Help me figure out what I need

[dcepero6]

Ok so I'm a 20 year old UCF student who is going to school for Radio/Television. I hope to specialize in audio production. So hopefully I'll learn some great techniques that will aid me in my journey. But now I'm looking for some equipment.

I have a friend with a little bit of extra cash that wants to start something with me regarding audio production. He says he'll find the talent to record vocals if I make some rap beats and do all the technical stuff. On top of that I play guitar and wouldn't mind laying down some rock tracks just for my own personal enjoyment. Basically I know that eventually I'll have a home studio all to myself and I want to begin building up my arsenal of equipment now, slowly.

Now... I know I need a:
Mic
Mixer
Drum machine (maybe)
Recording software
Computer

As far as the mic goes... my teacher said generally dynamics are better than condensers because they capture more of the mid and low end. I dunno if thats 100% true but I'd like for you guys to recommend me a good mic.

I was thinking about getting a drum machine to help make some beats, but I'm already a user of Reason 3.0 and theres the built in drum machine... would yall still recommend getting one or is it unnessary?

As far as the recording goes. I figure I need a mixer to input the audio from the mic, then I can combine it all through a computer to mix the tracks. What's some good software for doing this? Pro Tools?

Right now I use Reason on my home computer... but honestly this computer has been reformatted so many times and is so old and of course theres a crapload of spyware so I don't really trust to leave my music on it.

So I'm thinking I should get a new computer and use it exclusively for my home recording projects. But I kinda wanna opt for a laptop so I can freely bring it from my friends house to my home and just work on my projects anywhere. Only problem is... I'm afraid a laptop might not be able to accomodate the hardware that I need to get started. Like... for home recording, whats a good audio card? How much RAM do I need? How fast does my CPU have to be? What kind of ports should I have (mic in, usb, firewire). I figure I should probably get an external hard drive to keep all my shit on.

If you guys can just give me a rundown and a very rough plan for how I should start I would really appreciate it. Feel free to link me to other threads that already have this explained or to outside websites where I can read up on some information.

Edit: Also let me just clarify exactly what I intend to do with all this. I want to be able to record guitar, bass, drums, and vocals. I also have a cheap Yamaha USB keyboard that I use to synthesize music in Reason that I'd like to be able to incorporate on some tracks (sometimes I'll synthesize the bass and certain keyboard parts). So all in all, I'd really like to be able to use a mix of electronic music and live recorded music in my audio production.

Thanks.

[Nick98338]

Too many questions. It would take way too long to answer. Do some searches in the *newbie* section first. Break up your searches into one word topics... interface, mixer, software, etc...

Two things I'll comment on. You may not need a mixer. All of the better software titles have mixing capabilities. The software *IS* the mixer. A mixer does come in handy if you are recording several instruments simultaneously, like a full drum kit, or a large band, or a chorus. If you are recording one or two instruments at a time, a mixer is not needed. However, some people just like to use hardware knobs and sliders over software knobs and sliders. It's personal preference.

For *recording* the great majority of recording people will recommend condensor mics over dynamic mics. Especially for vocal work.

[groovyisland]

your original post seems like too much to read

sorry