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

A few thoughts on audio software

[brokengoose.livejournal.com]

-I'm no expert, but I like to play. Serious Audio People will scoff at everything that I have to say.

-Garage Band is really nice, but it's a CPU and memory pig. On your laptop (which is the same as my laptop, actually), you'll be able to do all of the work that you want to do IF you "downmix" the MIDI audio into one or two tracks of uncompressed "wave" audio before adding voice. I start to see some annoying latency with more than 3 tracks, especially if I'm playing with MIDI. If you have regular access to a higher-end mac, Garage Band is a great way to go. If you don't have iLife, it might not be worth spending $100 given the limitations of your hardware.

-Audacity feels like an Open Source program. It can do absolutely anything, but it's always just a little bit more complicated and obscure than necessary. There's a whole lot to be said for "free", though.

-I've never used any PC audio software other than Audacity, so I won't comment on them.

-If you end up using hardware that doesn't already have an analog line-in connector (like your laptop), I'd recommend not getting a USB mic. They tend to be targetted toward chat and gaming. Most just sound bad, and even the good ones tend to focus on noise and pop reduction at the expense of tone and range. Like somebody else said, get an adapter like the iMic and then get a decent microphone.