Picking up from the Will the Circle Be Unbroken contest thread.
I found this link that has some recommendations for PC based studio software. Looks like a couple of them even have free versions.
I don’t have first hand experience with any of them, but if you can get a decent free version, might be worth checking out.
Thanks Mark
This is what I came across on YouTube
Love to hear from anyone using GarageBand on a PC
Ok, this whole topic of recording got me excited to try it with banjo. I’m a total computer geek so I love doing this kind of stuff.
I recorded Salt Creek Intermediate (banjo ben’s arrangement and backing track). I ended up using three clips.
The backing track (which I actually digitally slowed down to 220bpm first because 250 was too fast for me and 200 a bit too slow).
Me playing along with the backing track in headphones (for basically the video part of it).
A third time me playing along with it without video so that I could get it closer to sounding better (sitting down and multiple takes until I got the darn thing right).
And then editing them all together and lining up all the audio to the video.
Fun! I did a bit of video effects stuff too and next time maybe I’ll record from a better angle so that the camera isn’t pointing in the direction of my ceiling light lol.
PS: My apologies if Mr. Cash’s picture in the background offends anyone… didn’t even think about that until it was all mostly done haha.
Excellent! Though I wasn’t looking for it, no editing jumped out at me. Great job!
Very nice! Careful. It can be addictive. 
This whole thing is something I’d want to know more about. I am a novice at recording and I still am trying to figure how to use Pro Tools First efficiently recording audio only. Would I need a different software to do a video along with the audio? Or will Pro Tools work fine? Again I know nothing at all about this.
When we did the collaboration, I think it was Fiddle Dave who turned me on to Audacity SW.
Most intuitive music SW I ever used.
Good job! When music videos are made (MTV, CMT, don’t get me started…), the same steps are used in a different order. 1, 3, then 2.
So what happened with the collaboration ? What was the end result Video or Audio ?
The project died on the vine.
R.I.P.
There is no end result yet. It’s waiting for a few more contributions and a final mix. I believe, It can quite easily be revived.
After the lasts several contests, it’s confirmed there’s lots of great pickers out there who can jump in, so anyone who wants, please join in.
For all the music lovers out there, Garageband is not a new application. In fact, both aspiring and professionals do use it to create some of the best music. Picking up from the Will the Circle Be Unbroken contest thread. The saddening part is that the application does not support the Windows OS platform. It is fully functional and available only on the Mac and iOS platforms. Nevertheless, for those with PCs running on [Windows] OS, there is good news. Yes, you do have better Garageband alternatives for Windows. I found this link that has some recommendations for PC based studio software.