Hey Jskills! A lesson in humility...that "rolleyes" toward Drummer was unnecessary. He's sincerely trying to help you.
Before anyone goes crazy giving you suggestions:
- Do you have any gear now?
- Do you have any software?
- Are you really going to be able to get $200 to spend on recording gear?
I remember being fourteen, and I remember the pipe dreams too. I used to tell everyone I was starting a "rock band," but I had no equipment, couldn't play any instruments, couldn't really even sing very well, and had no contacts for other band members. I also used to tell everyone I was going to buy a '66 Mustang and trick it out with a race-spec V8. Never mind that I didn't have a job, money, or any mechanical skills.
Well, now I am a singer/songwriter with a commercially-available CD, I gig frequently, I get compliments on my guitar playing frequently, and I have the tricked-out race-spec '66 Mustang (and a nice '01 GT convertible for daily driving). How'd I get there? Getting REAL!! I joined choir (I know...cheesey, but it taught me to sing), I took music theory classes, I took guitar lessons, I bought a guitar with money I earned detassling corn and cleaning offices (only jobs I could get at fifteen), took drum lessons, etc.
I put the car-buying dreams off until after college (<--college is a good thing, BTW, you should look into it even if only JC). Oh, and, by the way, I took choir and music theory in college too. I dreamed about nice gear, but kept a realistic vision about what I could afford. And most importantly, I practiced A LOT. I practiced my singing, I practiced my guitar and drums, and I practiced my recording.
For recording, I started out with a radio shack mic and a Vesta Fire four track cassette recorder. I didn't even own a mic stand! When I could afford it, I bought a couple Shure mics (a 57 and 58) and a Yamaha recorder. I learned the workings of those machines inside-out. When I moved up to computers, I used Magix Music Studio software and taught myself how to use that (didn't know about this forum). I've moved on from that to Sonar.
Now, I saw on another thread that someone offered to send you a box of misc. gear for only the cost of shipping. My suggestion (especially if you don't have anything now) is to take that person up on their kind offer, send the $20, and get the gear. My next suggestion is to start recording stuff, even if the gear is shitty. With the time you spend writing on this BBS, you could be laying down tracks (shit, that goes for all of us). Learn by doing.
If you keep your shit together and don't "diss" people, lie, or plagiarize, maybe some "Santa" might be kind enough to mail you a copy of Audio Studio 7 he got free with his Aardvark soundcard.
That flatters Me
