Cheapest way to record my songs?

  • Thread starter Thread starter faheyfan
  • Start date Start date
F

faheyfan

New member
Hi there.

I'm twenty years old, and I just started seriously applying myself to music a couple of months ago. I have a Takamine electric/acoustic guitar, a cheap keyboard, and I'll probably be getting a bass in couple of weeks. My goal is to become proficient enough with all three instruments that I can play my favorite songs and write my own material.

Right now, I'm focusing on doing covers of various songs. I strum the chords on my guitar, and use my keyboard for the melody/accompaniment/drums.

I want to be able to record myself so I can track my progress, play around with my arrangements, and feel like I'm actually making real music. Once I get good enough I'd like to be able to upload my songs to the web to get feedback from people.

I'm a poor college student, and I don't have the money for an expensive home studio. If I spend more than 100 bucks or so I'll have to give up other important things, like eating meat or buying a jacket that doesn't have a hole in it. If I get a cheap ($50) microphone that plugs into my laptop and some open source audio mixing software, will that be enough for my purposes? Can anybody recommend specific software and products I should look for?

Thanks.
 
Reaper is a free trial down load! If you like it it cost $40.
 
Or you can call someone with an answering machine and record on that! :D Pretty dang free there!
 
Download Audacity as is for free and is a very nice entry level DAW, plus look into e-bay or so for a used m-audio fast track or tascam us122 or grab a used USB microphone which will not sound as good as an interface but will fit into your budget.
 
If your budget is $50, I would go for a USB mic. Ignore the negative things you hear about USB mics for now - considering your budget, a USB mic is your best bet. Check out the Blue Snowflake mic. It is under $50 and should do exactly what you need with acceptable quality.
 
guitarplayr82 said:
If your budget is $50, I would go for a USB mic. Ignore the negative things you hear about USB mics for now - considering your budget, a USB mic is your best bet. Check out the Blue Snowflake mic. It is under $50 and should do exactly what you need with acceptable quality.
Click to expand...

Yeah I almost recommended a usb mic too, but then he wouldn't have a good way to record his keyboard and bass...
 
Become a less poor college student or give up something...

How many kidneys does a guy need? There's a good market for them.

Where's the money coming from for your bass, or is it a freebie?

Seriously, go entry level by all means, but get $200 - $300 together and come back then, is my advice. Until then, write songs... being poor's a good motivation.
 
Armistice said:
Become a less poor college student or give up something...

How many kidneys does a guy need? There's a good market for them.

Where's the money coming from for your bass, or is it a freebie?

Seriously, go entry level by all means, but get $200 - $300 together and come back then, is my advice. Until then, write songs... being poor's a good motivation.
Click to expand...

I was thinking along the same lines. Ramen noodles and a jacket full of holes sounds like the best place to start... I know because that is where I am!
 
Jacket full of holes is high fashion with just as high pricing! lol!

I agree with holding out for better. But, one has to decide what is really necessary for the task at hand and the budget available. I am swallowing my tongue now, but a USB mic is probably best here for getting your feet wet. You will soon grow out of it, as will your taste for ramen noodles. BTW, any frozen vegetable makes them a bit more appealing. So does baloney. Kinda.....
 
Whatever happened to generic mac and cheese - that and the ten cent beers got me thorugh a whole summer of college daze!
 
It's like $.69 now for M&C! Still needs the other ingredients to give it any nutritional value. Especially if beer isn't affordable. Today, you gotta have boobs to get 10 cent beers.
 
Armistice said:
Become a less poor college student or give up something...
Click to expand...

I agree! Dude, at least sell plasma or something! If you can get a couple hundred bucks your options will improve drastically.
 
Assuming this isn't just a wind up, Keep saving while you learn how to play and write your songs. Once you have something worth recording that is well prepared, arranged and well rehearsed you'll have a couple of hundred more bucks and can get a day in the studio to record your tracks. take them home and mix them yourself in Audacity or Reaper or whatever

That's the cheapest way to do it to get something approaching worthwhile results. (At least from a tracking perspective)

If you simply have to have something now and don't care how it sounds, get a usb mic or a skype headset or something they'll all work to some degree at getting sound into a computer
 
Look on ebay or Amazon for a cheap 4 track portastudio and a cheap mic {those SM57 copies will do the job}. You can still eat meat. And you'll be able to get your feet wet while you contemplate the impoverished student life.
 
If you use linux, Ardour is a full featured DAW. Audacity would be more than sufficient though. Great little program.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top