Asking for a friend who has a birthday coming up. She had a rough year in 2023 and I really want to surprise her with something to record with, but I don't know really anything about recording any kind of audio. She's got an electronic keyboard and a bluetooth speaker & microphone but thats it. She also really likes to freestyle!
Does she have a computer? laptop? tablet or phone (ios is better for music but android isn't totally out of the question)? What's your budget?
Generally speaking to record you need: 1) microphone(s); 2) a way to connect the microphones to your computer/tablet/phone (a cable and an Audio Interface); 3) software to handle recording and editing (a Digital Audio Workstation).
Probably also want a mic stand and some closed-back over-the-ear headphones.
None of this has to cost very much. There are excellent microphones on Amazon for $25, and serviceable interfaces can be had for $60 (or really quite good ones for $100-120).
I ask what kind of compute platform she has available, because it affects software recommendations and she may already have something (Apple products come with GarageBand which is a perfectly good DAW). It'd be good to get as specific as possible here.
As far as DAWs go you can use Reaper for free indefinitely (just wait out the purchase dialogue then click through it) and it's one of the absolute best regardless of price. Works great on linux too.
a 2x2 ("2 in, 2 out") audio interface, so she can send the audio signal from her keyboard and mic into recording software (a "DAW", digital audio workstation) over usb
She'd need a computer to run most recording software right?
Yes I'm assuming she would record to computer, then in the software she would be able to edit, mix, etc
Alternatively without a computer she could use something like a Zoom handheld recorder (basically a digital version of the old 4 track tape recorders), but editing capability within the device would presumably be limited vs using a DAW
Depending how cool she is, potentially a video game console (ideally would already have) and one of those either licensed or homebrew tracker softwares/games for it: i.e. Mario Paint, Korg DS-1, LSDJ, etc.
LSDJ on a gameboy is super fun and pretty easy to get into. I use FL Studio 10/11/12 on a PC and was composing mostly in general MIDI and video game soundchip-emulating VSTs for years.
there was a great tracker app on the R4 chip for the Nintendo DS - honestly it probably did more for my interest in electronic music production than any PC app.
Fuck, thanks for all the replies homies! I got some reading to do, but I just wanted to say thanks for the replies!!!
