Which modern program do people use to record and layer guitar riffs to record quick ideas and jam?

[wizardofthestrings]

I haven't played for a while (really busy with graduate program), and now I'm back into music and guitar playing.

I really really really liked Sonoma Riff Works back in the day, as I could get to practicing and jamming in the time it took to load the program and click record, like 10 seconds. But it no longer seems to be supported . I hate diddling with a full fledged DAW when all I really want is a basic looper, a metronome that can do different rhythm and styles in the form of a drummer (Metronome is CRUCIAL for me!!) and some controls.

Sound wise, I don't like the drummer in riffworks all that much. I've been experimenting with using a saved filed with Reaper studio to quickly open up a session where i can layer and whatnot, but the quickness and speed just aren't there, especially when it comes to changing the drummer style, moving things around, etc. I want minimal mouse clicking and dinking around, maximal guitar practicing and riff idea recording.

Are there any modern programs that are essentially riff works but updated with good drum sounds? I wasn't able to find what I was looking for after browsing a bunch of the "top guitar apps" and "top guitar song writer apps" lists.

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(On a side question, riff works also had a riff share program that was really nice. It's no longer supported. What is the modern community way of sharing riffs, laying down a groove on someone else track, and hearing where people take my tracks?)

[low_low]

You say you don't like full fledge DAW .. but what about a full fledged DAW that you have a template saved for. Then it's literally ... load the DAW with the template and hit record. It is possible with the DAW to have it load up with your drum track, tempo, routing, and everything ready to go. You can even customize the workspace in most DAWs to hide stuff you aren't using.

[enroe]

Google for "audacity"!

[ShawnMH]

Amplitube 4 has an 8 track recorder built-in to it, perfect for this. I am pretty sure it has a metronome, but no drums.

[Sailor16]

Are there any modern programs that are essentially riff works but updated with good drum sounds?

Check out Band in a box (using RealDrums) @ http://www.pgmusic.com/

[JoseC.]

I did not even read the OP, but I will say Reaper!

[deastman]

Are you on Mac or Windows? ALK2 is a pretty cool live looping tool for Mac...

[zerocrossing]

Amplitube 4 has an 8 track recorder built-in to it, perfect for this. I am pretty sure it has a metronome, but no drums.

That’s what I was going to say. Seems pretty good. I used to use Möbius inside of Ableton with its looper, but I moved to Bitwig and Möbius won’t sync right. There’s one looper I found that’s 64 bit and pretty good... but it’s a bit awkward to use and doesn’t have a manual... I forget its name. I wrote to the developer, asking for a manual, and it took him about 6 months to respond, so I don’t have much confidence about giving him money. For drums I’d look into Jamstix or something like that.

[JoseC.]

I did not even read the OP, but I will say Reaper!

I was joking before, but after actually reading the OP I must say that probably Reaper would do well for that task with some planning and customizing.

[wizardofthestrings]

Hmm amplitube seemed like the perfect program with the looper and multi track recorder built in, but wow it seems the guitar sims are just awful.

Compared straight against helix (also vst version), it's just noisy, and the distortion sounds like a $10 amp.

Flipping through the presets, I can't find anything good. It sounds super fizzy regardless of clean or high gain. The high gain sounds especially terrible, although if the fizzy quality could be taken out, it would be pretty good I think. I thought it was just the pregain being set way to high at first, but even at the point barely distorting, the distortion sounds terrible. And the clean sound before it distorts is pretty terrible as well. I must be doing something wrong as youtube demos of amplitube sound much better, no different than helix.

[Musical Gym]

https://pro.riffstation.com/download/

[Mathematics]

Clip-view mode in Ableton Live Lite. Nothing to learn and essentially no cost. You have the option to make a song. Tons of videos on it. Latest version just came out.

[bharris22]

Hmm amplitube seemed like the perfect program with the looper and multi track recorder built in, but wow it seems the guitar sims are just awful.

Compared straight against helix (also vst version), it's just noisy, and the distortion sounds like a $10 amp.

Flipping through the presets, I can't find anything good. It sounds super fizzy regardless of clean or high gain. The high gain sounds especially terrible, although if the fizzy quality could be taken out, it would be pretty good I think. I thought it was just the pregain being set way to high at first, but even at the point barely distorting, the distortion sounds terrible. And the clean sound before it distorts is pretty terrible as well. I must be doing something wrong as youtube demos of amplitube sound much better, no different than helix.

Maybe your cabinet is switched off? I highly recommend the Mesa Boogie collection in Amplitube - it is excellent, IMHO.

[wizardofthestrings]

@bharris22, Yeah that was what it really sounded like. But they were definitely on. I have a suspicion feeding it through better IRs would sound a lot better though as it sounds exactly like bad cab sims. I'll try those cabs out. Thanks

[dermichl]

...Reaper would do well for that task with some planning and customizing.

what if people do NOT want to customize beforehand? what if people just wanna start doing music?

edit: not reading the op but recommending R is the essence of those fanboys, isn't it?