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 - $15
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/047...SIN=0470385421
(Wish I'd had that 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!
Another good one is: Recording Guitar and Bass by Huw Price
http://www.amazon.com/Recording-Guit...5734124&sr=1-1
(I got my copy at a place called Half-Price Books for $6!!)
And you can get a FREE subscription to TapeOp magazine at
www.tapeop.com
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:
http://www.tweakheadz.com/guide.htm
http://www.computermusic.co.uk/page/..._beginner_pdfs
http://www.harmony-central.com/articles/
21 Ways To Assemble a Recording Rig:
http://www.tweakheadz.com/rigs.htm
Also Good Info:
http://www.theprojectstudiohandbook.com/directory.htm
Other recording books:
http://musicbooksplus.com/home-recording-c-31.html
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 tested suggestions:
http://www.tweakheadz.com/soundcards...ome_studio.htm
Plenty of software around to record for FREE to start out on:
Audacity:
http://audacity.sourceforge.net (multi-track with VST support)
Wavosaur:
http://www.wavosaur.com/ (a stereo audio file editor with VST support)\
Kristal:
http://www.kreatives.org/kristal/
Other freebies and shareware:
www.hitsquad.com/smm
Another great option is REAPER at
http://www.cockos.com/reaper/ (It's $50 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 -
http://myriad-online.com
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. It pays to watch 'em for giveaways...)
"
If it were me, I'd do my research, a lot of it, before I started layin down my hard earned cash. And the reason I say that, is cuz that's what I didn't do. 
So I ended up with some gear that had pretty lights and lame functionality.
and never have to start a new learning curve but I just don't see that happening. 
