This post is all about do-it-yourself music recording. I've just graduated from a college program in Digital Music Production and can assure you, with a little time, you too can bring your audio visions into reality with just a few simple ingredients.
First of course, since we're talking digital here, you'll need a computer. The name of the game is RAM, or processing speed. Most software out there keeps pretty close to the boundaries of the most modern processors, so be sure to have the right software-to-processor power ratio in mind. Really, you don't need the latest version of the software in question, especially if your computer can't keep up with it. Many of the most popular recording software options share the most common features you'll be using when you first get into it. In fact, some of the features that come with the latest updates you'll probably never use! The point is: you want your software to work smoothly and not grind to a halt due to CPU limitations. This said, most computers built in the last two years should be more than capable of handling what you put them through.
A great place to start is with a great FREE program called Audacity. If you're into this kind of stuff already, you'll probably have heard about it. It's a free (did I mention it's free?), open-source audio recording program that is perfect for introducing the basic concepts of audio editing that are elaborated in other, less-free, audio editing programs. Remember though, 'free' does not always equal 'freedom,' and the more robust "Digital Audio Workstations" (a.k.a. "DAWs") such as Cubase, Pro-Tools, Reason/Record, Abelton, etc. offer superior 'workflow' (erganomic usage), Audacity is really quite good if you're looking to jam out some tracks or do minor editing on pre-recorded stuff. Do you have the... audacity?
Here's a link to the Audacity site:
http://audacity.sourceforge.net/
Even if you have one of the other programs I've mentioned so far, it's well worth getting this (free) program on your desktop. If you download the additional 'Lame' .MP3 encoder, it becomes a great converter for all your .WAV, etc. files.
The Lame encoder plug-in link is:
http://lame1.buanzo.com.ar/
Another popular audio editor/recorder is Reaper. It's actually an acronym for "Rapid Environment for Audio Production, Engineering, and Recording. The beguiling .fm suffix refers to the 'Federated States of Micronesia'. Why do they base themselves out of a remote Pacific island chain? That's just part of the magic, folks.
It's pretty cheap too. After the 30 day free trial, it will either remain free (with limitations), or you can buy it for around $70 (last time I checked)
There are many great tutorials about Reaper... here's one:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAUwDhtEono&feature=related
Well, I think that's good enough to get you going for now. Remember, when you're on a budget - do your homework! There are zillions of tutorials and reviews of these and other audio editing programs on YouTube (also free) and by Googling the proper keywords.
If you'd like more links to these things, requests will be responded to when you leave comments on this or any other blog post I write.
Until next time,
~The Shoestring Troubadour.
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