Im new at this. I play music a lot. And i was wondering how do i record my music. I got the program. But i dont know if you have to use some other equiment to record. Can i use my PC mic to record? If i can, it sounds really bad. How can i make it sound nice. What do i need. please write back. Thank you
PC microphones are usually rubbish as you are aware.
Yes you can use your PC and record through the sound card, but the microphone inputs on cheap soundcards are also usually very poor quality. The best solution is to use a reasonable quality microphone and a little mixing desk if you are wanting to record “Live” sounds. You can also use Audacity with “imported” sounds from other sources, such as downloaded mp3’s or ripped CD’s. You can also record “Line level” devices such as cassette players through the “Line In” of your sound card.
The “Line in” of a sound card requires a higher signal level than you get from a microphone, but it is generally reasonable quality on all but the cheapest sound cards (although on-board soundcards can sometimes be fairly poor). PCI soundcards are generally the best choice.
There are several tutorials here that will help you get started: http://audacityteam.org/help/
thank you.
And also i dont have any recording equipment or anything. All i have is a Fender AMP my electric guitar and the computer. How can i record songs of mine? I want the sound to come out like on demos or CD’s. How can i do this? do i need anything more? I hace an MP3 player. I used that to record my song. I put it in my computer, but it dosent sound good. Its not because im bad, but i dknot know why. What do i need?
As Steve said, you will need to get some more equipment in order to get a good sound into your computer. The best way is to purchase a small mixing desk
for example
http://www.htfr.com/more-info/MR205734 (I just picked this at random to help you understand there are lots to choose from)
If your amp doesnt have a line out (or you want to record vocals) then you will need to buy a microphone (plus mic stand, mic lead, pop screen etc).
you will then need to connect the mixing desk to your computers sound card. if you have an ok computer then you can use the soundcard that comes with the computer but if you are serious about getting a good sound you will need to purchase a better sound card.
You can then play your guitar, ->capture the sound through the mic connected to the mixing desk->the sound is then sent from the mixing desk to your sound card and into your computer.
I hope that this is clear for you.
The key to PC recording is to capture the sound as good as you can before it goes into the computer rather than recording something badly and trying to fix it in the computer. Your PC is not a magician!!
thank you very much. I guess i would neeed to go buy some recording equipment. BUt thank tou
For quick and convenient “live” recordings with reasonable good quality, I use a Zoom H2, then transfer the recording to my computer via USB for editing. The Zoom H2 can also be used as a pretty high quality USB microphone directly into your computer. (~£130 GBP).