recording?

[cellio]

Dear LazyWeb,

What is the conventional wisdom these days for casual, computer-assisted accoustic recording? If I want to record myself singing against some computer-generated (or at least -rendered) tracks (MIDI, maybe), and I'm looking for basic demo quality, not studio quality, what should I be using (software and hardware)? I have a PC (XP) and an iBook (X.4) available; both have unremarkable sound cards. I have no mic or headphones; I assume I need the latter to avoid feedback from speakers. I assume the headphones don't much matter if they get sound to my ears and the mic matters somewhat. What should I be buying (hardware) and. ideally, downloading (software)?

Comments

[giddysinger.livejournal.com]

The hardware is actually pretty easy: You just need a decent computer mic, and you can find quite a few in the $20-30 range.

As for software, the program of choice these days is Audacity. I haven't played with it yet myself, but it's on my list of Things To Do. It's free and apparently easy to use. Here's something that a friend of mine did with it:

http://zombie-dog.livejournal.com/463912.html