If it helps, the music I plan on recording has (at most), drums, bass, 2 guitars, and maybe a keyboard.

You need a laptop, preferrably with Firewire if you plan on recording with more than 1 mic (or USB 3.0). It should also be fast enough to support Pro Tools or another recording program.

From there, you need:
Guitars with good pickups
Amps (not crappy starter amps and not 100 watt tube amps)
Bass
Instrument mic
keyboard
Drums
Drum mic kit
Vocal mic
A good place build for recording
high quality cables
Good Recording program
USB firewire/USB Interface
Compressors
Effects

Guitars are difficult. Get someone who hasn’t had it intonated in awhile, has cheap pickups or a cheap amp, and the sound of the entire recording will come out crumby.

I suggest getting a tube amp under 15 watts. Orange has the Tiny Terror that would be a decent option.

Mic’s (Shure SM57 is an industry standard for instruments)

I suggest at minimum a 7 piece drum mic kit (and knowing how to set these up takes a lot of time, patience, practice and understanding.

For that, you’ll then need an 8 track USB or Firewire interface.

Vocal mic’s, I have no experience with these.

Pro Tools is the industry standard.

If you have absoultely nothing, all this could cost you $20K or more, but a lot of guys will have an amp, a guitar or bass, a computer, and a couple other things as well.

Hope that helps!

Ken
Learn How to Set Up a Home Studio at Home Brew Audio

Audio-Technica AT2035 Large Diaphragm Studio Condenser Microphone

Now that i chose a mic can some one tell me what else to buy and provide a link please ( amazon link please)! Thanks

got the computer?
mixer or audio interface
reference monitors
midi keyboard controller
recording software

there;s many choices for the latter so you’ll have to find which you would like to use best.

i plan on getting:
http://www.avid.com/US/products/Avid-KeyStudio/overview
it comes with a software.
i also plan on getting a condenser mic. what are good brands? under $100?

if you can, please make a simple list of other things i will need.

thank you!

You can get a very decent mic under $200, anybody who tells you otherwise has no idea what he’s talking about. I’ve written a very detailed report on the subject of setting up a home studio, check it out in the link below. I’ve broken it down into all the different gear you need, from interfaces to microphones to acoustic treatment.

Hope this helps.

Audio-Technica AT2035 Large Diaphragm Studio Condenser Microphone

Now that i chose a mic can some one tell me what else to buy and provide a link please ( amazon link please)! Thanks

=== your best place to go for what you need is radio shack == if they do not have what you like then you can get suggestions where to go to find what is needed ….

Is a preamp and/or mixer necessary with microphone .I’m confused. Any recommendations?

1. you dont need a preamp since you would use digital amps within the software.
2. in my taste i dislike AT2020 , i’m a big fan of AKG, Sennheisers are all good but they have many kinds ;, gotta be sure u use an Vocal recording series of sennheiser coz they make every kind , from stage mics to drum recording, from BIIG tv shows mics to Airplane mics,,

I recommend to use AKG, but don’t choose the AKG D880M those are for stage and will not give you a nice sound for home studio recording. Search for the PERCEPTION series,
i use AKG PERCEPTION 220 and i luv it, perception series are special series by AKG wich are very affordable and has BRILLIANT!! Quality !! those are ‘made’ for professional home recordings
you will not regret this one,, ull luv it!!

http://shop.ebay.com/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p5197.m570.l1313&_nkw=akg+perception+220&_sacat=See-All-Categories

http://www.akg.com/site/products/powerslave,id,1055,pid,1055,nodeid,2,_language,EN,country,.html

For the first, you’ll need some sort of software (Protools, Cakewalk, Audacity which is free, etc…) and a Direct Input/interface that’s compatible (usually you can buy these in packages). You’ll also need a really fast computer. Depending on how you run it, you might also need a MIDI compatible mixing board.

For the second, you’ll need a workstation, preferably 24 bits (better sound, more headroom when recording). Tascam 2488 Neo 24 and Zoom R16 and Zoom R24 are all good options (the R16 is the cheapest at $400). The Tascam has the advantage of being able to do quick/temporary mixes with up to 24 tracks at a time (ie: you press record on 1 track and can record up to 24 different parts/have them available to listen to as you record). The Zoom workstations have fewer tracks available to listen to/record on at once, but as cheaper and can be battery powered (ie: they’re portable). It’s up to you/how many tracks you need. Once you’ve recorded your parts, you simply connect the machine via USB to the computer and transfer them (to ProTools, Audacity, etc…). Note: once you transfer the files into the software, you can then record… but the Tascam will allow you to have more on the machine at once/listen to them all while recording another track on top.

After that, it’s a matter of keeping frequencies in the room good… hang cheap area rugs in the corner of the room and other overly resonant places in the recording room (exposed walls, etc…). This keeps noise down and the sound clear.

You’ll also need something to monitor (and eventually mix) the music. Headphones are the cheapest and easiest. You can get a pair of Sennheiser HD280 (very transparent sound – doesn’t color it headphones for listening to music, which color the sound to make it nice, you hear exactly what’s there… good for recording) or similar for around $100.

As for my personal recommendations…
* Using a workstation and transferring files to a computer later is better than direct to computer, imo. It’s more intuitive… you press record and play. It allows you record quickly and easily (all you do is plug it in… it’s a mixer and recording console in one/don’t have to connect a million things) and worry about all computer issues later. It’s also cheaper than buying a new computer.
* The Tascam is a little more expensive, but I’d recommend it. Having those extra tracks to use at once will help more than you probably realize/think you’ll need.
* Is ProTools better than Audacity? Yes. But I still recommend Audacity. It’s free, easy to use, and has everything you need (you can get an Autotune-like plugin with it, etc…) if your sound going in is good.
* For a mic pre-amp, I highly recommend the Golden Age Pre 73. It’s designed to sound like an old Neve 1073 (the MOST classic analog pre-amp) and is only $300 (in a world where preamps easily get up to $1000+). There are a few cheaper pre amps, but they don’t sound half as good. http://pro-audio.musiciansfriend.com/product/Golden-Age-Project-Pre73-Preamp?sku=580975
* More microphones! The one you have is decent, but there are far better mics out there. The ADK Vienna and Hamburg are $250-350 (depending on model), which is still fairly cheap for mics, and sounds 10 times better than the MXL (especially for vocals).

A couple sites with great recording tips…
http://tweakheadz.com/index.html
http://www.behindthemixer.com/ (ignore the religious stuff)