Composing and Recording - what setup?

[bob31984]

Hey all

There's two things I want to be able to do with my PC, to compose music (I do music A-level) and to record bands - preferably as a band rather than recording bits at a time. The biggest band I would record has a lead guitar, rhythm guitar, bass, drums, a sax and 2 vocalists. What software should I use, and which audio interface?

bob31984

 

[mikeh]

Pro Tools is likely the best sofetware application out there. I know they have more affordable lines vs. the multi thousand dollar flagship. I've used Pro Tools in studio - but not enough to know it well (I still use Cakewalk 9 in my studio).

Assuming you would record maybe 2 guitars, bass & drums (with other things over dubbed) you would still need 6 in puts at once (allowing only 3 mics on drums). Depending on the band (stereo guitar? more drum mics?) you could need more than 8 inputs (up to 16 inputs). That limits the type of interface you can even go with (and certainly runs up the cost).

I suggest you start researching the limited number of 16 input interface units (MOTU, etc). That will dictate a good hunk of your budget, and will likely dictate what you can afford in software. Oh and don't forget all the mics, stands, cables, sound treatment, etc. etc.

With that much digital/audio going at once you're gonna need a decent computer. You need to figure out a realistic budget.