Recording

i know this is probably a shot in the dark, but does anybody know of any free recording software for a xp? i would use garage band but i dont have a mac.

This is what I use. It's not the best but it's free.

http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

http://www.kreatives.org/kristal/

this is also free and support VST.

how would you guys suggest going about hooking your guitar to the computer for recording. Im looking for a rather inexpensive method.

the best method i would say is via an audio interface. that way you may plug anything in via XRL or MIDI lead. from that you plug in your microphone or DI box or what have you into it and then your guitar into that. very top end audio interfaces cost 900 GBP upwards but you can get them for about 90 GBP. i woudlnt suggest using guitar with a DI box, your tone would just be crap, so via mic would be better.

cheapest, and im thinking REALLY CHEAP, is probably one of those mics with a normal 3.5mm jack lead, but again cheap most likely means very bad quality

You can also use the cheap quility sound to create a creative effect

Free multi-track audio recording software.. Look into Reaper - lots of online support.
http://www.reaper.fm/

Definitely get a PC interface device of some type and a condenser mic. You are going to spend (with at least one mic cable, an interface device, and condenser mics) about $200-$350 but you will save yourself frustration and limitations in the long-run.

I use an m-audio firewire solo and two MXL condenser mics. These are low-end condenser mics. Guitar Center sells them for about $100 for both.

I am recording mostly acoustic, although, for my current CD I did pick up my son's electric. I did a combination of open mic and direct input, out from amplifier's line out direct to the m-audio interface, for the electric parts.

If you are going to be reasonably serious, get a PC input device like the m-audio. You can get them between $65-$200+. Also, USB is fine, you don't need firewire for audio.

I use Samplitude SE (Music Studio Pro 14 - $79) for recording but Reaper shows up consistently among home recording experts as a great choice and I have only started playing with it.

My very simple gear list..
http://www.matthewmoranonline.com/my-gear/

Good luck!
Matt
My very simple gear list

How do those MXL Condenser mics work out for you? I was looking at getting that set a while back.

http://www.guitarcenter.com/MXL-MXL-990-993-Studio-Package-273168-i1126983.gc

But read mixed reviews on them, so i ended up blowing my money of beer and cheap women. ok kidding about the cheap women part.

My setup is really pretty basic but works. not really professional quility but i think it produces good demos.

I have a 4/6 channel peavey mixer that every thing goes into.
basic condener mike made my radio shack
alesis sr-16 drum machine (not in use that much)
Johnson J-station Amp moder (poor man's pod)
Vox 30 watt valvetronix (does the same as the jstatin but with louder)

Every thing goes to an emu 0404 sound card (paid $100 but gone down in price)

from there i use a cubase sx or le to record, and mix
I've also been using toontrack ezdrummer

@telecrater,

The MXL's work well-enough. Great for the price and for most home recording projects. I'll eventually upgrade but when I do it will be a major upgrade - new PC, mixing board, mics, and software...

I use a POD XT and a Mac. I go straight through the pod to the mac. I use Garageband as the recorder and Guitar Rig for effects.

Does anyone use one of those usb or firewire external drives to record to? Like this My Book Essential 1tb drive

I was woundering how this little guy worked when recording direct to the drive?

I've got a drive that's flaking out on my computer

Well, I dont personally use USB or Firewire drives for recording, but I seen them in business... They worked fine on say "standard" recordings where you have forexample 2xGuitar, Bass, Drum and vocal tracks.

When compared those, Firewire is faster than USB 2.0, but both of them are clearly slower than direct bus. So in bigger projects speed could be bottleneck in firewire or usb 2.0.

Cheers.
Empirism

Has anyone ever used a recorder like this? If so were does the sound come from? Does the recorder have a speaker on it or do you run it through your amp?

ok, so i tried all of them out and i picked the http://www.kreatives.org/kristal/ program as my favorite. it works great with my digitech rp250 pedal. thanks Empirism!

Most of those little devices don't have a speaker but will run to a PA. Tascam, boss and many others are making those little digital recorders. They will record to flash memory and some will even master to CD

yeah i have used things like that back in school there basically little recording studios with mixer and recorder all in one. your can plug right into the board or mike your amp what ever just like in a studio, however DON'T use the built in mike

My problem is that my computer is in the family room but 99% of the time my family are also in here (they are always in the way lol). I have an Alesis MultiMix 8 USB 2.0 8-Channel Mixer and a CAD GXL3000 Pro Studio Microphone (thanks to phip) but I have no time to record because I am never home alone. I haven't even had a chance to get the hang of it yet, the few times I have had a chance to mess with it were spent trying to learn how to use it so I need a computer for my guitar room or a small recorder to use with the gear that I already have. What would be a computer or a recorder?

I'm not sure what your budget is for something.

I've been thinking of getting something liike this Tascam DP 02CF

I cut my teeth on a casette 4 track and even bought a 2nd off ebay for next to nothing.

The nice thing about those portables if you can set up anywhere, and get your ideas captured. the bad thing is it's kind of diffuct to really dig in pefect it.

Regardless there will be a learning curve if you go computer or portable. my 1st 4 track took me a good couple of months to get every thing figured out so i could made decnet recordings on it.