Firstly, get a halfway decent sound card. There are any number of 'prosumer' cards out there that will do just fine - a creative/turtle beach/etc. type will do. Secondly, and most importantly, get a decent pre-amp - a small mixer is best, but even a good old reel to reel tape (somebody might have one you could get for free, even) will do.
Plug your mic into the preamp, the output into the line in (NOT the mic in) on the card. Start recording.
If you want to get fancy, there are external DACs (say an M-Audio Delta 66) that do a really good job - but this might be overkill for what you want.
Absolutely.
Most people seem to forget that it is the music that counts, not the way it is played. If the music is is good, it doesn't matter if you hear it at a live concert, on a vinyl record or one of these new super-high-quality DVD music formats. Recording technology was terrible in the 1920s, and yet some of the recordings made then are wonderful. So why does it matter? The medium doesn't make the music any better.
Since when is a AMD Sempron 2800+ 'minimal'? My mom uses a compaq P90 for internet and word processing, and does Just Fine. You could probably pick up a system that was wonderful for web browsing and word processing - say a AMD k6 400 with a 4 gig hard drive and a cheapo vid card - for 40 bucks on ebay.
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Umm... ever heard of recordable CDs?
Firstly, get a halfway decent sound card. There are any number of 'prosumer' cards out there that will do just fine - a creative/turtle beach/etc. type will do. Secondly, and most importantly, get a decent pre-amp - a small mixer is best, but even a good old reel to reel tape (somebody might have one you could get for free, even) will do.
Plug your mic into the preamp, the output into the line in (NOT the mic in) on the card. Start recording.
If you want to get fancy, there are external DACs (say an M-Audio Delta 66) that do a really good job - but this might be overkill for what you want.
You know, there is a laser keyboard being sold.
Absolutely. Most people seem to forget that it is the music that counts, not the way it is played. If the music is is good, it doesn't matter if you hear it at a live concert, on a vinyl record or one of these new super-high-quality DVD music formats. Recording technology was terrible in the 1920s, and yet some of the recordings made then are wonderful. So why does it matter? The medium doesn't make the music any better.
So what do you think we ought use instead?
Since when is a AMD Sempron 2800+ 'minimal'? My mom uses a compaq P90 for internet and word processing, and does Just Fine. You could probably pick up a system that was wonderful for web browsing and word processing - say a AMD k6 400 with a 4 gig hard drive and a cheapo vid card - for 40 bucks on ebay.