Would you like a FREE 16 Track Studio? Then Read On!

Smurf42 · #1 June 14th, 2006

OK, here I am going to list a compleat studio setup that is totally FREE, and that anyone can set up and use with relative ease. I have had this setup running on a P3 700 with 640mb memory and it did fine. I made my first CD, Middle Of The Storm, and half of my 2nd one, Scattered Showers, with this setup. (you can check them out by following the link in my sig)

And sorry all you Apple folks, the software is PC only.

So here we go.....

The Kristal Audio Engine. A free and easy to use piece of software. Will record up to 16track's, has ASIO support, and you can use VST effects along with the good ones that are built in. And it has great support thru the forum, just like this site!

These 3 VST effects are the ones I use 99% of the time with Kristal, and I think they are must haves!

Kjaerhus Audio Classic Series

Digital Fish Phones (look to the left, the Fish Fillets rock!)

GlaceVerb, the best reverb I have found.

The following are a couple Audio Editors that I have used....

Tiny Wave Editor and Sound Engine Free

These don't have all the bells and whistles that Audacity has, but they import the files right back into Kristal, which means you don't have to line the tracks back up!

And this is a way cool plugin called VB Strip Tool. Striptool is a virtual channel strip offering various types of digital audio processing. This is a compleat channel that has a parametric EQ, compressor, and it sounds great.

Next is mine, and a few others, number one choice for a drum machine, and it is called Leaf Drums 2.33. When you add the ns_kit7free sounds to it you have the most realistic sounding free drum machine that you will find anywhere, and better than some you would pay for!

I have also used Hotstepper and HammerHead with great results. Don't think that these are "rap-dance" drum machines. Even tho they come with those sounds you can swap them out. All 3 work fine, and are free.

By using all of the software listed above with the Kristal Audio Engine you can have a compleat 16 track home recording setup, with some nice sounding drums, for FREE!

The rest are some links to other VST effects that work well with Kristal. The links might be outdated, I didn't check them all. But the 3 listed above will give you most everything you need to make some good recordings!

A list of VST's....
http://www2.kvr-vst.com

Freeverb2, and others.
http://userpage.fu-berlin.de/~thman/VST/vst-eff2.htm

MDA VST Plugins. The Combo one is nice.
http://www.maxim.abel.co.uk/vst/

Check out r8Brain. It does a good job of converting 48bit files to 44.1.
http://www.voxengo.com/downloads/

Some Wave Editors and Sample Tools
http://www.soundalot.com/freeware/wave/wave-b.html

Luxonix, a free multi effect (sounds good on guitar).
http://www.luxonix.com

A nice reverb that works well for back up vocals.
http://www.anwida.com/dxrevlight.asp

A BIG list of plugins.
http://www.kvraudio.com/allpluginsononepage.php

Another cool site
http://www.vstcentral.com/

And here is a multi track that is free at the moment, but it will be a pay for when it gets out of Beta, called Reaper. It is a big step up from Kristal, has unlimited inserts, can use VST and DX effects along with VSTi's instruments. The development on this is unbelievingly quick, and even tho it is a Beta it is quite useable. And here is a link to a thread over at the Reaper site that has a ton of VST's listed....

Reaper VST Link Thread

For hardware I use 2 soundcards, a Soundblaster PCI512 running the kX Project 3537 drivers, and a Echo Darla20. I use a Behringer UB802 mixer. For mics I own a MXL990, DAK 2001, and a Audio Spectrum plastic 58 copy. I also have a Duncan Performer soundhole pickup for the Rogue acoustic. And that's it for hardware.

I am posting all of this in the hope that some people may find it helpful. I own Cool Edit Pro 2.1, Acid, Tracktion2, and Cakewalk8, but I still find myself using the setup listed at the top 90% of the time, it is just quicker loading and easier to use IMHO!

8) Hope ya have fun!

cshude · #2 June 14th, 2006

Thanks for the links- will have to check some of them out sometime.

krissovo · #3 June 14th, 2006

I love kystal it is so easy to use and well just works!!!!!

For drums I have been playing with rythum rascal but i had a quick look at leafdrums but am struggling how to use it.

Not sure what VST's are anyone know?

slejhamer · #4 June 14th, 2006

Thanks Smurf! Great info.

krissovo: VSTs are software add-ons ("plug-ins") that give additional features. There are amp modeling VSTs, effects VSTs, etc.

Smurf42 · #5 June 14th, 2006

Hey krissovo, go here and grab these patterns I made for people on the Kristal forum..

http://www.savefile.com/files.php?fid=9686379

Unzip it and read the Read Me I included. These should get you started using Leaf, it has helped people over on the Kristal forum get a grip on it.

And cshude and slejhamer, you are welcome. The first part is a very workable setup, and it is great if you can not afford, or don't want to pay, the price that some of this software costs.

Have Fun!

Lcjones · #6 June 15th, 2006

No offense....

.... but if your soundclick recordings are an indication, then you have work to do. And software isn't going to help. Plugins don't make a recording. Ears do.

lc

Smurf42 · #7 June 15th, 2006

lcjones, no offense taken. Everyone has opinions about things they do and don't like. I myself am happy with the results, even tho I know they could be better. But thanks for giving them a listen!

fly135 · #8 June 15th, 2006

Ouch Les! I think this post was about how to put togeather tools for free. Not how great the tools made him. Seems like he created a well targeted post considering it's a Geetar fer *Beginners* web site.

Shields up

Kirk Lorange · #9 June 16th, 2006

Yeah, Les ... ouch.

I'm impressed with your body of work, Smurf. You sure are prolific, and there are some great ideas there. Keep it up!

I sure wish I could pump em' out at the rate you do.

Smurf42 · #10 June 16th, 2006

fly135, you hit the nail on the head. I did not mean the post to be a "look what I have done" type of post.

This set of software is something that myself, and some others on the KAE forum, have put together over a 2 year span that works well together. I just thought that it would save some people some time in putting a setup together to start recording their music.

and Kirk Lorange, Thank you for the kind words. The writing comes in spurts most of the time. In 2 weeks I could write down 15 or 20 tunes and get them basically structured, and then go for months without a single idea!

Since Jan. I have decided to get serious and learn something that I have always wanted to do, Fingerstyle playing. The "tune" Yellow Pages is my first attempt at an original in this style, and was a lot of fun to do. I have been going thur the Mark Hason books Contemporary Travis Picking, The Art of Solo Fingerpicking, and Beyond Basics Fingerstyle Guitar, and I have to say that these were a great investment.

Again, Thanks for the kind words, and I'm sorry if there was any misunderstanding about the reason behind my post....

cshude · #11 June 16th, 2006

Personally, I appreciate the heads up on Leafdrums and the sample package to go with it. I fiddled around with those and they sound pretty darn good for a free "fake drums" kit. Now, I just need to get better at putting beats together and I can add some life to my tunes. Thanks again.

krissovo · #12 June 16th, 2006

I second cshude, just starting to get to grips with leaf drums as well as the ns kit.

Will play with VST's later

737blues · #13 June 16th, 2006

I've been looking for a software drum kit too Smurf and that Leaf drums link seems to be the best I've seen yet. Thx.

Smurf42 · #14 June 16th, 2006

cshude, 737blues, and krissovo, I am glad that you are getting something out of my post! Like I mentioned to krissovo above, you can go here....

http://www.savefile.com/files.php?fid=9686379

and download some patterns that I made to help some people over on the Kristal forum get started with Leaf. You can check them out and see how to create rolls and use dynamics. I just threw the them together for a demo. On my tunes page Restless is done with Leaf.

Hammerhead and Hotstepper are also decent ones, and they are free also. I like Hotstepper because of the interface, it is a piece of cake to use.

And check out the ns_kit page, and what has gone into making the sounds. He has a DVD set of samples that are getting some high marks for realistic sampling because of all the velocity levels.

Again, glad you are getting some use out of the "book" I posted, and have fun!

krissovo · #15 June 16th, 2006

Thanks smurf

Doing some cool things with them now, taking your samples of 3 bars and copying them and replicating them to create a full song. They are great to jam with!