Best Multi-Track Recording Software For Newbies, Simple, effective, inexpensive, for OS X Options

[Dadoo]

Wanting to make decent multi-track recordings at home with my own music equipment and software and computer. I have an iMac 600 MHz with 512 MB of RAM and I'm running OS 10.2.8. I have the Audiophile USB sound interface. Would want to record music with vocals or without sometimes. Would like to be able to burn to standard CD format (AIFF). Thanks for voting, and thanks for any additional comments!

[rcase]

Just wanted to second or third the previous Tracktion recommendations. I downloaded the demo for curiosity's sake due to a blurb on osxaudio. I was completely blown away by how intuitive everything was. It even looks good to me. I think Live users will like the way the app 'looks', if that matters to you at all. You do end up staring at these things for hours on end..

It also seems to be very 'lean and mean' to me. Example: I run a 400mhz G3 Pismo Powerbook (500+RAM) with a 7200rpm external Firewire drive and a US428 interface. Using DP (my preferred app for over 10 years), I'm lucky to get one iteration of Stylus and a Sampletank running before the system chokes. I didn't really mind; I understand my PB is older, and luckily there's freeze tracks to ease the pain somewhat. But I fired up Tracktion and just starting adding plugins to see what would happen. I've had 6 Stylus plugins, a Sampletank, and 4-5 Plugsound modules running, unfrozen in Tracktion before the processor bar starts to go into the red. Further, latency- both MIDI and audio- is, to my ears, non-existant in Tracktion. Definitely not the case in DP. And this is on a Pismo PB.

That's all great, but what really sold me is how easy it is to use. Adjust volume, add filters (plugins), change MIDI/Audio inputs...even the track freeze is simpler. Now for disclaimers. 1) I think Tracktion will appeal most to people like myself who want pretty much everything they need on one screen. It is definitely setup for that purpose. If you prefer seperate windows, multiple popups, etc., it may not be for you. 2) It does have a way to go in terms of power-editing. I don't think even its creator would put it up against Logic and the others in that department. That's not to say however, that it is a toy; it definitely isn't. And it is continually being improved upon by the designer, but I think his plan is to do so without bloating it. Fine line I guess! 3)No Audio Units yet; just VST. 4) No video window for scoring, yet.

This topic is about software for newbies. I'd say if you're new in the young sense, and growing up with Reason, ACID, Live, etc., you'll love Tracktion. Traditional Pro Tools-types might not, I don't know. Having said that, I'm in my 30s, grew up with 4-tracks, mixing boards, and Peformer on a Mac Classic, outboard synths, etc., I write a lot of country and pop in traditional song-format. I'm not Loop/Dance/DJ guy (although I am a closet-ambient guy). But I love this thing. I don't ever plan on going back. Tracktion doesn't have a 'mixing board screen', and I don't miss it. I don't feel like it is necessary. You can achieve the same things, but they are handled a different way (in my opinion, a superior way).

I beg any of you who haven't tried it to download the demo and give it a go. No blanket statements that everybody is going to love it. I think some will say "That's not for me". For others, I think it might change the way you work with music software.