buying computer/software; acoustic guitar/harp/voice recordings

[duus]

hey. so this is my first posting and stuff.

so I've recently decided to go ahead and get a new computer and software for my music stuff and don't want to just rush in and marry myself to a product that's not what i need....so general softwareish advice is what i'm seeking, i guess. here's some details:

What I have:
1) a few mics, my instruments (acoustic guitar, harmonicas), of course, and a good amp which i like the sound of (Fender Blues Junior, if yer curious.) I have my voice/harp mic and my Dean Markley Pro Mag pickup both running into my amp, which I got mic'd up and running into:
2) my cheaper TASCAM MF-P01 4-Track Portastudio

my goal:
1) essentially looking for fairly authentic reproduction of my live, acoustic, solo sound through the amp.
2) the ability to get from my TASCAM (or directly from the mics) to CD

What i don't need:
1) terribly fancy electronic editing capabilities. i won't be doing a lot of multi-tracking, electronic effects, that kind of thing. Simply a fairly clean reproduction of my live sound is all i need.

What i'm plannin' on doing:
1) for other reasons as well (in my other life as a non-musician, which pays me and stuff), i'm going to be going for one of those new G4 powerbook macintoshes.

2) getting some kind of software to handle the (??this is where i get fuzzy??) the output from the TASCAM through the microphone input? Recommendations? ALternatively, a friend suggested the Mbox, which is, of course, not cheap, and perhaps much more than i need, and Digidesign says that i need to get an additional firewire drive and it just seems like a jackhammer when a hammer will do...? Do i need any hardware beyond the machine above (in #1), or is all i need hardware-wise a cable from the output of the TASCAM to my machine's mic input?

3) and my lurking has led me to believe that i'll need to invest in some studio monitors, too. for my 'studio' aka my bedroom. so i'm going to start thinking seriously about that i guess, too.

so any advice on those last things would be much appreciated. i hope that i've given enough detail so that this isn't too broad a question or whatever. Really, my needs are fairly simple, i hope. i like my live sound, i just want it on a cd (and mp3s of course). maybe my naivete is showing.

of course the other thing is money. So the computer i got covered through other sources. I am willing and able to by the mbox (on the order of $500) and can be cajoled into more, if needed. I realize the sky is the limit, but I hope that my modest (?) goals give the right sense of what i'm looking for. Should i get one of the free or $30 music editing software packages and then spend the $470 difference on some monitors?

thanks. hope this post isn't too long.

 

[freeztar]

Well, why not just use the protools apps supplied with the mbox?

 

[freeztar]

Whoops, I failed to read carefully. If you don't get the mbox, then you should get some kind of interface. If you plug directly into the line in/mic in then you are going to get lots of distortion/static and that's no good, of course. So maybe check out echo audio (www.echoaudio.com). They have a PCMCIA card called the Indigo io which would provide much better sound than your built in soundcard. It also will allow your monitors to shine through better. I would sacrifice on the monitors to have the Indigo io because the expensive monitors will be useless if you have crappy sound quality running through them. The indigo also features RCA inputs which would be ideal for connecting the Tascam.
As far as the software goes, can't help you there. I don't really know macs, so I'm at a loss. I do know that protools is pretty good for macs, but it may be too much for what you need.
Keith

 

[freeztar]

Whoops, I failed to read carefully. If you don't get the mbox, then you should get some kind of interface. If you plug directly into the line in/mic in then you are going to get lots of distortion/static and that's no good, of course. So maybe check out echo audio (www.echoaudio.com). They have a PCMCIA card called the Indigo io which would provide much better sound than your built in soundcard. It also will allow your monitors to shine through better. I would sacrifice on the monitors to have the Indigo io because the expensive monitors will be useless if you have crappy sound quality running through them. The indigo also features RCA inputs which would be ideal for connecting the Tascam.
As far as the software goes, can't help you there. I don't really know macs, so I'm at a loss. I do know that protools is pretty good for macs, but it may be too much for what you need.
Keith