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For the past 20 years, the common man has been able to record multi-track audio with relative ease. We've gone from 4 track tape recorder to computer interfaces that can handle massive amounts of simultaneous input. Join the ranks of people who make audio engineers and studio owners weep. With some money and some perseverance you can record yourself and your friends. Don't kid yourself, it's not going to sound technically AMAZING, but if you have great songs it doesn't really matter. And really, you don't even have to be great, you just need to have fun.

HARDWARE

Here are a few common signal paths: microphone -> mic preamp -> soundcard -> computer hard drive -> backup media or keyboard -> line level input -> soundcard -> computer hard drive -> backup media or keyboard/foot controller -> MIDI interface -> Computer -> Audio Program -> Audio Plugin/Synthesizer/Sampler The mic preamp and line level input could be a mixer and you mixer would plug into your computer somehow. RCA to miniplug perhaps. Or you can go hi fidelity and get a computer soundcard. They start at around $99 and go up to $2000ish. Some have built in mic preamps with input level control - very handy. You could also plug a mixers 1/4" outputs into your sound card inputs if you don't have plug ins(commonly referred to as XLR inputs). Once you have that sorted out, you need some speakers to play back your creations. I used an old Aiwa stereo for a few years before buying some studio monitors. They make a difference, but you can get by without them. Just make sure to try your mixes out on different sound systems. Turn the bass boost/loudness if you're using a stereo, otherwise you may end up will too little bass in your mix. Try to move your speakers away from the wall a bit as well. This will further eliminate bass build up. Where you position your head in the room also makes a difference. If the room is rectangular make sure you sit facing the one of the walls with the most distance between them. Try to get your head about 40% of the way back into the room. This will supposedly give you the least amount of bass buildup or reduction. Getting room acoustics right is difficult - try walking around your room while some bass heavy music is playing and notice how the level of some notes will change. Remember that someone in the back of the room may be hearing a drastically different mix than you especially when it comes to bass.

• Get a backup drive, or burn your songs to DVD. Nothing is more heartbreaking than losing music you've labored over....OK, quite a few things are worse, but this really is bad when you could have prevented it. You should have a rough idea of what you want to do with your recording rig. If it's just you doing overdubbing, then you can get by with a small interface - maybe 4 or 6 inputs. Don't buy a 18 input audio interface if you don't need it. You can get by with a 4 input interface when you are starting out and you should spend your money on some good microphones. If you want to record bands, you should get an 8-18 input sound card. You'll also want a fair amount of outputs to drive headphone amplifiers. Keep in mind that all those inputs are useless without microphones! If you want the convenience of leaving all your gear connected all the time and you have the mics, you might go with a higher number of inputs. It is definitely nice to always have your drums, guitar and bass plugged in and ready to capture ideas. I use an 8 input mic preamp with ADAT output connected to a sound card. ADAT is a standard way to transfer 8 tracks of audio over an optical cable. Some sound cards will have 8 analog inputs and an ADAT input - which equals 16 tracks if you have a preamp with ADAT output. Even if you don't play the keyboard, you should get a USB keyboard. You can use them to control your recording software and program drums in your sequencing software. Get a keyboard with a few sliders and few programmable pads on it if you'd like to have extra control. You can assign sliders to track volume and pads to stop, play and record. Microphones are expensive and you should make an investment in at least one good microphone. Unlike most of your other computerized gear, they will hold their value over the years. I paid $300 for a pair of mics 7 years ago. They now go for around $450. It's not the stock market, but a $2000 computer will be worth $500 in a few years. Microphones are classified by three things - how they are powered, how they pick up sound and size.
  • Power: They are either powered by phantom power or not. Dynamic mics don't use phantom power. A condenser does.
  • Patterns: There is Omni - which is least common and picks up all around the mic. Cardioid picks up from the front and less so, from the sides. Hyper Cardioid picks up little from the sides and gives good isolation.
  • Size: Inside the microphone is an element which translates sound into motion. The size can range from very small to several inches. Random tidbit - you can make a dynamic microphone by wiring a 12" speaker to a mic cable.

  SOFTWARE

  You will be doing all your recording, editing, mixing and mastering in your software. Professional software is not cheap, but it will be the hub of your setup, so it is very important. You should choose your software based on what you'll be doing and who you will be working with. If 2 friends use a program you might check it out and see if you like it. Keep in mind that most programs can export audio tracks that anyone can use - they all start at the beginning of the song, so you can just drag them in and you're ready to go. I admit, I didn't pay for every piece of software when I was starting out. It's hard to spend money on something that fits on a CD, but you'll soon find that it is worth it. You will get patches, support and a warm tingly feeling that you help support the people that help you make music! You can get several packages for around $500. If you can play keyboards or want to program drums or use samples, the software may have features built in to help you. I'm sure you are interested in effects. These are called VST (PC/Cubase Standard) effects or instruments, Audio Unit (Apple standard) effects or instruments and other proprietary formats. Logic has some great instruments - but you cannot use them in other applications. Nuendo has many fans. Sonar could be good for you as a PC user. You should definitely check out Ableton Live for a unique experience. There are many plugins - both free and not-so-free. There will be more in the VST format, but there is also a healthy AU supply, and is constantly increasing. You can find plug-ins that can add reverb, delay, EQ, compression and other effects.
  

  TECHNIQUE

  The Sound Starts at the Source (instruments and rooms) The quality of a recording is determined by the performance, the instrument and the microphone. You should prioritize in that order. Make sure you have a good instrument that you can play well. Drums need to be tuned. Badly tuned drums can be damped down with jelly pads or quarters taped to drum heads - but you should try to tune the drum. Forget I said anything about tape. Try to get the drummer to hit the cymbals softer, especially on the open hi-hat. 75% will ignore you. One of the best drum sound I ever got from a band recording was from a very light hitter. Where you strike a snare drum can make a big difference as well - hit closer to the rim and you'll get more ring. The room affects the sound of the instrument and interacts with your instrument if you use a microphone. I build some absorbers that suck up bass and high frequencies in my room. Drums and horns sound better - as in - less boxy and more tight and maybe even TOO dead. I have carpet - and I'd like to have a hard floor right now. If you are recording a band - try to record drums, bass, guitar and scratch vocals at once. Microphone placement is important, If you put a microphone closer to a drum head or speaker, it will pick up more bass. I use a pair of small condensers above the drums in an xy position and a kick drum microphone. A snare mic is optional along with tom microphones. Make sure you have extension cords and headphones for band members. It helps if you can do separate headphone mixes. Typically your audio interface will have a 4 or 6 outputs that you can send to a racked up headphone amplifier - mix in your voice for talk-back. Spend $100 for a headphone amp and then $100 for a 5-pack of headphones. If you can operate the headphone mix, you will be a hero! Just make sure to notify your neighbors if you will bother them. Mixing is a vital part of the process when crafting your sound. I normally start with compression and equalization(EQ). Compression smooths out the loudness and softness of sounds - to make it the same loudness. EQ will let you cut away un-needed frequencies from your recordings. After a while you might start to realize that you always cut the low end out of your guitar signal. Why not just pull the microphone off of the speaker grille and reduce a little of the bass? Mic choice will also affect your eq. Condensers will have sparkly highs. Dynamics have less highs and beefier lows at times. Get to know your mics and spend a few days comparing how things sound. Play in bands. Go to shows. Meet other studio people - you will learn, grow and find people to work with.