Completely new to this

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joshONmars

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And I want to know the basic gear needed to record music. I have a few programs such as Acid pro, Reason and Magix music maker and I'm not sure what the best is to use. I'm looking to buy a recording mic (seems like an important thing to get at this stage) that I can use for many different instruments and also my voice if that's even possible to get in one mic. What's the basic gear I'd need to get started?

Thanks,
Josh
 
Hi Josh, welcome to HR!

WELL, there's a lot of various stuff you might want to cover! I wrote a series of articles basically designed to help people find ways to run decent recording sessions without spending much, if any.
You can find it here, and I really hope it's useful to you. There's stuff on software, interfaces, desks, borrowing mics, getting the best out mics you've got, what to listen to your mix on... all that kind of stuff.
If there's anything else you need to know, just ask!
For starters: have you got a rough budget in mind? I'd recommend these Behringer mics to anyone, they're dead cheap and HUGELY versatile, sound decent as drum overheads, or close mic's on an acoustic guitar. They don't sound to bad on vocals either, but you'll have to be careful with your mic technique as they won't like being as close as something like an SM58. If you want to prioritise vocals more than anything else, then perhaps something like a Rode NT1-A
Best piece of advice I can give on mics though, is try before you buy. Go to a shop, and listen to your voice through the mic. If you don't like it or it's too much $, don't buy it :D
 
What style of music? What instruments? What other gear do you already own?

Help us out here.... and do some research yourself about how it all works by reading the answers in the many threads just like yours that get posted here daily....
 
My obligatory standard reply-for-newbies that I keep in Wordpad so this is just a paste (I don't want to re-type this all the time):

First off, immediately get a good beginner recording book (spend $20 before spending hundred$/thousand$) that shows you what you need to get started and how to hook everything up in your studio:
Home Recording for Musicians by Jeff Strong - $16
Amazon.com: Home Recording For Musicians For Dummies (9780470385425): Jeff Strong: Books

PC Recording Studios for Dummies - $16
Amazon.com: PC Recording Studios For Dummies (9780764577079): Jeff Strong: Books
(Wish I'd had those when I started; would have saved me lots of money and time and grief)
You can also pick up this book in most any Borders or Barnes&Noble in the Music Books section!

Recording Guitar and Bass by Huw Price
Amazon.com: Recording Guitar and Bass: Getting a Great Sound Every Time You Record (9780879307301): Huw Price: Books
(I got my copy at a place called Half-Price Books for $6!!)

Home Recording for Beginners by Geoffrey Francis
Amazon.com: Home Recording for Beginners (9781598638813): Geoffrey (Geoffrey Francis) Francis: Books

When you get a bit into it, I highly recomend The Art of Mixing by David Gibson
Amazon.com: The Art of Mixing: A Visual Guide to Recording, Engineering, and Production (9781931140454): David (David Gibson) Gibson: Books

A MUST READ: Kim Lajoie's "Lifesigns from studio" - FREE - http://www.errepici.it/web/download/KLBD.asp

And you can get a FREE subscription to TapeOp magazine at Tape Op Magazine

Barnes&Noble or Borders are great places to start --- they have recording books and you can go get a snack or coffee and read them for FREE! Don't pass by a good recording book --- this is a VERY technical hobby and you REALLY want to start a reference library!!!

Good Newbie guides that also explains all the basics and have good tips:
Tweak's Guide to the Home and Project Studio
Free beginner PDFs | Computer Music Magazine | MusicRadar.com
The #1 online community for musicians | Harmony Central
Tips & Techniques - Gearslutz.com

Guitar Amp Recording: Guitar Amp Recording

21 Ways To Assemble a Recording Rig: How to Configure a Recording Studio Rig

Other recording books: Music Books Plus - Home Recording

Still using a built-in soundcard?? Unfortunately, those are made with less than $1 worth of chips for beeps, boops and light gaming (not to mention cheapness for the manufacturer) and NOT quality music production.
#1 Rule of Recording: You MUST replace the built-in soundcard.
Here's a good guide and user-tested suggestions that work: The Best Audio Interfaces for your Home Studio by TweakHeadz Lab
(you'll want to bookmark and read through all of Tweak's Guide while you're there...)

Plenty of software around to record for FREE to start out on:
Sony ACID Xpress 10-track sequencer: ACIDplanet.com: Free Downloads: ACID Xpress
Audacity: Audacity: Free Audio Editor and Recorder (multi-track with VST support)
Wavosaur: Wavosaur free audio editor with VST and ASIO support (a stereo audio file editor with VST support)\
Kristal: http://www.kreatives.org/kristal/
Other freebies and shareware: Music Software - Computer Music Resources - Shareware Music Machine

Another great option is REAPER at REAPER | Audio Production Without Limits
(It's $60 but runs for free until you get guilty enough to pay for it...)
I use Reaper and highly reccomend it...

Music Notation and MIDI recording: Melody Assistant ($25) and Harmony Assistant ($80) have the power of $600 notation packages...
Myriad: Music Notation Software and much more... / Myriad : logiciels de musique, et bien plus...
Demo you can try on the website.

And you can go out to any Barnes&Noble or Borders and pick up "Computer Music" magazine - they have a full FREE studio suite in every issue's DVD, including sequencers, plugins and tons of audio samples. (November 2006 they gave away a full copy of SamplitudeV8SE worth $150, November 2007-on the racks Dec in the US- they gave away SamplitudeV9SE and July 2009 issue they put out Samplitude10SE, December 2010 they gave away Samplitude11LE. FREE. It pays to watch 'em for giveaways...)

'Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.'
 
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