New to Home Recording - In Need of Some Help

[FunkyMonky]

Hello all. I'm new to the forums and home recording, and if you are able to, please clear up some of my confusion.

I am on a fairly limited budget ($300 is about my limit) and I'd like to have a respectable set-up (CD quality is preferred) for music recording. I will, most likely, only record a limited amount of instruments (an acoustic guitar, a little bit of homemade percussion and certain other strange, around the house sounds) in multiple takes - a one-man band type of thing. The microphone that I am considering is the :

http://pro-audio.musiciansfriend.co...-Large-Diaphragm-FET-Condenser-Mic?sku=271090

which seems to fit my needs. If you have a better suggestion for cleaner, warmer audio, please let me know.

I was either going in one of two routes (my understanding of the inner workings of home recording is limited, so feel free to fill in the blanks and let me know what else I might need. Also, please tell me what sort of cables are required.):

(1) Record straight to the:

http://pro-audio.musiciansfriend.co...4track-Digital-Multitrack-Recorder?sku=250011

(using headphones as a monitor of sorts) and, later compile the tracks in Audacity (I'll get a better DAW eventually), arranging them there. (I'm a little iffy here. The portastudio has 2 1/4" mic inputs - can the microphone that I chose even connect to this? Would I need some sort of converter?)

Or,

(2) Record through the:

http://pro-audio.musiciansfriend.com/product/Behringer-Eurorack-UB1202-Mixer?sku=631236#new

directly into Audacity. (Would the:

http://pro-audio.musiciansfriend.com/product/Behringer-UCONTROL-UCA202-USBAudio-Interface?sku=702540

be used so as to connect the mixer to my computer? If so, does the mixer come with Red and White audio cables? Or, would I need to buy them?)

Again, I'm not looking for uber quality here. My goal is to release some tracks through Jamendo and other indie based services, and I just need help getting there.

Would I need any other equipment than what I mentioned here? Any other cables, etc?

Thank you so very much for you time.

Take care.

 

[TimOBrien]

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/04...mp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=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-Gui...=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1215734124&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/computermusic?entry=free_beginner_pdfs
http://www.harmony-central.com/articles/
http://www.gearslutz.com/board/tips-techniques/168409-tips-techniques.html

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_for_the_home_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 and July 2009 issue they put out Samplitude10SE. FREE. It pays to watch 'em for giveaways...)