Artist looking to begin recording.
 

Hello all. I have written several songs. I have recorded them using a voice recorder, and edited them in Audacity. As you can imagine, they sound terrible like this. I want to try and get a more professional sounding recording, something I could be really proud to show off, and maybe even sell. However, it does not have to be perfect. I play guitar, bass, and sing.

So, I have three questions for you all. First, what is a good but fairly cheap program for recording, mixing, and editing my music? Second, what is a good microphone for recording clean singing, bass, and guitar playing? Should I even use a mic for my bass and guitar, or should I record those directly into my computer?

If it helps you, my actual guitar/bass equipment is all high quality, with a Gibson Flying V, Spector Bass, and Boss ME-70 all in my arsenal.

Thank you for any help you can give.

Arrgg, Freebase Dali should appear here soon and give you kick-ass advice, but I'm gonna try my hand here. I personally prefer a 4-track over pro-tools or logic for the reason that it's easy to hook up and record on the fly. So, because I know Freebase is going to give you a manual on the digital route, I'll go ahead and give the analog alternative.

You can normally get your hands on a 4-track for about 3 to 5 hundred dollars. I prefer Tascam over most brands, but only because the Beatles used a custom version of the model that I own.

Microphone-wise, you should be fine with SM58s, but there are certainly other, better, alternatives. I'm tryin' to think of a specific mic that ranges around 100. x( urg, anyways, if you plan on recording drums, make sure you pick up two mics and normal and overhead stands for them. You'd normally place one overhead and one in between the snare and crash.

Make sure you stock up on quarter inch and mic cables. Those are priceless when it comes to recording. Don't forget the metrenome and wrap around headphones (with extensions).

You should also look into getting a cheap mixer or audio interface whether your working digitally or not. They're both easy to come by and niether are too expensive (though I did say cheap mixer--you really only need two channels)

I will say though: NEVER RECORD A GUITAR OR BASS DIRECTLY INTO THE COMPUTER. Mic the amp. When you record into the computer, the guitar will most likely have a heavy bit sound attached to it. I haven't heard a single computer that can record guitars directly without destroying the tone. The same is true with the 4 track. You should mic the amp instead of plugging in directly.

peace,
-nick

Seems like you've got it handled, Nick.
Go ahead and give him a run-down on his digital options. I really don't feel like typing right now.

Hey, thanks for the quick advice. I took a look at some multitrack recorders, and found the Tascam 004. I can't link to it, as my post count is too low, but it is the brand you mentioned, and is only $200. I researched reviews of it, and people seem to like it. It claims to be fully featured, but I am no expert in this field.

Yudansha,
What's your price-range?

Let me know and I can make some recommendations for a digital solution (which will be more cost effective, and more scalable than a purely hardware-based solution).

I would prefer to stay around $300, but I could go slightly higher if it would make a big difference.

Presonus Audiobox USB 2x2 ($149.95)
Product description on Musician's Friend

This is the audio interface you'll need in order to record your instruments into your music program either via microphone or direct in. The sugar on top is that it comes with Cubase LE 4, which you can use to record with and edit/mix/master your audio.
Before you decide to buy a different software program, give the free one included with the audio interface a try. It may end up meeting your needs and eliminating the need to spend more money on something else.

So that takes care of both your hardware and software requirements.

Peripheral equipment

Microphones
For miking a guitar or bass amp, your best bet is a Shure SM57, which is an industry standard. For vocals, I've found that you get excellent results with a Large Diaphragm Condenser.

Condenser microphone:
MXL 990 ($69.99)
I wouldn't use this on your instruments unless you're using it as a room ambiance mic in conjunction with your instrument mic.
This should be your main vocal microphone. I guarantee you'll be impressed. (invest in a pop filter, because condensers REALLY pick up plosives. You can get a pop filter at Musiciansfriend.com for a few bucks.)

Instrument microphone:
If you don't want to shell out the 99 bones for a single 57, here's an alternative:
EV Cobalt cO4 ($69.99 - buy one get one free!)
I just found out about this microphone and although you'd expect it to be a throwaway, there are good reviews on it.
Ultimately, you'd have to do your own tests to make your own assumptions, but it's not too big of a purchase deal when you factor in the return policy.
Having two instrument microphones also opens up stereo miking possibilities.

Considerations:
So far, that's all the main items and you total out to: $289.93
Still in the green, you have enough money to buy a couple microphone cables, a pop filter, and whatever else you decide.

If you have any questions regarding the recommendations or the general implementation of them, please do not hesitate to ask.

Cool, thanks for all the help guys. I appreciate it.

I pretty much second the audio interface approach above, but regards microphones I'm gonna have to disagree (sorry freebase). If you're just putting together a basic home rig, I'd just get one decent large diaphragm condensor microphone, and forget about getting a dynamic mic.

Spend the extra money on a Condensor. Condensors can be more delicate, so don't crank your guitar amp and put it against the grille. Six inches to a foot or so should be fine so long as you're not turning it up until the windows rattle.

Dynamic mics can handle much higher sound pressure levels, so they're used for close-mic'ing snare drums and loud guitar amplifiers. The thing most people don't realise is that to get the full frequency range out of the microphone you have to have it loud. Real loud. If you don't, you don't get a very good high frequency response, so the resulting recording always sounds dull.

Condensor microphones capture a much more accurate, detailed 'picture' of the sound, and are much better at low volumes, and they can handle much higher volumes than people expect. So most home recordists are better served by condensor microphones. Spend more than $69 dollars too.

Guitar amplifiers sound far better and articulate both the guitar and the amp's characteristics at higher volumes. That much isn't up for debate.
That said, using a condenser is not a fantastic idea.

The problem when recording electric guitar with a condenser (and I've done it before) is the pickup pattern on the condenser and its tendency to catch a lot of the room acoustics.
That may be a desirable quality if you're going for that specific effect and you have a great sounding room, I.E. recording a solo acoustic guitar, but if not, the recording is going to be problematic specifically in the mixing stage in respect to element isolation and frequency occupation. If you're recording all your instruments with a condenser, you're going to have a very mushy sounding mix.

While a dynamic microphone may not have as wide of a frequency response as a condenser, any person with experience mixing knows that guitars generally get a lot of the low frequencies hi-passed, and get some cut in the highs. It's a standard example of creating a frequency space for each element to "live" in. Mixing 101.
So unless it's just a solo guitar in the mix, no knowledgeable mixing engineer is going leave a wide freq response all the way from 30hz to 20k...

Dynamic microphones are excellent in facilitating the DESIRED qualities of high spl instrument sources.
It's quite possibly the reason they're called instrument microphones and why they're by far the standard for recording electric guitar, bass, and drums, across the board in any professional recording studio.

By the way, I can vouch for the MXL 990. I own one. As far as the two alternate dynamics, he's going to have to test it on his own if he decides to get them. But the SM57's, I own 6 of them and I can vouch for them as well.
I've been recording and mixing since 99', so I'm pretty confident that my advice isn't misinforming the gentleman who's asking.