Best setup?

[DannyboyBarber]

Help:
I have been recording music for a little while and I have decided that I want to take recording/mixing to another level, as I am not quite satisfied with the quality that I get out of my current rig. I am a bit lost tho, and everything seems quite overwhelming and confusing, but I am determined to learn how to record with the best possible sound for me. I will try and give a description of how I have been recording so far and hopefully you can point out some improvements I can make.

My style:
I play the guitar, sing and write music. I'd say the genre is acoustic/folk, "classic singer-songwriter" music. You can check out my YouTube channel to get insight in what kind of music I am doing:
youtube.com/DannyboyBarber

How I've been recording so far:
Apart from the songs "Witness" and "Can I Love You Please", all of the songs on my YouTube channel have been recorded on my TASCAM DP-02 like this:
1. The first thing I do is record the guitar track on its own. I have mostly been doing this direct in with a jack cable.
2. The next thing I do is record the vocals on another track. I play the guitar track back and record my voice over it with my Shure Beta 58A mic.
3. Now I mix the song on the DP by adding reverb and setting the high/low end to the tracks. Then I master the song.
4. Last I export the master to my computer, and then I upload it to YouTube.

My available utilities:
Guitars:
Washburn Cumberland Acoustic Guitar with a jack output
Yamaha APX900 Acoustic Guitar with a jack output

Microphone:
Shure Beta 58A Microphone

Recording/Mixing device:
TASCAM DP-02 "Home Recording Studio"

Packard Bell EasyNote LJ71 Laptop PC
AMD Athlon(tm) II Dual-Core M320
2.10 GHz
4.00 GB RAM
(This is my personal computer and I use it for everyday tasks. I have not upgraded the soundcard or anything so it is nothing special)

Mixing program:
Audacity

I would really appreciate some help.
I am recording my guitar direct in with a jack cable. Would it be better to record the guitar with my Shure Beta 58A microphone instead, even though it is not a condenser microphone specifically for recording guitar? Or it is worth getting a condenser mic?

Preferably I would like to use my PC as the recording device. It would be easier to me to manage the tracks on a big screen and to use the mouse to browse the mixing effects. Is it worth getting jack to minijack/USB adapters or will the sound quality get worse by doing so? Also, I have read that I will have to upgrade my computer's sound card if I want to do so. Is that true?

I know that the Shure Beta 58A is a great microphone for performing live gigs, but is it any good for recording? Or would I be better off with something like a Blue Snowball Microphone for recording guitar and vocals all at once?

- Daniel

 

[Armistice]

Read the stickies at the top of this forum. Most of your questions are answered there.

Basic recording set up = instrument / mic / interface / DAW / PC

Audacity is free... there's a reason for that. Don't buy adapters, buy an interface. Thank me later.

 

[mrronz]

Depends how much cash you have. I'd say the minimum for what you want would be:

1) Recording Software. There are better free ones than Audacity, but I'd buy if I were you. Reaper is cheap and lots of companies do cheaper 'lite' versions (Steinberg, Ableton etc).

2) USB audio interface. You don't need loads of inputs, but chose something with at least 1 XLR. (Focusrite are pretty good, and Line 6 do some good stuff guitar-wise)

3) A condenser mic. Again you can pick up a decent enough one for about £100. (sE Electronics would be my pick...)

I reckon you could kit yourself out for about £300...

 

[DannyboyBarber]

Thanks a lot for taking the time to help me out. I'll look into it