So, how about gearing up your studio with a professional Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) for free? Sounds almost unbelievable when you know Protools, Nuendo and others cost hunderds of euros to buy. I’ll present you Ardour, the open-source audio workstation, available for os X (Tiger & Leopard) and any major Linux distribution (Slackware, Debian, Suse, Fedora, Ubuntu, Gentoo) on the street!

It has unlimited undo/redo, multichannel recording, track punching, full automation, pro mixer, hardware control from surfaces like the Bitstream, Mackie or Novation Remote, timecode synch, unlimited tracks & busses, LADSPA and LV2 and limited VST plugin support and an advanced routing system you could only dream of. It has audio-for-video features, persistent undo functions and supports multiple languages. It’s capabilities are similar to it’s professional variants, but ready to rock and roll; and if you really like this software, you could help the Ardour development by giving a tip to the author without breaking the bank!

It was supported thanks to the SAE Institute (Munich) which came a corporate sponsor of the Ardour Project in April 2007. This collaboration led to the development of an os X version of the first Linux-based software. The developer, Paul Davis has created a masterpiece which has an easy overview and which is easy and relaxed to use; just like any DAW should work!

This genious piece of software is available at www.ardour.org

Some other interesting free DAWs and sound editing software:

• Acid Xpress (a free, 10-tracks edition of ACID software for music recording, editing and mixing. Easy to use, even if you never did loop-based music ceation before! When you’re ready, publish your song to ACIDplanet.com)
• Kristal Audio Engine (16 audio tracks, 32bit, 44.1 to 192kHz sample rate, VST support, ASIO low latency, 4 KRISTAL Plug-In slots)
• Audacity (free audio editor, it just does the work! Comparable with a light version of Cooledit/Audition)