Propellerhead’s latest, Record.

If you haven’t already, download the demo version of Propellerhead’s Record software. Once you download and install, keep these tips in mind when using Record…

First of all, separate all of your windows. Mixing, tracking, and sequencing are 3 very different things, so treat it that way. Trying to do all three things at once is not only frustrating due to lack of monitor space, but its also very difficult. If you have a mac, now is the perfect time to take advantage of the exposé feature. Reason has always been known as a program that helps facilitate the creative process. Try to keep it that way with Record. If you look at Record as if it’s reason + audio tracks, you’ll be fine. It’s not going to take over the functionality of Pro Tools or Logic, but it will help with the Recording Process. Get it?To learn more about Record, visit Propellerheads.se.

Record doesn’t allow you to use any of the plug-ins we’ve all come to know and love, but you can work pretty far into the creative process with record, and easily bounce all of your tracks out in one fell swoop so you can delve deep into the mixing process in another program if you find it necessary. Are there unique features in Record that other programs don’t have? Yes! The rack version of the PODX3 is an extremely useful feature. It’s as good as any guitar amp modeler, if not better. This will become your new best friend when you’re writing or tracking guitar parts.

There are several EQ’ing options. The SSL emulating channel strips are solid, and they give some pretty advanced options. The channel strips EQ is parametric, so it might be a little hard for beginner engineers. Graphic EQ’s help to represent the frequency spectrum visually, with a parametric EQ, just use your ears! Your other EQ options are the PEQ-2 two band parametric EQ, and the MClass Equalizer high definition parametric/shelving EQ. The Mclass EQ is probably going to be a little easier than the channel strip for anyone unfamiliar with an EQ. The biggest issue most users might have with the EQ system is the fact that you can’t easily see the entire channel strip on most monitors. There just seems to be too much going on, visually.

Finding the song tempo is a pain if you’re importing audio. If you can’t set the tempo before you input audio tracks, make sure you highlight all of the tracks and select “disable stretch” under the edit tab. If not, all of your tracks will be stretched to fit the tempo of the session before you imported them, whether you want them stretched or not. Each track has it’s own stretch function; some tracks can be disabled while others are stretched every time you change the tempo. I’m sure there’s a time and place to use that function, but I can’t figure out when that is. For the time being, it’s just a nuisance. The problem isn’t that each track has it’s own independent time stretch capability; the problem is each track is set to time stretch by default. All issues aside, the audio stretches seamlessly. Record does a much better job than almost any other recording software available.