Software

There have been several times when working on my own music projects, that I have had to prepare the files to give to someone else to work on. When you do this, it is important to consolidate your tracks to make them ready to be worked on in a different DAW. Consolidating a track is…

When I first switched to using Reaper as my DAW a few years ago, there were several virtual instruments that I used in my previous DAW. Would I be able to find equivalent instruments that I could use as alternatives inside Reaper? Reaper does not have built-in instruments. It has very basic synth and sampler…

I have been using Reaper as my DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) for many years. When I first started using it, I was productive with it within a few hours of first downloading it. The video tutorials available, along with Reaper’s layout and ease of use made it a great choice for a beginner like me….

DAWs (Digital Audio Workstations) are large, complex software applications. Despite this, it is possible to become proficient enough with a DAW to make real music within a few hours of first using one. I know, because I have done this myself. The key to starting to learn how to use a DAW is in quickly…

I have rarely recorded a real guitar amp in my home studio in the last several years, as I haven’t needed to. This is because these days software guitar amp simulators (“amp sims”) are more than capable of sounding just as good as real guitar amps in my mixes. However, often to get amp sims…

Modern music recording software allows us to make incredible music productions in the comfort of our own homes. Even just a few decades ago, to do these things would have required a professional recording studio and very expensive equipment to record onto specialist tape. If you’re a beginner just getting into home music-making, what do…

Cockos Reaper is one of the best value DAWs available. There is a misconception floating around on the internet that Reaper is free – it is not! It offers a 60-day free trial period, after which you must pay for a license. But what happens after the 60-day trial period, if you don’t pay for…

Amp sims (Guitar Amplifier Simulator software) have come on leaps and bounds in the last few years. They are now a real, genuine alternative to using real amps for recording and for home practice. But there is one issue that you need to be aware of – latency – and that you need to know…

The traditional method of recording electric guitar in a recording studio is to place a microphone in front of a guitar amplifier. This technique still works great and is done all the time in professional studios. However, I actually recommend the convenience of using “amp sims” (guitar amplifier simulator software) to record electric guitar in…

These days I record all of my electric guitar parts in my home studio using guitar amplifier simulators or “amp sims”, and they sound great. However that wasn’t always the case, and when I first started using them the results were not good when compared to mic’ing up a guitar amp. If you are having…