Reaper in my opinion is the best value in a DAW on the market. Period.
I use it a lot. The learning curve looked steep when I first tried it but it only took me a month or so to get familiar with it.

I don't usually recommend it though 'cause that usually brings out the non-users who think you're trying to "shove it down their throat" like some religion.
I get enough of that by not dancing around the fact I'm a Christian. How's that for an answer?

swanman,

Nice guitar solo, very Gary Moore'ish

I bought Reaper several months back because it was so cheap ($60 for a single user non-commercial license) but haven't spent much time with it. I find myself using Sonar most frequently because I am familiar with it.

Oh forgot to tell ya your pickin' is great! Tasty - very tasty.

swanman,

I will not use Reaper because it's developer continues to believe that they can market products that are intentionally derogatory and offensive in name to certain, rather large groups.

Here is the product page for the company that makes Reaper:

http://www.cockos.com/products.php

I intentionally avoid it because of their juvenile product names. If they can't take the naming of their products seriously - and by that I mean avoiding intentionally offending what could be lucrative market segments, then I'm unwilling to part with my money to send their way.

(can't listen to your tune right now BTW)

-Scott

I dont get what's so offensive, man. ??

Swannie,

With respect, follow the link. One product name will be offensive to a large group of religious users. Another is just nauseating. The taste (or lack thereof) of the corporate name is open to interpretation. Given that they're out of SFO, I'd say it's the obvious, and pretty rude.

R.

BTW, in my previous post, I should have noted that it's really a shame the developer has chosen to play this childish game with his products - it seems that he is quite talented at writing code.

He is, after all, the original author of WinAmp.

Nice chops again Swannie. Your mixing is improving with giant steps!
Really fine sounding track you laid down here. Top job!

Swan.......great playing. Great chops....maybe a bit too on the overdrive, but thats just a matter of taste.

I've looked at Reaper, even tried a demo a year or so back, but didn't really care for it. My next DAW if I choose to add to Power Tracks and Cakewalk, and Sonar. The old Cakewalk and the newer sonar I rarely use, I'd look seriously at Multitrack Studio. The other would be Mixcraft from the folks at Acoustica. A nice program that handles midi pretty well, as well as loops like acid. Check them both out.

I'm sure they both have free demos.

Good answer . After being a christian for a long long time, I've pretty much given up religion. It got to the point where I had to make a choice. Do I want to be come a modern day Pharisee, Saducee or Christian. LOL.

Ahh...I see. The Assnifer thing. I dont take myself or anyone too seriously so it's kind of amusing to me. A bit highschool perhaps..oh well. I 've tried the free demo and if it takes longer that about 20 min. to figure out, then I'm done. Thats why I like Audacity; even dopes can figure it out.

You know, your guitar playing has always been great, but now the mix and the backing tracks are so much better, it just all fits together so good now. I don't know what exactly you did when you left and came back, but man, your posts are just so good now, I can't just listen once. . . . I have to start it over again. BTW I like Audacity just fine. Mac suggested it to me, and it does what I need, and is much more complicated than I even need, But I got it going, like you said, in 20 mins. or less, which is a good thing.

Gene

Swanman,

Finally got to hear the Carlo tune. Definitely got the Santana vibe down. And as others have pointed out, the backing tracks are pretty top notch - don't know if you are generating those in RB or elsewhere, but very nicely done.

I'm trying to think of some other guitarists you would dig. Your tastes run right along those of an old college roommate who turned me on to Santana and Jeff Beck and SRV.

I think you'd probably like Craig Chaquico's solo stuff of the past 10 years or so. And you certainly already listen to Larry Carlton and probably Steve Lukather. Larry and Steve have collaborated at least once - I don't have that disc but my Independence Twp library has it. You might be able to check it out on the Michicard system.

On the smoother jazz side of things, have you ever listened to Doc Powell?

More rockin but with creamy distorted melodic leads you should check out Dimitar Nalbantov www.nalbantov.com He's got several song snippets in high quality MP3, and some pretty cool instructional videos on his site that might give you some additional lead flavorings.

He does go for the distorted Ibanez thing ala Satriani and Vai, but I think his songwriting skills are much better than the two of them put together. He really knows his effect chains and how to employ them to interesting musical results.

Hey....tx very much, guys. The input is greatly appreciated as always.