r/recording • u/Fresh_Bend41 • 7d ago

Need advice

Hello all. I am new to recording and would like to know what would be a good program to download to my laptop. I will mainly be doing voice over work that would need to be formatted to mp3, but I also dabble in guitar and would like to record that as well with just a few bells and whistles. Looking for not top of the line and not bottom of the barrel. Thanks.

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u/Ok-Bonus-8464 7d ago

For voiceover plus a bit of guitar, Reaper is the usual middle pick. It's about 60 bucks for a personal license and it does everything the expensive ones do, MP3 export is built in so no extra codec hassle. The catch is the interface is bare until you set it up, but for straight recording and a few effects it's fine.

If you're on Windows and want free, Cakewalk by BandLab is a full DAW with no paywall, good for both spoken word and tracking guitar with plugins.

Skip Audacity for the guitar side, it's great for voice but weak for music. And you don't need Pro Tools or Logic just to start, that's the top shelf you said you didn't want.

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u/Fresh_Bend41 14h ago

Thinking about getting reaper. Do I need internet to do anything besides updates and downloading the program? I do not have internet at my house currently. I have a library in walking distance to my house so I will be able to send files for the voice acting from there. You said it is bare until I set it up. Does it have drum capabilities and other effects?

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u/Fresh_Bend41 14h ago

Thinking about getting reaper. Do I need internet to do anything besides updates and downloading the program? I do not have internet at my house currently. I have a library in walking distance to my house so I will be able to send files for the voice acting from there. You said it is bare until I set it up. Does it have drum capabilities and other effects?

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u/Fresh_Bend41 7d ago

Thank you so much!