Virtual Choir Software - MixPad

[mcb]

If you were at the Virtual Choirs workshop last week, you know that neither I (a Mac user) nor any of the Windows experts who were present had any particularly appealing suggestions for a free Windows-compatible alternative to Mac tools for music production such as GarageBand.

I'm happy to say that with Steve Maltby's help I've tracked down what looks like a good, simple and (for basic use) free program, namely MixPad from NCH software. This, and its companion software WavePad, look to be a good combination of tools for producing virtual choir music - the latter for editing and the former for mixing.

There's a price of $49.99 mentioned for the 'home' edition, and it's not clear from the web site (from my quick glance, anyway) what the paid-for version does that the free version doesn't. But the free version looks well worth exploring, for any Windows user looking to get started with producing a virtual choir.

Martin

[Southern Comfort]

What is the difference between MixPad and Audacity? Does MixPad do something more than Audacity? Is it more user-friendly? I've been using the latter for many years.

Also, my experience of NCH products has been mixed. They often start off as free but after the free trial period you then have to pay or the software stops working.

[mcb]

What is the difference between MixPad and Audacity? Does MixPad do something more than Audacity? Is it more user-friendly?

Definitely more musician-friendly, to my eye. It's easy in MixPad to display bars and beats rather than a raw time scale, has tools for, e.g., pitch correction, and handles midi straightforwardly.

Though, come to think of it, the limitations of Audacity with midi may be Mac-specific, since Apple are pretty unreasonable about a built-in midi synthesiser. SC, does Audacity for Windows handle midi playback out of the box? It definitely doesn't on a Mac.

[Southern Comfort]

does Audacity for Windows handle midi playback out of the box? It definitely doesn't on a Mac.

Don't know the answer to that one, as I have only used Audacity to edit and mix existing audio files and tracks.

[quaeritor]

I unfortunately missed the workshop - is it available to watch "on demand" in any way - or even an old-fashioned write-up to read?
Q

[Southern Comfort]

I have now thoroughly road-tested MixPad.

While it has some features that are more easily accessed, in general I prefer the interface of Audacity. which makes routine tasks such as aligning tracks much easier and much more precise. Of course, everyone will have different tastes.

My decision was made for me when, after completing a number of audio editing projects. the software would not allow me to continue to use certain basic features (e.g. export to MP3) unless I upgraded to a paid version which I was unwilling to do. In other words, I don't think this is actually free software after all.