I want to do some music recording with my computer?

Question:I have a small band sorta thing and wanna record some song's covers we have done yet... we have one accoustic guitar, one electric guitar, one keyboard(which has digital input) and a vocal.

What software should i use which is good for beginners as i am a total newbie and donno a thing about music recording. What hardware should i buy, i dont wana spend a lot as its not pro thing( ican buy software though) please help

also some good tips will be appreciated

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: I have a small band sorta thing and wanna record some song's covers we have done yet... we have one accoustic guitar, one electric guitar, one keyboard(which has digital input) and a vocal.

What software should i use which is good for beginners as i am a total newbie and donno a thing about music recording. What hardware should i buy, i dont wana spend a lot as its not pro thing( ican buy software though) please help

also some good tips will be appreciated

This is a huge subject, but I'll try and keep it as simple as I can. Feel free to contact me for more information, to clarify any of the things i've said, or for other questions. I like to talk music stuff.

The first step is seeing if you have the hardware to get the job done. You don't need a top of the line computer, but you need a computer with decent to high level processor speed and preferably the more memory the better (a Gig of Hz and a Gig of memory is a good minimum). You will also need a decent sound card - I'm using an Audiophile 2496. I don't know anything about it, really, but it's decent and it works. I don't know how much we paid for it.

You'll need recording software and probably an audio editor as well. I've been using Reaper, which is a very very reasonably priced shareware program for recording. Link below. Audacity is a decent (free?) audio editor, and I've used Goldwave for a long time, it works pretty well too for tidying up your audio files as well. Make sure your recording software will support VST plugins, cuz there's a bunch of free or low-cost plugins out there that you can expiriment with.

So you've got the computer, you've downloaded Reaper (or perhaps N-Track, but I think Reaper is better) and an audio editor and maybe some VST plugins. Time to start looking at your audio hardware.

You will need a mixer. Honestly, it's not the best quality, but I've been using a Behringer 4-channel mixer... UH something or other. It's like 40$ on musiciansfriend.com . I've gotten decent results with it, and by decent I mean superb for the price.

You'll need some microphones. For vocals and acoustic instruments and cymbals I like condensor microphones, Samson makes the C01 for under a 100$. It's not the quietest microphone, but that Behringer mixer will power it, and it sounds very good for the price. For live vocals my band uses a Shure SM58, about 100$. It's basically industry standard. It's not great, but it's built well and has a decent enough tone. The Shure SM57 is a very good mic for instruments, especially electric guitars. It is also about 100$. You can go cheaper, of course, but these are good standards, and you really should save up for them.

Hopefully that gets you started. I'm not taking into account monitors, amplification for the acoustic guitar or the keyboard, rackmount units for EQ or compression or reverb or whatever, mic preamps, none of that. Focus on the mixer and the microphones for now, and the rest will sort itself out over time.

Behringer makes a lot of inexpensive but not too bad hardware for recording. They have a stereo 16-band EQ that I use over and over for many different applications, for instance, as well as power amps, etc.

You've got a lot to learn. Try googling 'home recording', and read read read. Recording is more of an art than a science, and there are literally hundreds of different ways to go from a live sound to a sound on a tape or DAT or computer. Keep an eye on local pawn shops - you never know when a good deal might come your way. Starting a 'band kitty' where everyone chips in a little every month will help you save up for those big purchases.

Good luck!

Saul

If you have a PC, I'd recommend getting Cakewalk. If you have a Mac, you can use Garageband (as it comes with the computer). Besides the software, you'll need microphones for the acoustic guitar and vocals, as well as either a mixing board or an audio interface to get all the instruments and vocals at the same time into the computer. Mixing boards (such as the Mackie 1204) start at $300; audio cards like the Delta 1010 (PC) or Firewire 1814 (Mac) start at $500.

The best thing to do for more specific recommendations would be to go to your local pro store (like Guitar Center or Sam Ash) or go to Sweetwater Sound (www.sweetwater.com) online. All those places can give you lists of what gear you need based on what you already have and what you are trying to do.

Well the thing is finding something that responds in real time and there are packages for $50-$100

But it's only stereo at a time. So you need two mics and a Y chords for your computer and you will have to live with the blend or separeate the tracks.

Then use headphones to overdub

Otherwise you will have to pay $600 for a Pro Tools lite box and software to record 8 tracks at one time.

Saul_Sab.. has said it all (or most of it)
Just a couple of additions:
Condenser mics come in t flavors - large diaphragm and small diaphragm. Be very careful with a large diaprhagm mic - they are easily damaged by wind, and dont get too close with vocals. I would recommend dynamic mics - they are rugged and can take a lot of abuse.

You may want to use preamps for the mics - going into a sound card at mic level picks up some electrical noise from the machine. If so, use a preamp and go into the sound card at line level. A mic preamp with a compressor can help avoid overload & distortion.

I use Cool Edit Pro for recording and editing - they sold the package to Adobe who now markets it as Audigy or something like that.

If you have a bass, you might want to take that into the mixer directly instead of micing the speaker - it will be cleaner and avoid intermodulation with the other instruments.