Produce Your Demo Recording for Under $20 at Home

Although recording gear can be very expensive - it is still possible to get a good recording for under $20 from the comforts of your home.

How, you ask?

A computer has the ability to record audio from a microphone input. The physical input on your sound cards is the size of the 'tip' you see at the end of a headphone (like a guitar patch cable but much smaller).

Assuming you have a computer (you're reading this on one), I'll assume you have a sound card installed on your computer. Sound Cards can be very expensive, or very cheap (in most cases, 99% of people reading this will have a sound card already installed).

You'll need a ¼in to 1/8in adapter (which can be purchased locally for around $5, or on eBay for cheaper). The ¼ to 1/8 in audio adapter will allow you to plug guitars and microphones into your computers' sound card [mic & "line in" inputs] - you'll be able to record the incoming sound signal with audio software (try 'Audacity', it's free and great, look it up on google.com).

You can always get something better, but this is a hypothetical situation where you are doomed to only spend $20 to make a demo recording. I've been there, and most of my earlier work was done on a computer's sound card to save costs.

I was able to use a simple '1 track at a time' method for recording an acoustic guitarist / vocalist on a cheap $10 radio shack microphone and free open-source recording software like 'Audacity'

The recording was horrible. I used a cheap microphone and plugged the cheap adapter into my computer sound card then held the mic up as this guy played his song.

With the audio software I added some effects such as "compression" and "noise reduction" to make the recording sound better - which did the trick.

We should all spend more than $20 on a recording studio - but when money is an issue and you need to get that demo out there, always turn to your computer for the help you need. The computer has revolutionized every industry and is responsible for home recording. With practice of microphone placement and the functions of available software, you're guaranteed to get something unique and memorable. Many great recordings were done with 1 or 2 microphones in a room and that is just fine when making a demo recording.

There are some scams waiting for you online because the nature of home recording is confusing to most people. That isn't to say there aren't any gems hiding on eBay or elsewhere; just keep your expectations separate from the amount of money you're willing to spend - worry about the getting the best possible sound you can by using trial-and-error constantly.

In conclusion - unless you plan on spending over $120,000, the quality of your internal sound card is highly competitive to expensive high-end equipment. Try not to be sucked into something you have no real need for.

REVIEW:

$20 Recording:

Buy a cheap $10 microphone

Use your computer's sound card

Get 'Audacity' or another free recording software

Get a "¼ inch" to "1/8 inch" audio adapter ($5.00 USD)

(it's the 'big to small' adapter for headphone jacks)

- This should leave you with ~$5.00 left over for gas or S&H charges if you buy online.