Brian, if you are writing here, you got a computer.
What are the specs? Perhaps it can be used for recording.
BBall Jones (great name, had that album when I was
a kid) gives some great advice. Some other thoughts:
Your soundcard will probably need eight to ten
inputs if you are doing eight to ten tracks at
a shot. Darla (I paid $279)is a great card, but
only two inputs, hence only two track recording at
a time. Maybe Mona or Layla might do.
Cakewalk 9 is $279. I personally prefer it over the
more expensive Cubase, but thats a personal thing and
if we took a vote over which is better, we would
have a situation where the florida musicians would
be punching their votes wrong and voting for
Buchanan instead of Cakewalk. Both are fine.
I havent Seen N tracks, people rave over it for its
price, dont know if it does Midi.
Again, respond with more info. What do you already
own? Do you need midi?
I am going to give you a basic setup here that might
work:
Computer:
500mhz(min)intel
128 (min)ram
fast (7200rpm) Hard Drive for audio, 15gig perhaps
Soundcard with 8 to ten inputs, 24bit might help
Midi on soundcard if needed(look to the future,get it)
Mackie Mixer: Never heard a bad word about em.
Mics: as BBall says, Shure SM 57s are cheap and popular,
get a few, and one more expensive mic for vocals,
like a Rode NT series or AKG 414. Dont skimp
on the vocal mic, its important.
Monitors and amp: I use Tannoys and
an Alesis RA100
amp.
Eventually you need other toys like a compressor,
CD burner etc. but you have enough to think about
already.
Final thought: Dont forget cables and wires. They
are not included with any purchase, so budget
a few hundred bills for that. Cheers David
