Topic: Basement musicians - I have a question

[RAQnasty]

Really just messing around, but I am looking for a simple setup (maybe a laptop?) that would allow me to (1) build/design drum beats electronically (2) lay-down instrument tracks over top of the beats (3) edit each track/add effects, etc.

Can anyone suggest user-friendly setups for this that do not cost a ton?

any help appreciated

[earmonger]

This forum is largely geared to people who record concerts and other field recordings.

You might want to look at http://homerecording.com/bbs/forum.php .

But in the meantime, you can get started easily enough.

Audacity

http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

is a wonderful free recording software. It does have one quirk: it records to its own format (.aud) which then has to be Exported to .wav or .mp3 files. (For patent reasons, you have to get and install a free mp3 encoder from another site after you install Audacity--instructions on the website.) When you Save you get an .aud file that Audacity can edit, overdub, etc. When you Export, you get a .wav or .mp3 file that plays universally.

You can Google drum-machine software, looks like there's a lot of free stuff out there.

Or if you want to try pro software for beat-making and sound editing--and risk addiction after a 30-day free trial--look at Ableton:

http://www.ableton.com/free-trial

The Ableton Live Intro version, which only costs $99 after the trial, might have all the features you need.

A laptop is OK for your purposes, assuming it has some processing speed and memory. But you are going to be limited by the mic jack, which is almost always  mono and is probably going through a less than wonderful soundcard. You should look into a good outboard mic--only about a zillion choices, depending on your instrument(s)--and an external soundcard. You'll even hear improvement with something like the Griffin iMic--which, just to be confusing, isn't a mic but a gizmo that has stereo mic inputs and outputs and plugs into a USB port, $35 or less. 

http://store.griffintechnology.com/imic