[onenonlydannyB]

Ok so my band has just started recording our first cd, and we got a bunch done on a mac, with garage band, but it's not the best sound. so I went on guitar center to see if i could get some real equipment, and I see a bunch of crap and I have no idea what it is. Just to get started recording, what do i need? Do i need one of those mixers and a bunch of condenser mics... or can I just go with a mixer... or what. I know I sound stupid right now, but if anyone could help me out...

[zooloo]

The following is somewhat cursory...

Recording guitars directly in to a mixer is horrible.

Your choice for getting your noise into your computer depends on how much money you have... a good staring point is Lexicon, Omega, Lambata and Alpha

You probably want dynamic mics and not a condenser, although a condenser is good for vocals and acoustic instruments.

Standard dynamic mics are Shure SM57 for recording amps and SM58 for vocals. There are cheaper alternatives but too cheap is a waste of money, Audio Technica offer decent alternatives, there are others.

Mixing.. headphones don't cut it. You average home hi-fi won't cut it. Computer speakers are crap - even the GameWizardDoubleDelux... actually especially the GameWizardDoubleDelux

A reasonably good cheap monitor is the Tapco S5. They will plug into your computer. They are active which broadly speaking is good.

Garageband is probably not a serious problem with your sound, it's no the best but is good enough. For the Mac consider Logic, there is a cheaper cut-down version that is very capable. Quite simply you can't afford ProTools (Even if you could your question indicates you should not buy it), the LE edition is not worth considering.

There is open source recording software for Mac and Linux Ardour - I have not used this. if you you don't have a rather high-spec spec computer Ubuntu have Linux package.

Once it's recorded you'll have to master it a very good insight to this is Mastering Audio by Bob Katz. I have no current suggestions for books to explain engineering audio.

..erm ... that's sort of it for now. Good luck.

This post has been edited by zooloo: 18 January 2008 - 01:07 PM

[w00dy]

i don't (coz i like twisty knobs, illuminating leds, being ripped off on ebay and have no friends to play with tbh) but if you wanna record a live band onto your computer have a look at a firewire audio interface with enough inputs to connect all your mics to at the same time and a quaility daw that you can use. get some mics, tbh i would think if you walk into a music shop and say you want enough mics to record a band, then the assisant would start drooling and slit his/her own mothers throats to help you/sound like an expert. every one says 'shure' are defacto standard so if your sales dude trys pushing more expensive, or decidedly less expensive no-name mics on you for your singing (sm58's) or your guitar combo or accoustic amping (sm57's), then i may be wrong, but i wouldnt trust him to spend my money (selling you what they have in stock, good or bad, is what they want to do). hey, dont feel stupid going into music shops and asking 'dumb' questions and then not buying anything, i do it all the time. tbh in the bigger shops where there are a few assisants, they always look like they need a challenge rather than the drudgery of minute counting that you fall into working for a chain retailer. i think nearly all out board (fx, compressors, equalisers, etc) are buyable in plug-in format (if not allready built in to your daw) so cross that bridge when you start asking questions like 'why does the guitarist sound too loud and not loud enough in different parts of the same song?'

^i think thats good advice but ive not done the computer thing, just flirted with the idea