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

[metahacker.livejournal.com]

Depending on which generation iBook you have, GarageBand will do all this and more but might run like a dog. Audacity will do it for free, but the interface is somewhat clunkier.

Look into a USB computer microphone. Again I'm not sure what generation iBook you have, but many of them *do* have a built-in microphone -- it just is pretty miserable.

You'll want headphones if you want to record *only* you singing. You could also record you + the music you are singing along to, but it'll be lower quality and will end up all on one track (just the same as if you stuck a mic in front of you as normal). In general you won't get feedback, however, because you can turn off the "pass through" option and so the computer won't emit the sound of your singing -- so it's strictly for quality reasons.

I can try to be clearer about this tomorrow when I have more brain if you need a little more detail.

[hakamadare.livejournal.com]

she’s got an iBook G4 800; it’s got enough grunt to do audio recording. the Griffiin iMic (http://www.griffintechnology.com/products/imic/) is the typical cheap USB audio interface that people buy; despite the name, it does not include a microphone.

GarageBand seems a sensible choice for software; it’s quite likely already installed on the iBook.

-steve