Cheap home recording software – The Clint Eastwood way!

Home recording software can be very expensive. It doesn't matter if you're only looking for a program for yourself or trying to buy a powerful audio software for your studio. Usually, they're the same price.

Not to mention if you are a poor student studying music, or a normal college student that wants to record music in his slowly diminishing free time. It's just hard to swallow the fact that most home recording software is going to set you back 3-400 dollars at least.

With Pro-Tools, you usually get an interface like an Mbox 2 that will get you started easily. But software like Ableton Live or Logic Pro require you to buy an interface as well. That's another few hundred bucks too. And then you can't eat for a month.

Find a deal on your home recording software

home studio But luckily, there are certain ways you can maybe get a good deal when buying your audio software. When I was studying at the SAE Institute we got deals on all kinds of gear, software and stuff for our studies.

There are student edition software out there that you might be eligible to buy, software that you can get at a discount. Students get discounts on all sorts of things, so if you haven't thought about asking, now is the time.

Do you have friends that are audio engineering students at an audio school? Maybe they have access to great discounts.

Buying your home recording software at a discount through them is a lot better for everyone involved. Sure, you might be using your friends discount for yourself, but it's a hell of a lot better than downloading it. Let them buy it for you.

Find stores and ask if they give out discounts to students. Ask about budget deals. Every big box store has deals on audio equipment. Keep an eye out for something that's right for you. If you are just starting out, you don't need all that fancy equipment anyways. Gear gets accumulated over the years.

What does Clint Eastwood say?

It's like that scene in Gran Torino where Clint Eastwood tells the boy that a man accumulates his tools over the course of fifty years. Then he gives him three things and tells him he can fix almost everything with those three basic tools.

Well it's the same with your audio production. You only need three things to get started.

A decent audio interface

Home recording software

A decent microphone.

You can get these packages bundled at any big box store, or on the internet, at stores like zZounds. And they often even come with monitors and headphones, as well as all the cables you need. You can also get free home recording software like Audacity or Ardour. They are great to start off, but down the road you might want something better.

Just start small and pick it up as it comes

Don't get discouraged by the cost. With careful research you can often find out that it's less expensive than your originally thought! By checking out deals online, asking about discounts at the stores or using someone else's student discount for a student edition software you can start your passion. And you can still eat for the month!

What did you start with? I might be wrong. Maybe you need radically different things to make music. But what if you could only use three things? What are the bare essentials to getting started in making music? Share your thoughts below.