Master AI at your service

An article I think some 'loopers will find of interest.

https://arstechnica.com/ai/2024/02/mastering-music-is-hard-can-one-click-ai-make-it-easy/

---

I’m not familiar with using DAWS I basically have been recording on a fostex as it’s so much easier but any insight into recording into a DAW with an interface would be appreciated I’m new to computer recording

---

I started here on a Fostex 250. Yes it is easier but limited compared to a DAW.


Audacity is free and open source . It can do anything any other DAW can do. It has the basics like seperate tracks, effects for each track, editing and inserting edited parts etc...Its the most basic and introductory DAW out there. It is also one of the best DAWS for forensic audio and removing instruments from songs.


Reaper is the next step up from there and many people ditch the industry standard Pro Tools for it. Its customizable in every regard and sounds great. If you know Audacity you can use figure it out in no time. It even has themes that will make it look like other higher end DAWS although Reaper is high end in its features and functions.
Its free but has a nag screen only when you close it out. Otherwise a one time $60 donation.


As long as it works and you are comfortable with your equipment its all good.
If you wanted to switch to a DAW , if you know your Fostex, its about a weeks learning curve but all the same operations just on a computer.Its not a hard switch and you can record and edit in a weeks time using online guides how to do things. Member Rootshell just switched to Reaper within the last year and I believe it just took him a week to figure out.There are hundreds of tutprials how to do things on Youtube.It comes with effects as well like flange, phaser, compression /limitor, stereo widener...etc

Alot of other DAWS are good and Pro Tools is what the professional studios use but be warned they are money pits. Everything costs $$$$.

Your only other expense is an Interface which are sound cards basically.
FocusRite is popular as well as Behringer Uphoria 404 is excellent and they are all over Ebay used. Both sound excellent and have built in preamps .Im not a fan of Focusrite because Ive never owned one that didnt break within 2 years. They are popular though.

I personally use a Motu 4 interface.


Most have built in 48v to power microphones.They also take guitar cables , RCA and Microphone XLR connections.

A nice advantage with interfaces is you can go to Youtube, Coffeebreak Grooves and here and jam out using headphones and blend yourself in with backing tracks without messing with all your gear.

Im an analog musician in a digital world. Took me a bit to get used to it but you are not the only one .

---

once you go DAW you'll forever be in awe

i feel like i'm still learning Reaper, even though it's been over a year. it really opens things up in terms of recording...the ceiling seems higher than what i was using before. LittleWing had mentioned Reaper to me for quite a bit of time, but the old dog in me doesn't like learning new tricks, so it took me a while to convert over, but i'm so glad i did

---

Thats going to be my T shirt and bumper sticker

---

I use Cubase Elements (it's not the very expensive pro version, but I think I paid about 100 bucks for it a few years ago). It's a good program, and I added a few plugins. Some for free, and some I paid for. For interface, I use the Behringer Uphoria 404 , but since I play my guitar through the Roland GR 55 guitar Synthesizer, this one connects directly to the computer and has it's own plugins for all the main guitar effects there are.

---