Rejig my PC recording set up...

seachto7

Hi all,

Been using Reaper and an M-Audio Fast Track on a Win 7 machine with plenty of RAM. Use SSD4 cheap drum plugin for some basic loops.
I also use amplitube for guitar ideas.

Using the set up to get good ideas together, which are then re-recorded at a high quality studio (Pro Tools etc)

Might switch from Reaper to something else, but not sure. Cakewalk? Ableton?

I find Reaper *ok*. Not great, but often have to go in and out of the settings and things sometimes don't work...

Looking into some plug ins at the moment....

Unfortunatley, I don't have the money to go top line.

However, a lot of the electro drum plug ins I came across seem to have that really tinny 90s dance music type sound. Any good ones that would lend themselves to ambient kind of stuff without breaking the bank?

Would love to get some good brass or string plug ins, but imagine you would pay well for these?

I had an old version of Sampletank, but it must be well over 7 years old now. I'm sure things have moved on since then.

Bearing in mind, I don't need to produce anything of professional quality...

pinksoir

I find Reaper amazing and the deeper I get into it, the better it gets. It's nearly endlessly customisable and anything you could imagine needing it to do there are shortcuts, sws extensions etc for. Don't let the price fool you into thinking it's not a serious tool. There's a ton of converts (professionals) who were previously using Protools using it. If you need help with it, or are having issues, just ask on the forums.

However, that's not to say it's without some weaknesses. It was designed as an audio based DAW, and there are a lot of users complaining about its MIDI power not being up to the level of other DAWs. I haven't found this to be the case, but then I only really use MIDI for writing drum parts with Superior Drummer and some VSTi work. It all depends on what sort of music you want to create. I haven't really used it, but I know a good few people who swear by Ableton, though they make more electronic music. The workflow seems to be a lot different to the standard DAWs, but it certainly seems pretty powerful in that domain. Maybe try a demo?

Back to Reaper again; there's a learning curve with every DAW and it can be pretty frustrating. I recommend giving the Groove3 Reaper 4 Explained video tutorial a go as it really opened my eyes to Reaper's power and ease of use. It's cheap enough and is written and presented by an active Reaper forum member/pro engineer called Kenny Gioia. He uses both Protools and Reaper. One of the best things about reaper is that you can customise it exactly to your workflow. I am similar to yourself in that I demo stuff at home and then bring it to a professional studio after. The dude I work with uses Protools, but he's going to start using Reaper in the coming months.

I can't really help you with your plugins, you'd need to be a bit more specific. But you would definitley get a LOT more help with all things music production over on the Reaper forums. That's where I spend most of my time when I need help with anything. A great community.

I moved from Cubase to Reaper about 2 years ago and my chops have improved massively since then. I'm nowhere near pro level, but I'm feeling pretty good about where I'm at.
Here's the latest thing I made in Reaper:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/4447157/PAGODAS%20MIX2.mp3

So, obviously not pro quality, but at a level where it makes it a lot easier to communicate what I want to an engineer. The more work you can do at home, the less time/money/energy you spend in a studio, and the better results you get at the end of it.

Hope this is of some help to you.

slavedave

Most of the "big Guns" have free / cheap entry level versions to demo. They all have their own flavour and tailor to a certain way of doing things. Some are better at audio, some include mastering tools, some are better in live use etc etc. Think through your future needs and then do some internet searching. I personally have used Cakewalk Sonar for years for basic demo recording and voice overdubs (plus I have used it to host my vsti's for live performances). At the moment I am trialling Reaper since more of my music is live now and Cakewalk has limitations on this front (but is excellent in so many other regards - albeit I stopped upgrading at 8.5 and have not adopted their new iterations of it which have drawn some user criticism of late). Cubase, Sonar, Ableton Live, Presonus StudioOne plus Magix Samplitude are options ( and a few of these have less featured but cheaper versions in their range). Unless you are a super user you will probably find that you don't need all the bells and whistles that come with the "full monty" package in any case.
All the best with your search. Remember that each has a learning curve so bear with it but even if it doesn't suit your workflow you can try others.
PS - Reaper does look very promising at the moment. It may be worth persevering with it if you already have it.