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So I'm gonna want to start recording here pretty soon but, being a college student, I usually have no money. What's the best way to record for really little money that you guys have used. Btw I have some mics and a laptop already.

Scarlet 2i2 and some cheap condensor mics. eperiment with placement and you can do everything from drums to vocs and get a decent sound

depends what you want to record.....just voice and guitar...with drums?...and bass?...sousaphone?

Uncle Grandfather wrote:depends what you want to record.....just voice and guitar...with drums?...and bass?...sousaphone?

Oh ya I forgot to mention. It will be vocals, guitar, bass, drums, and mabey piano.

Reaper is a "free" DAW and actually pretty simple to use.

Find an old USB interface on CraigsList and a couple SM57s.

warwick.hoy wrote: a couple SM57s.

+1. the shure sm57 is the industry standard. You can record anything with the 57, and they are built to last a lifetime of serious abuse. I wouldn't even consider another mic, it will save you money in the long run because it will still be the perfect mic for many situations even after you start getting into other dynamic and condensers mics etc.

Ya the mics I have are two 57's and a sennhieser that I use for vocals.

scienceman wrote:

Uncle Grandfather wrote:depends what you want to record.....just voice and guitar...with drums?...and bass?...sousaphone?

Oh ya I forgot to mention. It will be vocals, guitar, bass, drums, and mabey piano.

Well I can't give any advice on recording to computer, and it might be cheaper and more what you're interested in. Me i'm into recording to tape, that's where I got my sea legs so that's where I'm happy.

maybe think about a used four track tascam 424 mkI or II or III, some hi-bias cassette tape, and a set of headphones and you're good to go. The tascam is a mixer/eq and recorder. so you've got four tracks, but you can record on all four tracks...then bounce them all down to track 1. Now you've got three more tracks, which you can fill up and bounce down etc....that begins to degrade the sound quality at a certain point. for example, you could record the drums to all four tracks, and bounce them down to one track. leaving three tracks for guitar, bass and vocal...for basic example. there is something special about tape, you can push the levels and get some sweet saturation. it also has outputs so you can get it into your computer somehow...sorry I don't mess with computers when it comes to music.

good luck

Also, what is your "end result" plan.....? Is recording going to be purely a "fun" hobby for you....? Is this all the beginning of a larger career direction for you...? Are you trying to make a demo to score some gigs.....? If this is all at least semi-serious for you, I would suggest that you invest whatever money you do have into a nice set of monitors/speakers.

Uncle Grandfather wrote:

warwick.hoy wrote: a couple SM57s.

+1. the shure sm57 is the industry standard. You can record anything with the 57, and they are built to last a lifetime of serious abuse. I wouldn't even consider another mic, it will save you money in the long run because it will still be the perfect mic for many situations even after you start getting into other dynamic and condensers mics etc.

+100000000000000000000000000


also any recording software is "free" if you're a thieving pirate

Decibill wrote:Also, what is your "end result" plan.....? Is recording going to be purely a "fun" hobby for you....? Is this all the beginning of a larger career direction for you...? Are you trying to make a demo to score some gigs.....? If this is all at least semi-serious for you, I would suggest that you invest whatever money you do have into a nice set of monitors/speakers.

The recordings will be for getting gigs. I've been able to wiggle my way into a few without a demo for a while but I need to make some so I can play out more.

arrrrr

If you want really, really cheap, Lexicon Alpha. It's like $70 but no phantom power and only one XLR input.

scienceman wrote:

Decibill wrote:Also, what is your "end result" plan.....? Is recording going to be purely a "fun" hobby for you....? Is this all the beginning of a larger career direction for you...? Are you trying to make a demo to score some gigs.....? If this is all at least semi-serious for you, I would suggest that you invest whatever money you do have into a nice set of monitors/speakers.

The recordings will be for getting gigs. I've been able to wiggle my way into a few without a demo for a while but I need to make some so I can play out more.

Cool...Should be fun....!! Do you have any funds for speakers or headphones...??