Fresh out of the starting gate

[BeatnikChild]

Okay, you want a newbie...I'm a reeeeal newbie. I'm a guy who has grown up around music, plays several instruments, and has a good general working knowledge of music structure. I have a Dell 600 Mhz PC, 10 gig hard drive, and a good basic sound card. The question. My garage is quickly becoming a cutsie-little studio. I wish to record MIDI with a high end sound, drum machines and/or drums, vocals, and the usual assortment of instruments. I also wish to be able to edit and add effects on the computer, physically playing with the sound waves, etc. I have rack spaces at the ready, a pretty good budget, and a rabid willingness to learn. Okay you audiophiles. From the stand holding the microphone, to the surge protector on the CD burner,what would you guys buy as far as equipment, and how would it be configured? (In your ideal world,but keep in mind also that I'm not Geffen Records) Thanks in advance, guys.

 

[drstawl]

The edge in finding this site early on.

From the 1000's of posts I've read here (never mind the 1000's I've written... ) the most important thing you can do to advance your home recording knowledge is to use the stuff you already have on a regular basis even if you don't have all the equipment you eventually plan to acquire. It's a pretty simple cycle.
Record.
Listen.
Record.
Listen.
Plenty of great stuff recorded with a generic soundcard and much less computer horsepower than you already have. To have a chance to go through a lot of takes trying different things and not be faced with the grueling decision of what to throw away all the time so as not to fill up your HD, get a CD burner first, and some decent speakers. Then maybe a quieter sound card with real (not 1/8" stereo miniplug) connectors. Then maybe a mic preamp that's quieter than the noise floor of the better soundcard. From there (I'll warn you right here: it's endless) your purchasing decisions will depend on how many sources you want to record at once. At any point better stuff will always help a little bit. More and/or Better mics. Better cables. Better pres. Nicer monitors. Nicer amps. Better instruments. Cooler software. But that's a ways down the road. You'll get more bang for your buck out of the time spent waiting to upgrade by just using the stuff you've got. And you've got a leg up on the competition just because you found this site. The search function can net you some really solid information.
Most of all- have fun!
Damn- all those words. I'm starting to sound like Ed!

 

[BeatnikChild]

thank you.

It's all looming up on the horizon like some big electronic behemoth. It's hard to not get overwhelmed by it all. But thanks for the advice, and I'll start simple. That's always helped me in the past with a new subject.