Budget Recording Studio Part 1 200.00 budget

OK guys. I am no by means an expert but have wired and engineered several several studios.
Having said that, i waited a long time to break into computer recording.
Now i can see that with just a few hundred dollars and a desire to learn the equipment you can turn out very quality music for a low budget.

From the big dollar Pro Tools Rigs to the entry level cakewalk studio all signal goes to the same kind of hard drives. There is a christian rock band named crossfade. They recorded their own project on cakewalk(entry level)
and when they go signed their tracks were flown into a pro tools rig and
remastered.

Their tracks were quality enough to end up on a major release!!!

First of all you need a computer. The speed of your computer and the amount of ram will determine the amount of tracks you can record and
how many effects you can process.

My uncle just cut a nice project on a p3 600 mhz laptop using cakewalk
with his audio in and it sounds great.

Ram and Hard drive speed makes a difference. I use a 7200 external hard drive when i am cutting a full project.

If you have a slow computer you can still get into the game.

SOFTWARE.

You will need a recording program.

There are a lot of choices out there from free to thousands of dollars.

The free ones are audacity and krystal. These are the ones that i am aware of.

There are people that use these to record and do very well with them.
Google these and download them free.

Lets start with cakewalk. Cakewalk is a very user friendly program and this one is geared for guitarists,

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/pr...lk-Guitar-Tracks-Pro-3?sku=704988

Then there is powertracks

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/pr...-Tracks-Pro-Audio-Plus?sku=700899

My recommendation is tracktion

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/pr...ktion-3-Project-Bundle?sku=701816

i use this program and love it.

Audio Interface

entry level is the m-audio

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/pr...r-Recording-Interface?sku=703606V

This will give you a 1/4 and a xlr for a mic input.

Line 6 makes a cool little interface. Does not have a xlr but you could adapt.

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/pr...SB-Recording-Interface?sku=241406

Here is SPIKE this is the best of the above because it has a fullblown
version of tracktion included where as most of the above will include
limited versions that will have less features or less tracks.

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/pr...act-Recording-System-?sku=248150V

Here is another Mackie option with full version of tracktion

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/pr...e-Recording-Interface?sku=248154X

Here is a new offering from Yamaha. The above interfaces are usb where as this on is firewire. This includes Cubase LE and some other software as well. I personally find cubase to have a tougher learning curve than tracktion.

Here is an all-in-one unit by lexicon that also has cubase LE.

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/pr...sktop-Recording-Studio?sku=245505

Cubase LE is the limited version of cubase and has almost no support
like its big brothers.

A bundled package would be a great way to start for under 200.00. I personally recommend the mackie interface because it comes with a full version of tracktion.

Check out the info on tracktion. Look at the video and you can even download a demo.

http://www.mackie.com/products/tracktion2/

Overall its whatever you get used to.

You will need someway to listen to your recordings. Most computers
will have speakers or you can use your headphones to start with.

OK guys. I hope i have covered the 200.00 or less studio well enough.

Please dont hesitate to add your feedback or questions.