First of all, thanks for the great feedback on last week’s intro installment! I really want this to be an interactive series of articles to help everyone, so by all means – if you have questions, or want to know about specific things, please let me know. I’ll work them in any way I can for the upcoming articles.

Second of all, I don’t profess to be a recording genius by any means – I only started trying to figure out how to record songs myself and get them online a little over 2 years ago. It was my “figuring out how the heck to do this” process that led me to think of writing these to help anyone who might find themselves wondering where and how to get started, just as I was when I decided to start playing wrock. There are so many wrock bands whose music I listen to often, in hopes of figuring out how they got things to sound great in their “home studio”. And in this week’s installment, we’ll talk about the most basic thing needed to get those songs recorded – your recording device!

The best thing about recording is simply this – if you’ve got a computer (and I’m betting you do because you’re reading this article online), you can record. Plain and simple. There’s plenty of free software out there that you can use on all sorts of computers, in addition to the great bundled GarageBand program I mentioned last week, if you’re using a Mac. A sound card with a line-in jack and a mic-in jack, are all you need to get started. Will that give you the best sound possible? No, it may not, especially as you’re starting out. What it will do is allow you to get started working on your music. It will definitely get you up and running and help get your music created.

One other way to record that sort of gets forgotten about nowadays is the standalone recorder, such as a 4- or 8-track recorder, which can either be digital (records to a hard drive or a memory card) or analog (uses a cassette tape to record the music on). There are still more than a few wizard rock bands using these to record great music, and one of the excellent things about a standalone recorder is that they have a very quick learning curve; if you’ve never recorded anything before, you can be up and running in a matter of minutes. They’re also very easy to find used at local music stores or on the Internet, and can sometimes be purchased as a kit – a recording device, a microphone, some headphones, and cables to hook everything together. Tascam and Fostex are two companies who both have multiple recorders in their product lineup, and again are very easy to use. My first actual experiences with recording music were with a Tascam Portastudio, a 4-track you simply can’t go wrong with.

Another “pro” to a standalone recorder is that it’s usually all self-contained – a few knobs to adjust the recorded tone, some faders to adjust volume, and a lot of new digital recorders have built in effects (something we’ll definitely go into later). So you can record, mix, and have a finished song all on one device, without needing to worry about using your computer, or having to record in the same room your computer is in (unless you have a laptop, of course!). One down side to the standalone device is that there are usually a few extra steps needed to get your music onto your computer, turned into an mp3, and uploaded, especially if you have an older recorder without a USB or digital connection. However, that’s a minor “con” and something that can be worked around easily.

Next week, we’ll jump into the world of recording software, with some recommendations on free, easy to use programs you can use to start recording right on your computer.