The Software

Now that I have all my recording equipment set-up it's time to learn the software packages necessary to record music live onto my pc. I'm using two software packages: Kristal Audio Engine http://www.kreatives.org/kristal/ and Audacity http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

Both are free / open source. I'm all for sharing information and working together to develop something and make it accessible to everyone, and that's what the people who develop this software are all about. Makes me wanna slip on my bell-bottoms and tie-die t-shirt and go skipping through the fields!

Okay...it's not all daisies and rolling around high in the long grass naked etc etc...because the software is being developed independently by people all around the world, there are one or two small glitches. Essentially it all works really well, but, there are always learning curves with new software.

Fortunately there are really helpful people on forums just dying to help you out with any problems you're experiencing. The more you share about the software the better the software will become in future editions - so everyone benefits.

At the moment I'm having issues with "track bleeding" and the niece people on the Kristal forum http://www.kristalusers.net/index.php are helping me work through it.

I've already recorded my first few experimental tracks but it has been so rewarding to hit the play button and hear what I've created being played back at me. And it makes composing such a pleasure!

Can't wait to become a pro at the software!