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So, you're ready to start layin' down some tracks? Here's a quick primer on PC recording for the absolute beginner - I'll go over the basic equipment and setup, show you some handy software for doing basic audio recording, give a quick overview of effects, and explain how to export your work for sharing with your audience.

Equipment you need:

- something to record, acoustic or electric (voices count!)

- A semi-modern PC (I recommend a minimum dual core / 2 GB RAM / 160 GB HDD / sound [duh])

- Audio recording Software or Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) - For this tutorial we will use the free, open-source program Audacity

- Audio interface: FYI, this is where things may get a bit complex, depending on your setup.

Budget Category (under $50)

If you only intend to record electric instruments, and are looking to keep costs low, I recommend picking up a Realtone Cable, which originally shipped with the videogame Rocksmith. 1/4" input on one end, USB on the other, and Windows has the drivers built in so it's essentially plug and play (also worked fine with OSX 10.6, never tried it on Linux). You can find them on sites like Ebay for anywhere between $10-25.

The plus side to using the Realtone cable is that it's incredibly simple - plug the cable into your USB port, open Audacity, select the "Realtone Cable" input, and start recording. The downside is that there is a good amount of latency, especially in Windows, so if you want to be able to listen to yourself in real-time as you're playing, the Realtone cable is not the way to go.

If you intend to record acoustic instruments or vocals on a shoestring, then a USB mic is the way to go. There are many, many variables that go into selecting the best mic, but for the sake of brevity I'm going to go ahead and recommend the Samson GoMic for this category. It has several modes of operation (cardoid, super-cardoid, full-room), good audio range/pickup, and costs less than $40 brand new and not on sale.

Plus sides are pretty much the same as for the Realtone cable - ease of use. The downside is pretty much the same downside you get with any cheap microphone, lack of audio quality. Not to say the GoMic isn't good, but it isn't as good as, say, a Shure SM58 running through a proper mixing rig.

Reasonably priced, IMO Category ($50-150)

Cannot say enough good things about USB audio interfaces, like the Presonus Audiobox or FocusRite Scarlett - a 1 or 2 channel unit can be easily bought brand new for under $100 ($120 - 150 if you need more than 2 channels). These devices normally feature both 1/4" and XLR inputs (with phantom power available on at least one input), headphone and monitoring jacks, MIDI capabilities, independent controls, and many of them come with decent DAW software, like FruityLoops or Studio One, included the box. You can also theoretically expand the number of input channels available by running everything through a mixer, then into the audio interface. Some interfaces will connect right up with your computer, others may need to have an install disc ran before the computer will recognize its new hardware.

Setup

First, connect your interface (Realtone/USB mic/audio interface) and install all the drivers necessary for the computer to recognize it (this occasionally requires a reboot).

Next, and assuming you haven't already, install audacity from Audacityteam.org - the latest version as of this writing is 2.1.2

* while on the download page, make sure and scroll down and check out the "Optional Downloads" section - here you can find effects and plugins, as well as the software you'll need if you want to export your finished work as MP3 (LAME plugin) or M4A (FFMEG plugin) files.

After installing and ensuring your interface is connected, open Audacity to the main screen, it should look something like this:

In the top-left, you can see the transport controls (pause/play/rec/etc); to the right of the transport are the visual monitors for the input and output, represented by a picture of a microphone and speaker, respectively. The large grey area that dominates the screen is the "stage," so to speak, where your tracks will appear when recorded.

Between the transport controls and the stage you will find the controls for your inputs and outputs:

Circled in red is the setting you will need to change - select your interface from the drop-down menu. 

Assuming your instrument/mic is already connected, you're ready to go! just hit the big red Record button in the transport region, or hit the 'R' key on your keyboard (to stop recording or initiate playback you can use the Spacebar). you'll see the waveform of your audio appear on the stage:

Congratulations, you've recorded some audio on your PC! Now you can edit it or add effects from within Audacity, or export the file for publication or editing in another software suite!

Adding Effects

highlight the region of audio you want to apply the effect to, then select the effect you want from the Effects dropdown in the toolbar. Not much built-in, but if you download the LADSPA plugin pack from Team Audacity's website it expands the options greatly.

Exporting

To export your work, select the section of audio you want to export (or nothing, if you want to export it all), then click File -> Export Audio. There are several default filetypes you can save to, including a few lossless formats; however, if you want to export directly to an MP3 or M4A file, you will need to have installed the LAME/FFMPEG libraries from the "Additional Downloads" section of Team Audacity's site.

By following this short tutorial you should understand the basics of recording audio files in Audacity. Feedback is greatly appreciated; if this post is found helpful and well-received I may have to turn it into a series :)