Hey new user with some questions....

[Zeppelin456]

Hey I am a newbie to home recording but I have a few questions which I'd really really appreciate some help with. I have always been interested in home recording (i have tapes of me when i'm 7 years old singing beatles songs and even at that age i figured out how to double track my voice) but have only recently become serious about making some purchases. A friend gave me a pirated copy of Cool Edit Pro (i'm pretty much against piracy but i couldn't help having fun with the program) and I began recording some multitrack stuff with my band with my cruddy $50 webcam mic. I talked to a musician friend of mine and he reccomended a setup with a sound card that my (yet to be purchased) microphone would plug into. He then reccomended BUYING a copy of Cakewalk 2002 or something like that....
My question is basically, what would you reccomend for somebody getting started with home recording and on a budget (HOPEFULLY under 500-600 dollars!!!)?

I'm sure this question have been asked a billion times before but I couldn't seem to find them on the board so far....Any help would be really appreciated

 

[Evildick]

I would suggest investing the money in a good flame retardant suit.

There are so many demos of software programs that you can download.

Buy recording software (SONAR 2.0, Cool Edit, N-Tracks, Acid, etc..)

Upgrade to a decent audio card. (Delta, Echo, M-Audio, RME, etc.)

You can get an M-Audio Buddy for your mic which is pretty cheap.

Don't expect too many friendly responses after mentioning pirated software. People around here get pissed because it drives up the prices when we go to buy it.