A query of "free recording software" turned up several interesting finds on Yahoo, but what caught my fancy was this nifty little site called Audacity (http://audacity.sourceforge.net).Why the heck am I looking for a recording software, you may ask? The answer, later on in this entry, folks.
Anyway, the website proceeds to inform me that Audacity is "The Free, Cross-Platform Sound Editor". It also tells me that "Audacity is free, open source software for recording and editing sounds." Cool!
Seconds later, I have already downloaded the basic Audacity installer and several plug-ins (which I intend to tinker with later on). And several more seconds later, I had Audacity installed and running to perfection.
Now comes the juicy part of testing the dang thang. Not bothering to read the Read Me and other instructions, I tinker with the menu and the many buttons on the software interface. Thank goodness for the auto-balloons that pop-up when you point your cursor on a particular button or symbol. Otherwise, I would've spent a better part of the hour figuring where's the recording button (which was really stupid of me in the first place because like in any other audio device, the "record" button was symbolized by a big friggin' dot that stared down my nose).Clicking on the red button, I started mumbling and talking and reached a cresendo with a stifled shout. Then I hit the stop button and played back to check if my blabberings were recorded -- SUCCESS! The recording was crystal clear.
I then decided to open one of my MP3s -- Coldplay's acoustic version of the song Yellow -- to check out the additional features. Even more fun! I had Chris Martin singing with a ghost thanks to the echo effect. Another feature and I had the Coldplay frontman gasping as I upped the tempo.
Neat gadget this Audacity! Check out this amazing free software here.
And why was I looking for a free recording software in the first place? That's because I am planning to digitize some of the compositions that I have ... errr ... composed. And a recording studio would just be a waste of money and time as I will definitely choke if someone else was present while I was recording. With Audacity, I can finally realize my dreams of coming out with a CD of my own song compilation at a very cheap price :D
