Ardour Open Source, Free (Almost) DAW

[matonanjin]

If you have been learning guitar any length of time you have probably thought about recording yourself.  Or maybe you have recorded yourself.  Congrats!   And at some point you have heard the expression DAW, which stands for Digital Audio Workstation.  

And I put this is the Guitar Gear subforum.  Although it isn't gear, if one considers gear hardware, it is a tool and I thought the best fit here.

In terms of cost, DAW's run the extremes of free, as with Audacity and the topic of this post, Ardour, to the, what some might consider obscenely expensive, $3,000, Avid Pro Tools Ultimate.  Since cost is a consideration for most of us, especially if just dipping the digital toes in  the recording pool, I'm posting this information about Ardour.  If you are at the beginning stages of hooking up your interface and recording this software may be worth a look.  Perhaps future learners will find this.

Audacity has most likely been the free DAW choice of many recorders.  In May of this year Audacity was acquired by a company and shortly after the rumors began that Audacity was spyware and collecting private information.  I certainly don't know whether this is true.   Even if not true, Ardour seems an alternative worth considering on its own merits.

I say "its own merits".  Let's be very clear.  The presenter here goes into great length describing all the features of this software.  For most of it I have absolutely no clue what he is talking about.😉🙃  He is describing functions that I will never use.  And I have not installed this software, I have not run it and I am therefor not recommending it.   I use Reaper.

This is solely for you to consider.   And what about almost free?!?  Apparently there is a suggested $1 per month donation to support further development.