Third: Techie Recording For Beginners

The Recording Process can be summed up in three words, however the art of getting it right cant be summed up in any words.
put very simply, the recording process goes like this: Write the song, Copyright the song, Record the song, mix the song, copyright the song, master the song.
simple right?.
not nearly as complicated as you think because for every step in the simple list there is about ten for the actual list. for example you will need musicians, engineers, a producer, a mixer and a master-er.
most producers do not do mastering.
and most big name producers don't do mixing.
so you need 3 separate people for that. plus a guy to plug stuff in and turn things on.
then of course there is getting the song right, and actually deciding what you want it to sound like. so in reality the recording process looks like this:
come up with the idea for a song, Write the song, re write the song, Copyright the song, demo the song, find the right musicians and session performers, make the changes, practice the song, sit around for about a week while the engineer/producer argue over mics and mic placements, Record the song, decide you don't like the 4th chord in the second bar of the last verse so the producer decides to record it again (all of it) record it again, mix the song, copyright the song, master the song.
times that, plus a lot more niggle stuff and factor in tantrums because the drummer wants to do backing vocals and the fact that your bassist is stoned, by twelve and you have an album.
in theory.
however, because your producer is milking the money out of you its now costing you ten times more than you though.
as for the technology of the whole thing, you have to decide whether you want things done quickly or if you want them to sound good. Analogue studio technology sounds brilliant, even if you record into Logic and then re record the masters onto a tape machine it still sounds so much better than if you just bounce it to Wav, however it does take twice as long.
The way out of this whole paying for it thing is to do like all the cool kids are doing and do it yourself.
A simple home set up needs:

• A Laptop - it needs to have enough power and hard drive space to store all your software and your ditties.
• A music software program - i would go with logic on this one if you are recording standard bands, its expensive but its an industry standard software package and it sounds amazing. its easy to use as well. If you are a DJ or you wanna do things differently then go with Ableton Live. it sounds wonderful and its quirkyness will never ever bore you. both of the software programs i have mentioned to you come with VST Instruments and various effects, you can buy more of both VST and effects if it doesn't come with what you want, or you can make your own sounds.
  
• A selection of mic's - you will need a dynamic, a drum kit set up (these mics are smaller and have little clips that make sure that the mic can be as close to the drum skin as possible, theyre really cute too), a bass drum mic (a D112 will do the job here) and a condenser mic for things like accoustic instruments, soft vocals and any soft instruments.
  
• A Audio Interface - this is basically a box with 2 jack spaces and 2 microphone spaces. it enables you to plug mics directly into your computer where the clever box will turn it into the right Electrical signal to sit nicely in your project and it also means that you dont have to run thinks like bass's and guitars through a mic to get them into your computer. Different sizes come with different things and there are lots of companies that make them. head to www.dv247.com for info.
• A MIDI keyboard - this is an optional thing, its a keyboard, but instead of it registering as audio on your channel it will register as MIDI. very useful if you are not into recording bands and prefer to make your own music. its also good if your using Ableton Live instead of Logic, and i would recommend you to you Ableton if you are not recording standard bands or if you are a DJ, The reason being is that MIDI keyboards also have lots of knobs, buttons and sliders for you to assign bits of Ableton to. If you are a going to use ableton i would disregard any of the mics, except maybe a condenser and a dynamic, for vocals.
  

that's it.
not so scary is it. it will cost you alot of money in the short term but once you realize your not shelling out for studio time you can get on with recording your ditties.
now go, my little geeky army, and profess to the world that Elvis had nothing on you.

Nat.