almost all of the applications

mentioned below can work together. They all run through a sound server

application that performs the task of synchronization and inter process

communication for all applications. As mentioned before, all of this

software is completely free; you can legally copy it onto as many

computers as you want. The best thing to do is to take a look at some of

the websites I mention below; most of them have screenshots and a list of

features, and probably give you a better idea of what can be achieved with

them.

1. One of the main uses of a computer for music is Hard Disk Recording.

There are loads of applications on windows that do this, for example

Cubase, Logic Audio, Sonic Foundry's ACiD, CoolEdit/Adobe Audition,

Digidesign's ProTools, etc. etc. The typical setup is a multitracking

software suite where you can record several tracks, overdubbing as you go,

or recording many tracks at once on multiple inputs. Each track has

controls for its own volume, panning, etc.

On Linux, there is an application called Ardour (http://www.ardour.org)

that is very similar to ProTools. It is a very powerful application, but

is a great technology for teaching people the basics of computer

recording - because it is the way most studios using computers for digital

production do their recording. There are other applications in Linux that

can also do hard disk recording, but Ardour is far and above the best

application.

2. Perhaps the next most important software tool is a sequencer.

Sequencers typically record or allow a user to draw MIDI sequences that

are played back through a MIDI instrument, for example, a keyboard (with

MIDI in), a synthesier, or perhaps a computer instrument like a VST. Many

applications are available on Microsoft Windows to do this, for example

Reason, Cubase, Cakewalk, etc. In Linux, there are a couple of different

applications that perform the task of sequencing, aimed at slightly

different audiences.

Rosegarden (http://www.rosegardenmusic.com) is a fully featured MIDI

sequencer that also provides score visualisation and editing. I thought

this might be useful in school if you are teaching notation, for example.

Rosegarden can also do hard disk recording, though not with the advanced

control and manipulation of Ardour.

Muse (http://muse.serverkommune.de) is a simpler, more user friendly MIDI

sequencer. It can also be a hard disk recorder as well, but again, with

less of the features that Ardour provides. I tend to use Muse for most of

my sequencing work because it is quite similar to Cubase/Cubasis, and is

very simple to use for first time users.

3. Another important category of audio applications is that of waveform

editors. Waveform editors typically allow users to edit sound files or

samples, doing anything from volume/normalisation tasks, to adding

effects, dynamics/compression/EQ editing, fade ins/outs, etc. etc. On

Microsoft Windows there are applications like Adobe Audition/CoolEdit,

Sonic Foundry's Sound Forge, etc.

Audacity (http://audacity.sourceforge.net) is a cross platform (e.g. it

runs on Windows, Mac and Linux systems) waveform editor. Audacity is able

to use VST effects to add things like distortion, chorus, flange, reverb,

delay, etc. There are also free effects that come with the program to

perform the same task.

Rezound (http://rezound.sourceforge.net) is a similar application but is

not cross platform. It can perform most of the same tasks that Audacity

can. It is probably better to use Audacity though, as it is more stable.

4. Software synthesizers (e.g. waveform generators) are a popular tools

for computer musicians. They can often replicate the kind of sounds made

my hardware synthesizers made by Korg/Roland/Clavia, etc. Usually on

Microsoft Windows, these take the form of VST or VSTi plugins.

Propellerheads' Reason also features very advanced software synthesizers.

These applications often have multiple oscillators, modulators, filters

with Attack, Delay, Sustain and Release settings that allow a user to

completely shape the waveform.

ZynAddSubFx (http://zynaddsubfx.sf.net) is a very powerful application

that can produce very beautiful sounds either from presets, or by

adjusting the synthesizer settings in the program itself. It is MIDI

enabled so can take input from a MIDI keyboard, or from a MIDI sequencer

(such as Muse or Rosegarden). This is probably the best synthesizer on

Linux.

Amsynth (http://amsynthe.sf.net) is another analogue-modelling

synthesizer. It is a lot more like traditional hardware synths and can

make some truly horrible sounds, as well as some very creative

soundscaping noises!!

There are actually a great deal of synthesizer programs on Linux, each

aiming at a slightly different modelling technique.

5. There are a number of other miscellaneous applications for Linux that

don't necessarily fit into any one category. A favourite of mine is a drum

sequencer called Hydrogen (http://hydrogen.sf.net). Hydrogen performs the

task normally assigned to a hardware drum machine; set the correct tempo,

start punching beats into it! Hydrogen gives users access to a great

number of different sounding drum kits; volumes of each instrument (e.g.

hi hats, toms, kick, snare, crash, etc.) can be panned and volume

controlled individually, and have up to 4 effects applied at varying

levels. It is very simple to use even for absolute beginners, and is great

fun to use!

[spellchecker]

and here's a couple of tracks recorded in linux

http://affronted.org/livingyou.mp3

http://affronted.org/blackhorse.mp3

[the_beastly_one]

To dig up this thread again, for anyone looking for something along the lines of this, Audacity is perfect, and can be found here:

http://audacity.sourceforge.net/download/

Completely free, and does the job it's intended for without bogging you down in any techy stuff.

Thanks to all who contributed also.

[voodoo_chile]

ta very much, thats exactly what I've been after

[imprinted]

you mean that thing spellchecker gave you a link to in his post with the email in it?

[threeornothing]

Heh didn't realise this was an old thread although was away to say audacity...although I think it sucks...Cubase SX3 boy here though....

[the_beastly_one]

you mean that thing spellchecker gave you a link to in his post with the email in it?

Mhmmn, I just looked back and found what you were referring to, I hadn't realised it was there. And also, the content Spellchecker gave alongside it concerns effects, and at no point displays that it was in fact the program I was looking for. Although it was helpful, there's a hell of a lot of information to take in reading that, and I'd say my post is still contributing something worthwhile, as the one in Spellchecker's very easy to overlook.

[the_beastly_one]

And almost on the subject of the thread, does anyone know of anyone drum looping type programs that I could pick up for free? It would also be useful if they were able to be exported into audacity.

[threeornothing]

Something like Fasttracker might do the trick? Its free, used to use it on the Amiga way back when....I think its a bit better now though

http://www.fasttracker2.com/index.htm

Can't remember how you used it but basically you just put the notes in in descending order and it would play the track from top to bottom. You can load in some drum samples, and try that out....I need to give this look again as I totally forgot about it till now.

[less_than_stu]

Heh didn't realise this was an old thread although was away to say audacity...although I think it sucks...Cubase SX3 boy here though....

You damn skippy!