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girlofmusic

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If you are talking just recording and mixing (as in mixing down the separate tracks to one stereo track not mixing as in two songs as a DJ would) then download Reaper for free. It's technically shareware but non-crippled and non-expiring (meaning its free unless you like it and decide to be a good person and pay the $40 license fee...which you should). It's a really good program actually...better than some that cost a couple hundred. There is also the free app Audacity which is kind of setup more like an audio editor. You could download this as well if Reaper doesn't meet your editing needs.

 

http://www.cockos.com/reaper/

 

Then go to KVR audio and download all kinds of free VST format plug-ins (effects and instruments) to use.

 

http://www.kvraudio.com/

 

Don't underestimate them because they're free. You should take that money and buy equipment (like a proper soundcard/interface, mic, preamp, etc.)

 

If you're talking DJ mixing I don't know what to tell you for a few hundred, I don't know what's out there. I use Ableton Live ($500) coupled with M-Audio Torq (as well as vinyl and live instruments) for that stuff. Maybe you could get the educational price on Live if you're in school which is about $300 I think. It sounds like you just mean recording, but you did post your question in the DJ forum so......

 

What DO you mean exactly?

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See, there are still a few people around here who take this forum seriously...

 

Assuming you're not talking about actual DJ mixing software-

I personally use Sound Forge to do all my recording and editing. I don't really mix anything on a computer but it will do that too. There are quite a few programs out there that will do this, but SF is the only one I've used myself, so I can't say that there isn't anything better or that will meet your needs for less expense. SF 8 is a little bit pricey, but will probably do everything you need it to and then some. There is a much cheaper version, but it doesn't have nearly as many features or record at the same sampling rate as the more expensive version, which means lower sound quality. You really don't want anything less than 24 bit audio. Steinberg Wavelab is another program that would be worth looking into.

 

A good sound card is just as important, especially if you're feeding your computer analog signals. The quality of the D/A converter it uses will make a big difference in the quality of the final product.

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See, there are still a few people around here who take this forum seriously...


Assuming you're not talking about actual DJ mixing software-

I personally use Sound Forge to do all my recording and editing. I don't really mix anything on a computer but it will do that too. There are quite a few programs out there that will do this, but SF is the only one I've used myself, so I can't say that there isn't anything better or that will meet your needs for less expense. SF 8 is a little bit pricey, but will probably do everything you need it to and then some. There is a much cheaper version, but it doesn't have nearly as many features or record at the same sampling rate as the more expensive version, which means lower sound quality. You really don't want anything less than 24 bit audio. Steinberg Wavelab is another program that would be worth looking into.


A good sound card is just as important, especially if you're feeding your computer analog signals. The quality of the D/A converter it uses will make a big difference in the quality of the final product.

 

 

Wait, I thought Soundforge was just an editing program (i.e. you can edit the waveform (chop it, add effects, etc.) but you can't mix with it). When I was using those programs you needed Soundforge to edit the waves and Acid to mix/multi-track everything. Has Soundforge added multi-tracking?

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Multitracking, unfortunately not. But it does have a crossfade function, which is really what I was referring to.

 

Mix is a very vague word in this sense. Kind of hard to know exactly what to recommend when you don't know exactly what someone needs to be able to do with a program.

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Virtual DJ is great for basic mixing and looping. Costs less than torq but I prefer torq (wish they'd release the damned xponent already).

 

http://www.virtualdj.com/

 

Or hercules console with virtual DJ software in one package

http://www.hercules.com/showpage.php?swcty=UK&p=127&b=0&f=0

 

 

http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/TorqConectiv-main.html

 

You should use the external audio interface with whatever software you choose.

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If you are effectively trying to prepare offline sets, do remixes and/or write your own stuff, then IMHO there is nothing better than Ableton Live to cover dance music / electroica etc.

 

Ive used it for doing live remix/mashup sets - basically take a bunch of tracks, tempo lock them offline, select songs/loops/clips into a palette for your set, setup the fx you want to use, then go mad and do all sort of wierd {censored} live thats near impossible to do with a normal DJ rig - when live you can give yourself as much or as little freedom as you like - upto you how you work with it to balance your skills and complexity of what your trying to do.

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Some good tips here. I'm a huge fan of Ableton Live but if you're strapped for cash, they now have an LE version that has pretty much everything most people will ever need. And, you can download a full-function demo so you can find out for yourself if you like the program's workflow.

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Some good tips here. I'm a huge fan of Ableton Live but if you're strapped for cash, they now have an LE version that has pretty much everything most people will ever need. And, you can download a full-function demo so you can find out for yourself if you like the program's workflow.

 

 

I thought the LE version was way too crippled to be useful for anything - some marketting idiot went way way too far without a thought for how folks could use it.

 

Its not so much that the number of plugins is crippled - thats not reall a problem for set mixing it that the number of clips and scenes is severely limited so it not even useful for a DJ remix set.

 

Theres a diff sheet on the ableton site (http://www.ableton.com) that lites the differences. Maybe im thinking of the 'Lite' version and maybe the LE version is the one that often ships as a freebie with other software and gear.

 

Theres a downloadable demo on there - give it a try - it just doesnt let you save or export anything, but otherwise is the full version.

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The comparison chart is at http://www.ableton.com/pages/live_6_le/tour/comparison_chart

 

Looking it over, it all seems reasonable (64 audio tracks, unlimited MIDI tracks, etc.) until I hit the part that says only 8 scenes per project. That to me would be a really serious limitation because I don't use that many clips, but use a ton of scenes for live performance. For those who mostly use clips and trigger those individually rather than use scenes, it would be less of an issue.

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8 scenes - remember thats your number of clip rows - 8 variations on a track? Allmost unuseable for me even one one track - never mind doing a live remix mashups type set.

 

Useful as a savable demo version I guess and maybe fine for arrange mode DAW type use.

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