I Need Suggestions For My Set-up

[Lonelypoet15]

I Use Two Computers

A Mac And a Windows.....


Mac:
iBook laptop
800 MHz PowerPC G3
256 MB SDRAM
30gbs
Airport And Built In Mic.

I Have Audacity, And Wave Pad On It/


IPC:
700MHz
256MB Of Ram
26GB Hard Drive
Linksys wireless And An Input For A Mic On It.

I HAve Acid The OLD ASS Version And Magixs Music Maker. I'm Trying To Move From Loop-Based Recording To Input.

I Have a Bass I Can Use
A Guitar I Can Use

NO Keyboard
NO Drums
AND
NOTHING Special

The Thing Is I need Cheap Effective Alternatives, My Parents Are Cheap Asses And They Are Incredibly Cheap. But I LOVE recording Music. I Have A guitar center Near By If that helps.

But Suggestions From ANYONE Would be Help full

You Can Email me AT Lonelypoet15@gmail.com

DJ

[Electriclight]

You didn't mention if you can actually PLAY the guitar and bass. If not, then that's step number one. If yes, then you need to get some drum sounds somewhere. You can by a CD with some actual recorded drum tracks, mess with them a bit to humanize them, and then record guitars over it. You may also want to keep your eyes open (yard sales) for a cheap keyboard that has MIDI. You might find one for next to nothing and there are many uses for that.

Somehow, some way, you will need a $100 audio interface (and then some RAM). This is where you need to make a clear case to your parents that you love music and it's better than hanging out and getting into trouble. Tell them that it's cheaper than hiring an attorney, or rehab or whatever.

Anyway, chances are good that your parents actually are doing about the best that they can. Give em a break. If you haven't tried to raise a family, you can't imagine how tough this "life" thing is.

[Lonelypoet15]

I Play What Sounds good But I'm Getting Lessons

Drum Sounds= Fruity loops??
Suggestions?

MIDI? How Can I tell if That Is In It. And What will It Do For My Recordings

Could You Give Me Recommendations On Audio Interfaces That Are In the Hundred Area (And What Are They By The Way. Are They Like Mixing Boards??? The Ones With Various Channels And What not) And Brands, Etc.

And Are My Computers Okay?

[Electriclight]

You can spot the two or three round multipin MIDI ports on the back. You are right, you might not have a need for midi. But it's great for adding strings sounds, triggering samples of drums or whatever. So if you don't know anything about midi then sure, it's not a priority.

Use the soundcard wizard here to find an audio interface. It is not a mixer; it is an external soundcard that gets high quality audio in and out of your computer with low latency. Your stock soundcard won't cut it.

You should be reading all of Brandon's articles on the site about all these subjects.

You will need to upgrade RAM in your computers; 128 just isn't good enough. Fortunately RAM is getting cheap. You need an absolute minimum of 512 and 1G would be better.