Starting to record- basic help please ?!

[Korki]

Hello to every one !
Im starting to record my own "stuff" and im a guitarist...
You can call me a "neebie" because only this night i realised what monitors are for... thats realy bad - i know...
But the help ill try to get here is basicly about what equipment i should get/buy so i could record guitar/bass/piano/drums in a medium+ quality.
I want to make my own tracks/songs with guitars and what ever other instrumentals that i would like to add. I play instrumental rock, much like Steve Vai, Joe Setriani and John Petrucci. But ofcures, with my own style and feelings.
Im almost 18 years old and i have 8 mounths before i recruit to the army (Israel damn it lol ), so i wont buy crazy/so expensive equipment but i never buy cheap equipment either.
So i bought the ESI Waveterminal 192M card to start recording music, i know barely any thing about sound cards but i have many friends and people telling me thats a good card for what i need (Instrumental recording) and that i bought it in a good price.
I started recording with the soft ware Cool Edit Pro but now im going to move to Cubase SX.
I have a very old music system that sounds realy bad and the speakers are all wreked...
So i read today and understood that : " Hey monitors is your goal now?!"
So you see... i know very litel from any thing...
So im just saying all i have to say and im asking for some help about basic things that i need to know and need to get/buy so i could progress and record some good music. Monitors what kind (i thought about 300-400$)
I would realy, realy realy !!! apriciate any one that will help me with this thing, thank you ahead !!!

Koral

[Megaman]

I would strongly suggest taking a few days and reading this forum over. Best place to start and will give you a few ideas. Most things you'll want to know is here, the recording forum, and studio building

[Fieva]

I heard that they force you to enlist in the Israeli army when you turn 18, is that true?

[matt rascal]

I am not familiar with your sound card, but if it only has a few inputs then you're gonna want to get a mixer with atleast four or so mic inputs (either way you'll need a preamp, but the mixer will provide this). That said, you're gonna need some mics. You could get by with probably two dynamic mics (guitar amps, bass drum, snare, etc) and two or three condensers (one large diaphragm for vocals and either one or two small diaphragm for drum overheads, piano, acoustic guitar, etc). If you can not afford all of this you can try and cut some corners and still make out with decent quality (vocals through a dynamic, etc). Monitors are very important, but maybe not so much if you're incredibally new to this... you could probably get by on headphones if you need to.

good luck!

[homestudioguy]

You might also want to visit a sales facility on-line such as www.sweetwater.com. You will learn a lot there as well.
BG
http://mysite.verizon.net/homestudioguy/