Check here for a full list of excellent resources to help build your skills and abilities as an audio engineer!
Digital Audio Workstations
I highly encourage buying Pro Tools, Logic, Reason, or some other DAW. However, they can be fairly expensive (there are student rates too). That's why there's Reaper. It's a free DAW that you can record and mix in. The best part is that you don't need an interface to mix in it. However, if you're planning on doing some recording you will need one. Before downloading Reaper read the bold note below.
![[WWW]](../wiki/eggheadbeta/img/sycamore-www.png){kind=small}
http://www.cockos.com/reaper/ (Reaper)
http://www.avid.com/US/ (Pro Tools)
http://www.propellerheads.se/products/reason/ (Reason)
http://www.apple.com/logic-pro/ (Logic)
http://www.cakewalk.com/products/homestudio/ (Sonar)
http://www.steinberg.net/en/products/cubase/start.html (Cubase)
http://www.presonus.com/products/studio-one/ (Studio One)
https://www.ableton.com/ (Ableton)
http://www.steinberg.net/en/products/nuendo.html (Nuendo)
and the list goes on... These are the more popular DAWs. While Pro Tools is the industry standard DAW there are pros and cons to all of these. Check them out and see which ones you like the best.
Keep in mind that plug-in formats will vary between DAWs. For instance, Pro Tools 11 exclusively uses the AAX format. However, Pro Tools 10 and below uses RTAS but Pro Tools 10 HD and under use TDM and RTAS plug-ins. Pro Tools will not run VST plug-ins. That's where Reaper comes into play. You can open Reaper in Pro Tools 10 using the plug-in that comes with Pro Tools called ReWire. If you go to inserts on an instrument track, click and go down to the intstruments folder and click Reaper it will open Reaper in Pro Tools, enabling you to use VST plug-ins.
Note: If you are running Pro Tools 10, download the 32 bit version of Reaper. If you are using Pro Tools 11, download the 64 bit version of Reaper.
Helpful Websites
There are several great communities that can help when you are trying to understand a concept, learn a new technique, troubleshooting, etc. One of my favorites is the audio engineering subreddit. They have a surplus of helpful links to other subreddits where you can find some work, get your mixes rated, and find other people with specific interests in audio, and every week they have a "No dumb questions" thread.
http://www.reddit.com/r/audioengineering/
They also have an in-depth tutorial to audio engineering that explains basic concepts:
http://www.reddit.com/r/audioengineering/wiki/index
Other popular forums and websites include:
Keep in mind that the people posting in forums range from just starting out to professionals. Don't just take what people say in the forums as the ultimate truth. Do your research!
gearslutz.com/
http://forum.recordingreview.com/
http://therecordingrevolution.com/
http://www.youtube.com/user/recordingrevolution?feature=watch There are 3 playlists at the bottom. They are part of the 5 minutes to a Better Mix series made by the guy who runs the Recording Revolution website. These are seriously helpful. Some of his stuff is subjective but I recommend trying out his suggestions and seeing if you like them.
www.soundonsound.com
http://www.pro-tools-expert.com/ (This comes with a HUGE selection of free plug-ins that you can use to mix)
Some excellent plug-in companies:
http://www.steinberg.net/en/products/partner_products/pluginzone.html (List of plug-in companies)
http://www.uaudio.com/store.html
Looking for some free raw tracks to mix?
http://forum.recordingreview.com/f156/ You have to be a member of this website (It's free) but if you go to that link once you're a member you can download the tracks for each month and try your hand at mixing them.
