11–20 of 157 posts
I recently switched my workflow to all linux compatible free as in beer software. I like being able to produce music on pretty much any hardware no matter where I am. I love audacity and want to say thanks to the team!
Kudos the Audacity devs.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
What other free-as-in-beer software do you use to produce music?
Ardour ( https://ardour.org/ ) and LMMS ( https://lmms.io/ ) are probably the two most popular open-source DAWs. I also really like MuseScore ( https://musescore.org/ ) for composition.
I am so glad for Audacity but the UI always feels more convoluted than it needs to be. I wish they would copy Sound Forge's controls
It'd be nice to decouple the UI from all the major open source sequencer and audio software, just leave some sort of pure data + Core Audio style innards and reconnect the UIs on top. I've taken a few cracks at this in private, but embarrassingly have a hard time getting much done on this particular project without anyone watching.
I recently switched my workflow to all linux compatible free as in beer software. I like being able to produce music on pretty much any hardware no matter where I am. I love audacity and want to say thanks to the team!
What other free-as-in-beer software do you use to produce music?
I recorded my first songs on audacity, I love this piece of software!
Back in my day, we had Windows Recorder and Cool Edit.
Sound Forge was my preferred editor for years before Audacity matured. Cool Edit was ok, but I seem to recall it had a bizarrely over-designed UI that made the thing feel more like a toy than a serious tool. Particularly when compared to the much older and more feature rich (at that time) Sound Forge. It took a while before Cool Edit really became competitive and by that point I was already using Audacity.
I do still miss some features of Sound Forge even now. Though I don't tend to do too much with audio editors these days compared to the stuff I was doing in the 90s and 00s.
I am so glad for Audacity but the UI always feels more convoluted than it needs to be. I wish they would copy Sound Forge's controls
That's a thought! I think that Reaper is the one to beat these days though, is there an essay or review of Sound Forge which would capture (comprehensively) what is to love about it? It'd be nice to decouple the UI from all the major open source sequencer and audio software, just leave some sort of pure data + Core Audio style innards and reconnect the UIs on top. I've taken a few cracks at this in private, but embar…
My other favorite features are how editing doesn't rely on "modes' like Audacity (I hate having to hit a button before I make a selection then another to do something else), and Sound Forge's selection logic itself:
- the playback cursor will intelligently snap and loop on your selections (or not, depending on how you set the toggle), -
- the editing scrolls to follow your cursor as you are zoomed in, but not if you're currently editing something. A lot of programs do this but I find their logic is terrible and I have to control automatic scrolling myself. This is very helpful for working on seamlessly looping material, as you can leave playback on loop and continue working at the very end of your selection without the UI losing your place
- load and save in native formats without having to use some proprietary intermediary format (AUP)
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Back in my day, we had Windows Recorder and Cool Edit.
I don't think anyone used Windows Sound Recorder for anything serious. It had a built in maximum record length for starters (I think to prevent piracy?). Sound Forge was my preferred editor for years before Audacity matured. Cool Edit was ok, but I seem to recall it had a bizarrely over-designed UI that made the thing feel more like a toy than a serious tool. Particularly when compared to the much older and more feat…
It was somewhat related to the memory the computer had. I think it tried to store audio all uncompressed in memory. At the very least it varied a lot between different machines. I remember trying it in a super low spec machine and it could record up to about 5s max.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
What other free-as-in-beer software do you use to produce music?
Not for producing as such but there's also Mixxx DJ software where you can write your own controls and effects in Javascript.
I recorded my first songs on audacity, I love this piece of software!
Back in my day, we had Windows Recorder and Cool Edit.