> Instead of playing another night of baseball, football or hockey this
> summer... I have decided to throw on a guitar strap and learn how to become
> a rock star. Well, on my own small stage in my basement anyway...
> And now the question(s)
> - drum machine. Not sure what free software there is. Is it worth spending a
> couple bucks? any recommendations?
For Windows, I had great luck with this one:
http://www.leafdigital.com/Software/leafdrums/
Not free, but cheap ($25) and a pretty extensive demo period.
For Mac, there is no question, unless you have Garageband:
http://www.doggiebox.com/
> - setting up a keyboard controller. Do instructions come with the keyboard?
> >From what I understand it might be pretty cheap - $100 or so to buy a
> keyboard.
Do you mean to control the drums? If you use the software above, that is
not a concern. You can find cheap USB keyboards for about that price. I
think M-Audio makes one.
> - recording - any good software to record (live) into MP3/RA/ other format.
There are several out there for the PC. Your best bet is to try ProTools
Free, but it only works on Win98 and ME. There are many other options
out there, some of them for free. Can't remember them all right now, but
check out tucows. Before I switched to recording on my Mac, I had found
a decent free one.
http://www.protools.com/ptfree/
> I think that's all I need. Drum Machine. Keyboard Controller, live digital
> recording.
You will also want a nice microphone or two. If doing electric guitars,
get a Line 6 POD or Behringer V-AMP and you can record direct into your
PC without having to worry about Mic'ing any amps. If recording acoustic
guitars, you will want a decent condenser Mic. If you want to make pro
recordings, a Mic preamp is desireable. Of course, the MBox by
Digidesign comes with two inputs, both with Mic preamps built in, and it
also comes with ProTools LE, which gives you 24 tracks of live audio.
http://www.protools.com/products/mbox/
My other suggestion: Get a Mac. :-) Garageband is really an amazing tool
and will solve 90% of the issues above. It comes with great drum samples
and loops, will let you run midi keyboard synth sounds from a USB
keyboard (or from your computer keyboard with a free piece of
software!), and has some decent guitar amp emulation built into it. It
really is a great tool for doing just what you are talking about doing.
HTH,
-Bret
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