Help with amature recordings?
 

I'm looking to record a bit of my music as a demo for a few interested parties, but I'm worried about quality; I'm not looking for crazy studio-radio quality, but along the lines of what you hear from Nina Nesbitt on her youtube videos; go do a search for 'Glue' or her '96 F***ries' JME cover.

This girl says she records in a home studio. So apparently it can be done!

I have basically the bare minimum at the moment; a keyboard, but I'm not really looking to record the keys. Two guitars, a fender acoustic and an old half size Samick (which I LOVE).

I have PCs and software of course, Audacity. And a cheap mic, but I'm looking for a new one; does anyone know of a good low-price-range (under $200) mic for vocals?

How can I connect my guitars to the software? Neither of them have pickups. Is there a quality, cost-effective way of doing that? How is it done? Or would it be a better idea (for a higher quality sound) to get a new guitar that has everything already installed to connect it to an amp or mic?

Thanks a ton in advance! I really know nothing about recording, so anything you can tell me would ba amazing!

To get the source (microphone) into your computer, you'll need an audio interface, unless youre already using your audio card. For your guitars, you'd either have to buy a pick up or mic them. As for your mic, I'd say a blu snowball will probably be good for you, because then you can spend money on your audio interface.

As a general first mic choice, you'll want probably a small body condensor if you're just doing guitar, or a large body condensor if you're doing vocals as well. These are NOT the microphones you'll see on stage; those are dynamic, which are built to last, not to sound good. I'd post some links, but I haven't posted enough! So, i'd say go to sweetwater's website and just look at reviews for mics under $200.

For decent and basic home recording I think this is waht you need:

PC: Interl Core @ Duo with 2 GB RAM (minimum) and at least 250 GB HDD

USB Audio Interface: there are cheap but good choices like M-audio Fast Track or a Line6 UX1. Whats good about these interfaces is that they come bundled with recording software (Ableton Live) and Guitar Effects.

MIC: I think the Shure SM58 (a legend!) is under $200 just check it out.