Recording music at home, and editing...

[Zerohero]

I've already written about 5 songs that I want to record, and transfer onto my PC and edit. I wanted to know what are the best tools you guys use for recording at home.

[sphere79]

I LOVE my Fostex VF160ex, but it's better for "live" or whole band recordings. But a 16-track for $599 (I payed $400 of ebay) is absurd - it's a hella deal. I haven't done a ton of it, but I can extract individual tracks to CD, edit and modify them with PC software (hell Cool Edit Pro works just fine) and bring them right back into the mix. I've wanted the flexibilty this thing offers since I first started playing as a teenager.

Probably not what you'd want if it's just you layering with your PC, someone else could help you better on that end.

My tools for home recording: Behringer 24-track mixer (to mix down drums), Behringer DI box (to match and balance outputs off amps) and the Fostex to get it all on HardDisc. I use kick-ass Audix mics and a Shure PSM-200 wireless monitor to follow the mix and my vocals.

[jyoung]

Audacity is the best free recording program that you're going to find for PCs; just make sure to install the mp3 plug-in as well so you can export your projects as mp3 files.

I have used Audacity for three or four years now and have actually grown to prefer its simplicity and ease of use over more complicated programs like Adobe Audition, which can only be freely obtained by illegal means.

As for actual recording equipment, a good solution, if your instrument's amp/processor has the proper outputs, is to plug your instrument directly into your computer's microphone jack.

There are several ways to accomplish this, the cheapest being an XLR cable that will plug into your amp/processor at one end and into your computer's 1/8" microphone jack at the other end. Such a cable will only cost you about $10-$15, and if your computer's sound card is decent, the quality will be even better than if you'd gone out and spent a lot more money on a microphone.

If you do want to use a traditional microphone to record music to your computer, keep in mind that you can always use that same XLR --> 1/8" cable to plug the microphone into your computer's microphone jack.

Such a cable can be found here:

http://www.jacksmusicfactory.com/def...2_To_XLR_Cable

Just make sure you have the correct parts on your XLR end (i.e., male or female, depending on what you need) and you'll be set.

[arjue]

i use a Sansamp Bass Driver as a preamp straight into my soundcard, then record with Adobe Audition and add elements with Reason.

[Josh]

I use:

PC running Nuendo2, M Audio Delta 1010LE audio card, Some tube preamps that I forget the names of.

Also: Mac G4 running Cubase, M Audio firewire card.

Go Steinberg or go home imo...