Finally Recording Some Tracks Again

Since my last post was about Tracts and tracks why not carry on with the words eh?

By checking my profile you'll see I'm a songwriter. I've written a number of songs over the last year but this has not been my primary focus. Over the last few days I finally installed some recording software and put down my first track in ages. I'm working on a pretty (if I do say so myself) little song called "How To Love". It's written about dealing with sin and addiction. For the first time ever I've written a song which is a prayer anyone can pray.

I decided to record using all free software. So I come to the reason for my post. Amateurs seeking to produce art often find themselves "having" to "steal" software to create that art. Whether it's Photoshop, 3DMax, or SONAR it seems you "need" these programs (or their competitors) in order to create art on your computer. The justification always comes down to two things. Their is no intention to make a profit with the art, and or the pricing of these are prohibitive.

Well, recently I've been seeing what can be done with free software. Not flaky software that hardly works and installs a bunch of spyware on my system but top notch quality programs. Here are some which I've been using and am very happy with. We can thank the Linux "scene" for all but Kristal in this list. These all work with Windows.

Office Suite - OpenOffice.org
Photo Editing - The GIMP
3D Modeling - Blender
Multi-Track Recording/Editing - Kristal Audio Engine
Audio VST Effects - Kjaerhus Audio Classic Series
Multi-Track Audio Recording/Editing -Audacity (I have not used Audacity yet, just installing it now but it is held in high regard. So I list it here.)

So there you have it. Some practical ways to be able to create top quality art without having to deal with your conscience nagging at you.