I'm a total noob and admittedly ignorant. I have recording questions.

[Swappo]

Here's my ignorant questions:

I plan on recording a demo tape. I sing.

I was thinking of getting a vocal eliminator, maybe an Alesis, and recording a few tracks.

Is the Alesis, or any other eliminator for that matter, worth it?

If so, would the next step be to get a simple tape recorder and microphone? I know everything is CD now. Is it possible to record to CD or is tape still the way to record and then have it transferred to disc? How is that done?

I'm not looking to produce an off the shelf quality disc, just something with decent quality so I can show off my voice. I don't have a fortune to spend, maybe a few hundred dollars. I could probably scrounge up a little more.

This behind the scenes stuff is beyond me. I can sing the songs. The rest, as I said, I'm ignorant to.

Forgive me.

[Massive Master]

Try to get "karoke" backing tracks. Vocal eliminators are garbage. Even the "good" ones are fairly worthless.

That, a decent microphone, a preamp and some sort of decent interface (one that says "SoundBlaster" on it might be a little weak).

After that, you can almost get everything done with freeware. Kristal Audio Engine and a ripping program (for the music bed discs) and you're pretty much set.

[Nick98338]

Depends on what your "show off my voice" goal is. However, on a very low budget, IMHO, you will get a better quality recording with really cheap digital than you will with really cheap tape. An interface with 2 to 4 inputs for under $200 US. And the greatest majority of them come with decent software. Add a condenser type microphone. A decent quality mic can be found for under $200 US.

[Swappo]

But they're totally Greek to me.

I don't know what a preamp is or interface, a ripping program, music bed discs, etc.

I wasn't kidding when I said I was ignorant to this behind the scenes stuff.

My "show off my voice" goal is simple. I just want to record myself singing a few songs. It doesn't need to sound like it was done in a studio. I don't care if it sounds like it was done in my bedroom. I just want myself singing a few songs so when I tell people I sing and they ask what I sound like I have a demo to give them and they can say, "sounds good. blah, blah, blah."

[peritus]

This may be a dumb idea, but if you post what area you are in, maybe somebody would lend you a hand (for a nominal fee).... Seems to make sense to me... It's a win win situation.... Pay them to record you singing....

[pointfive]

Are you intent on doing this yourself? If so, how much are you willing to learn? If you're not intent on doing it yourself, and ultimately would rather concentrate just on singing, I think it would be best to look around for someone to record you.

If you want to do it yourself, and if you really don't care about quality and want to keep it very simple, Massive's karaoke machine recommendation is the easiest approach I can think of. It might be a good starting point, but I don't think you'll be happy with the results in the long run.

Do you have a computer, and are you computer savvy? If so, you could consider using your computer to record. For this you'd need the things that Massive listed: 1) a microphone, 2) an interface (this is just the device that gets sound into your computer. It could be something as simple as the existing sound card on your computer already: the "line in" and "microphone in" jacks on it are sound interfaces, just not very good ones), 3) a preamp (microphones by themselves output a weak signal; a preamp boosts the signal to a useable level. Many mixers have microphone preamps--called "mic pres" for short--built in) and 4) software to record you.

"Ripping software" extracts music tracks from CDs and puts them onto your computer (as .wav or .mp3 files, usually).

Again, I think a lot depends on how much you really want to do this yourself and how in-depth you're willing to get.

[gecko zzed]

Swappo, your goal is simple; its achievement isn't.

Doing something for yourself, by yourself, on a PC is not an easy thing to accomplish.

Don't try 'audio eliminators'; it is much easier to use karaoke tracks on CD or tape.

The easiest way to do this is to:
1 find backing tracks to a couple of songs you like
2 find someone (like some of the contributors to this board) who can record it for you
3 let them do the recording, you do the singing, you do the paying.

You might like to think about the purpose of this recording. Who is to be your audience? Who are you trying to impress? What do you hope to achieve? The answers to these questions may steer you in a different direction. If you are doing it just for yourself, then it doesn't matter how 'bedroomish' the recording is. If you are seeking this recording to market yourself, then the questions are:
why would someone bother to listen to this?
what can I offer that will cause someone to listen and be impressed?
how important is the quality of the whole package in gettnig someone to listen?

This might lead you to get the demo more professionally done, and will cost you lots more. If it's your career, it may be worth the investment.

[rayc]

Most voice eliminators work on the premise that a stereo mix will place the voice in the middle SO they eliminate what is common to both channels, (that which makes up the centre of the stereo picture) SO any non centred vox, reverb, effects, double tracking will remain AND anything like the bass, drums etc etc that were centred will also all but disappear. Try it on a mono mix &, theoretically, all will disappear.
It's a marketing ploy to sell something that people want but doesn't really exist. They are, SOMETIMES, a little more sophisticated than I've outlined but no more effective in terms or an acceptable result for anything other than homestyle karaoke - & even then I'd doubt it.
Cheers
rayC.