I'm buying my 13 year old daughter a keyboard for Christmas and I think she would enjoy hooking it up to her computer and mixing/composing some music with it as well. What INEXPENSIVE (well under $100) would you suggest for her? I need something that would be easy to learn and use but powerful enough that she wont get bored with it in a month.

I admit I've never mixed anything in my life, though I have all the programs to do so.

As a secondhand opinion (heard from some in the industry), Audacity is a bit clunky. Reaper is supposed to be excellent.

Both programs are freeware so you can try them out and see if they'll fit your needs before dropping any cash on a program.

There are a few programs that I could supply you with, if you'd like, that would constitute pirated software but I think the learning curve is well beyond what even a very clever 13 year old could handle.

I admit I've never mixed anything in my life, though I have all the programs to do so.

As a secondhand opinion (heard from some in the industry), Audacity is a bit clunky. Reaper is supposed to be excellent.

Both programs are freeware so you can try them out and see if they'll fit your needs before dropping any cash on a program.

There are a few programs that I could supply you with, if you'd like, that would constitute pirated software but I think the learning curve is well beyond what even a very clever 13 year old could handle.

Cool, I'll check out Audacity and Reaper.

My fav of the cheap stuff.

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Mac...ndle?sku=701816

I will see if I can send you a zip of Sonic Foundry.

you can use fruity loops.

Just sych it in as a midi i believe.

I will see if I can send you a zip of Sonic Foundry.

Sonic Foundry would be cool.

I have used Audacity for recording some of my guitar stuff. It's not "professional" by any means, but it's extremely easy to use and the sound quality isn't as bad as you would think. You can get cable adapters and plug her keyboard straight into the mic port on your computer. I did all my recording with a mic and had a lot of fun doing it.

I've been using fruity loops a little bit, very fun program if you are seriously interested in mixing and such...but I wouldn't just use it as a "tinkering around recording fun" kind of program.