Home music recording?

I am really getting into home recording. I started out with Garageband (hah) and have moved up to Mbox and ProTools. Anyone else into it? What are you using?

I am looking at plug-ins now. I really like Amplitube and t-racks. Actually, that looks like all I would really need right now to make polished music. I am using Reason for percussion and bass and putting my guitar through everything. Any other good plug-ins worth checking out? Even VST one I could use from Cubase.

 

[thomsbrain]

I use a Digi 002R with Pro Tools. Amplitude and T-Racks are pretty good, I hear, and Waves are supposed to be really great. The Antares line of plug-ins are industry standards. I don't bother too much with plug-ins though, since I figure any real mixing that I need to do, I'll just have done on someone's HD3 system.

My band is in the extended process of recording a new album. We're tracking to 24 track 2" tape, then once we've filled all the tracks with overdubs, we'll have it dumped into Pro Tools for us at 24/96k, where we'll complete the overdubs and vocals on my 002R (we need more than 24 tracks for most songs, and editing and comping is faster in Pro Tools). We go to analog first to get the warmth and compression of tape. We're using Neve and SSL consoles and some incredible microphones courtesy our drummer's recording school. Recording is sooooo much fun!

I highly recommend the user forums on Digidesign's website. The people there are pretty knowledgeable and very helpful and friendly. It's a great place to go for troubleshooting, tips, or opinions on the work you've been doing.

 

[nan0bug]

Cubase SX, Reason, FL Studio, Soundforge, Acid 4, and a bunch of VSTi plugins

Check out Absynth, its probbably the best VST plugin around as far as the sounds you can get out of it.

If you don't have one, I would invest in a good midi controller too. The more rotary knobs and faders, the better - adjusting knobs on screen with a mouse is such a pain in the ass, it makes creating music hard labor compared to being able to change a setting while playing on the keyboard by just twisting a knob or moving a fader.

I used to have an M-Audio radium 49, which was a good starter keyboard. You can pick one up for about $150, it has 49 keys, 8 faders and 8 rotary knobs. However, if you have a little more money to spend or don't mind waiting longer to save up, I would reccomend you opt for the Evolution MK-461c which is a much higher quality and more feature packed keyboard. I picked mine up from American Musical Supply for $280 shipped (UPS 2-day). Its got 61 keys, 9 faders, 12 rotary knobs, 10 assignable buttons (helpful for when you want to flip the rack in reason or save at the push of a button, etc), and 8 function buttons. The quality of this keyboard is a big step up from any m-audio gear i've come in contact with, the faders have a better feel and are a lot more accurate. m-audio gear is -okay-, this keyboard is nearly professional grade hardware at a fraction of the cost.

 

[Krakerjak]

I'm using Cakewalk Sonar.
I find it very easy to use, and powerful.

 

[Ogg]

Originally posted by: Krakerjak
I'm using Cakewalk Sonar.
I find it very easy to use, and powerful.

:Q
wow reading cakewalk brings back memories of music theory early in my college life.......