get away from the computer for recording. I actually do recording
semi-professionally. ( www.fcfstudios.com ) usually a band or two a month.
I know that many people use n-track. <http://www.ntrack.com/> as a cost
effective "alternative" to some of the other options.
Your computer is very meager requirements for something like this,
especially if you are going to deal with processing multiple track at once
and / or recording multiple tracks at once. At the very least you'll want
to consider boosting the RAM.
Depending on finances, you may want to investigate a stand alone
unit. Here are a few in the under $500 range:
<http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/sid=040323033635064252201090647056/g=home/search/detail/base_pid/240781/>
<http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/sid=040323033635064252201090647056/g=home/search/detail/base_pid/240763/>
<http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/sid=040323033635064252201090647056/g=home/search/detail/base_pid/240239/>
<http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/sid=040323033635064252201090647056/g=home/search/detail/base_pid/240763/>
To comment on Jim's comments:
Jim is right about choosing a microphone. A condenser microphone is
best for this sort of thing and many can be found in the $70-$100 range
that would work. If she already performs she probably has a mic (perhaps a
dynamic SM57 or SM58) which will work just fine until some future point you
can upgrade. My band's first album was recorded completely on SM57s and
SM58s.
SoundForge is not a good choice for stereo editing, but will not do
multitrack, so you probably don't need it. I use SoundForge for mastering.
The reasoning for blankets, duct tape, and closing off space is to
separate the "control room" from the "recording room". In the control
booth, you don't want to hear any of the source signal, just what is going
to tape (or Hard Disk). If your wife is planning on recording on her own,
then all that is a mute point. She'll probably want to just plug in and
go. Most of the recordings are done with "close micing" which means the
mic is close to the source. Using this method you often do not collect any
of the room noise.
W/ regards to sound card placement...
Doing the analog to digital conversion inside a computer is horrible. If
you are under a tight budget, you probably won't have an option. Make sure
the sound card is in the slot farthest away from the fan.
If you want to record more than one track at once, your existing sound
card will not work. You can do some looking at computer recording options
here:
<http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/sid=040323033635064252201090647056/g=rec/search/c=4741/it=ATOW/fc=0/td=0/d=tn/s=computer>
But, you're probably better off financially going with a stand alone
recorder than trying to over-equip the PC.
With all my ranting, I'm late for work. :-)
At 11:04 PM 3/22/2004, you wrote:
>Subject: Virtual Recording Studios
>From: Guy McDowell <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>Date: Mon, 22 Mar 2004 22:21:56 -0400
>Thread:
>http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/index.cfm/method=messages&threadid=12106&forumid=5#109349
>
>Hi,
>
>I know there are a fair few musicians on this list, and some of you even
>do some recording. Well, my wife is a singer/songwriter and we'd like to
>put some stuff down on a cd for practice and who-knows?
>
>So what's a good app for doing this sort of thing in? I'm working with a
>1.1ghz Athlon, 128 MB, Win2K, onboard sound card on a Chaintech board, 4x
>CD burner. (I have more patience than money right now.)
>
>What's the minimum I would need to do software and hardware wise with this
>box to help my wife lay down some half-decent tracks? (Picking up the
>lingo already! Yeah, I'm kewl. Okay, maybe not.)
>
>Jeff, Bueller, Anyone....?
>
>~Guy
>http://guymcdowell.hopto.org
>
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