Multi-track Recording Software, Software that is simple and works in OSX Options

[Dadoo]

I'm just getting into the fascinating world of digital music recording. My wife and I play music together for small and large group things. I would like to be able to add some fullness to our sound by creating our own accompaniment CD's so that we can play along with a "full band", so to speak.

I just got the M-Audio Audiophile USB and it came with a "lite" version of Ableton DELTA Live. I've played around with it some and have recorded a couple of things. I find it rather complicated for what I'm doing, as I think it is more of a looping/sequencing instrument that just happens to have recording capabilities. I also find it frustrating to get sound consistently in and out of the program as I seem to have to quit and restart the program for it to recognize that I have an audio input for it. But this may be beside the point because I think it is not the right program for what I want to do.

I have hear a little about a shareware program for OS X called Jasmine. I see that I can download a demo of it. Does anyone have any experience with this program? Basically what I want to do is to plug in my bass, guitar, keyboard, drum machine, maybe some backing vocals, and record them on different tracks and then make them into an AIFF file that can be burned onto a CD. I want it to be simple and able to produce good digital quality sound. Will Jasmine work for me? Is there another simple and basic program that works in OS X that I should look at?

I'm doing my recording on a 600 MHz iMac, running OS 10.2.8, with 512 MB of RAM.

Thanks for your replies. I know I have much to learn!

[kaboombahchuck]

I'm thinking Metro SE will work best for your needs. There is a demo available for download, check it out. It is a simple straight forward program that is expandable, as your needs grow.

[swilder]

Audacity is a hip little app if you don't need many features or a super chic interface. It's free. I use it to show beginners that's it is possible to do decent audio work without spending wads of cash.

Scott

[Dadoo]

Thanks for the tips so far. I have never heard of Metro SE, but I'm checking it out at their website. As for Audacity, I have downloaded that before but all it did for me was crash.

[TYDYMKR]

I USE AUDACITY FOR RECORDING AND SPARK LE FOR EDITING AND PROCESSING. I HAVE HAD SIMILAR PROBLEMS WITH AUDACITY UNEXPECTEDLY QUITING, BUT THE NEWEST RELEASE (1.2.0 PRE 3) SEEMS TO HAVE FIXED MOST OF THE BUGS.

[swilder]

I haven't tried out the demo yet but this looks like a decent piece of software for about the same price as metro

http://www.intuem.com/main.html

Scott

[rickenbacker]

Intuem really sucked when I tried it last year. Maybe they've dramatically overhauled it since. You'd better hope so.

Just one user's experience.

[Dadoo]

I'm really appreciating all the tips. It's a bit unnerving unless you've seen something "in action". Thankfully, many of the products have demos or are shareware that you can try for a month. Now I just need to find more time! So far no one has commented on Jasmine. I saw it mentioned in an article in Machome Journal about setting up an inexpensive recording studio at the low and mid range for the home user. They seemed to like it but I was wondering about other's experiences with it.

[Dadoo]

Now, I know this program is OS 9 only, but what about Cubasis VST for Mac? Would that be a good program for a newbie? Can you save your recorded stuff as AIFF files to burn to CD? I have seen this program at a very good price, so am tempted!

[kaboombahchuck]

I started out with cubase, and got no where.. the learning curve was so steep that I spent more time mad than actually recording. BTW being mad does not help the creative juces flow.