Free Recording Software
 

I'm looking to do some home recording. Just acoustic guitar and vocals. The last time I did any home recording, I had a 4 track recorder. Now, it's all digital. Can anyone suggest a free recording softeware program? I've found audacity and kristal. Looking for advice or suggestions.

I use audacity, covers all my needs, easy to use and newer one supports vst plugins, too.

well truthfully i use Cakewalk music creator (it's not free), it's a pretty good program but it times out randomly. after using it i suggest not buying save your money up fro good programs

I bought an alesis io/26 firewire interface today from my buddies music shop. It was secondhand; paid $159. It came with cubase le. Haven't gotten it working yet. My laptop only has usb ports, so I need to find a converter for the firewire. It's 6 pin to 4 pin. I'm getting an education on recording equipment.

Question: Will audacity work with the alesis or should I stick with the software that came with it?

I think my old cassette 4 track was easier to set up. ;)

audacity isn't very good with digital audio (it can't play back midi)
you could try FL Studio (they have a free demo)
basically any studio program like GarageBand, Logic, Etc that can work with digital audio

Digital audio and midi aren't the same things at all.
Any audio that's on your computer is digital.

But yea, having midi capabilities is nice if you plan on using a midi controller or doing any midi editing. I wouldn't say midi capabilities is a necessity for someone who's just planning on recording audio and sequencing the clips. Multi-track capability and good editing & sequencing features should be the focus in that scenario.

Cubase (even the Limited Edition) is far better than Audacity.

And regarding your firewire, you're going to need an add-in card (either PCI-E or Cardbus) which plugs into a slot on your laptop and provides you with a firewire interface. Find out what kind of card slot you have, then you'll know what you need to get for your firewire card.

I haven't been online in a while, but I discovered the issue with firewire. I have no cardslot on my pc. I actually returned the used unit and picked up an m-audio interface for usb. I've started recording using protools essentials. It's ok so far, but I'm still learning the program. I've been told to upgrade to a better version of protools, but I want to learn the program a little better first. My only issue so far is the compression. In past years I used an analog compression on my tracks. I'm not finding the plug-in compression to be as effective. We'll see how it goes. My biggest problem is finding the time to play around with it!

I'm planning on purchasing a keyboard within the next couple weeks. I would like to hook it up to a loop station and eventually edit on the computer. I noticed you can go with MIDI keyboards, or Digital keys with MIDI compatibility. What do you think about this and got any suggestions good sir?

Well, the good thing about a digital keyboard with MIDI capabilities is you get two different uses out of it. 1 being a MIDI controller/keyboard for any other hardware or software you have, and 2 being the actual function of the keyboard itself.
The issue would be price in that scenario, and if you're not planning on using a keyboard apart from employing it as a MIDI controller, they you're better off paying less with buying a plain old MIDI controller.
That's all obvious stuff, but I thought I'd mention it.

As far as functionality, both would work for what you're generally trying to do.
What are the specifics of the loop station?