Alright.. I couldn't find any threads on the topic so I decided to make my own.. I've been wanting to record my own stuff for a while now. My only setback would be my lack of knowledge of equipment. I don't know where to begin. I would prefer to be able to record to my computer but if there are other alternatives please explain. I guess my question is.. What equipment is needed for someone to start recording. I don't need top of the line. It would be great to pick something up for cheaper. Any help would be appreciated.
Well I do some recording, and I have a setup that you can do just about anything with. You didn't specify what you're doing, so I'll tell you what i've got. I'm too lazy to find links, but if you Google the product names you'll find them. For recording/mixing, I have a Yamaha AW1600 portastudio. Professional quality, you could easily record and mix a whole CD on this. Internal hard drive, effect processors, EQ, dynamics processor, everything, all built in. Behringer B1 studio condenser microphone. Great for recording vocals, acoustic guitar, micing amps, anything. Three Behringer XM18000s for extra micing. Use for another acoustic guitar, mic and amp, vocals, etc. Whatever you wanna do, these will do it. And then of course mic stands and lots of cords.
If you're thinking really cheap, like free software then google Audacity and download it. You can download simple guitar tracks with just a computer mic or you could buy a small mixer to plug into your computer and a few mics.
You should go out and find some recording books. Analog recording is known for the better quality but more expensive than going with digital recording. It is said if you have a good budget to work with then you should go with Analog recording. Let me warn you, recording can be a pain in the ass at times, as it is recommended to edit and master every aspect of sounds for the best quality.
I do some recording now with my comp mic but am interesting in something better. I record mostly rock.. Mellow sounds.. Nothing too heavy.
You should try plugging your guitar directly into your soundcard all you need is a 1/8 stereo jack thingy. http://www.radioshack.com/sm-1-8-stereo-jack-to-3-32-stereo-plug-adapter--pi-2062470.html
I just got Audacity a few weeks ago. You can Google it and download it for free. I use a SM-57 mic plugged into a $40 Behringer mixer that goes into my computer. I'm still kind of new to the program, but my friend has made some really good recordings with that setup.
I'm not extremely versed in cheap setups. I have a pretty nice one myself. I'd say you can record for under $200 bucks though.
I downloaded Audacity and that itself was a step up. Thanks for the help everyone.. I'm thinking I'll wait a bit to have a nicer set up in the long run and keep messing around with what I have now..
Audacity is a nice free program... what makes it way nicer is if you download the free vst enabler program for it, then visit www.kvraudio.com and download some free plugins to do your fx and sound manipulation, and learn how to use them. Believe me, it will be well worth your time to do so. For example, record your guitar, then put it through the SIR reverb (http://www.knufinke.de/sir/index_en.html it's free too!) and prepare to be amazed... If you have just a little bit of money, get a cheap condensor microphone, a cheap preamp, and a decent but cheap soundcard (such as the M-audio Audiophile 2496) and you're pretty much done when it comes to high quality home recording... sure you can get better results with studio quality equipment, but unless you really know what you're doing with that high end stuff, the difference in results is minor... imo of course
I've used Pro-Tools for years - it's really good for editing - theres a free-8 track version at:- http://www.digidesign.com/ptfree/
