Audio recording question

[Patricus89]

I want to buy a device to record my music with (electric guitar, bass, acoustic) because my laptop's webcam AND microphone both suck! I don't need anything expensive or fancy, just good enough to post my originals on youtube and maybe newgrounds. My price range is $30 - $100. I think I might just buy a decent webcam.

Any thoughts on where I should start?

[MetalRenard]

No... Don't do that. There's no way a webcam microphone would be sufficient. Get something like a Line 6 UX1 to record with.

[samulis]

DEFINITELY don't use a webcam mic or any sort of consumer-grade microphone! What you need is a studio mic. :)

Blue USB mics aren't instrument mics, but they'd probably work- their cheaper models have the price and ease of use of a consumer grade mic, but the quality of Blue's expensive studio mics, so voice actors and vocalists love them (they really do sound very good for the price). With a USB mic, you don't need to buy and interface (a decent 2-channel interface costs between 100 and 300). You can also stretch your budget and get a USB version of the famous and fabulous Shure SM-57 (XLR version is 100, USB is like 130 I think).

Note that for best results with electric guitars, electric basses, etc. you want to probably record using a direct line to an interface from the pickup plug thing (I'm not a guitarist). However, some people put mics in front of their amps (what SM-57's are often used for). It depends on if you have more effects in your amp or more effects on your computer I guess... I know the UX1/UX2 (mentioned above) both have a ton of cabinet emulators and effects you can apply to your guitar input, which is pretty cool if you don't have a great amp but want to make your guitar sound professional.

Acoustic guitar, just put a mic down by the hole in the guitar. You can experiment with different approaches and angles. Mono recording is easy- you can almost never be wrong as long as your space is good and you point the mic in the right direction. :)

[Patricus89]

Alright! I really appreciate the input. I'm going to check out some quality mics tomorrow.
Here's the other thing. I want to record myself playing my songs for youtube. Do you think a decent webcam designed for that sort of thing will suffice, or should I avoid that approach all together?

[samulis]

At 7/9/14 09:28 PM, Patricus89 wrote: Alright! I really appreciate the input. I'm going to check out some quality mics tomorrow.
Here's the other thing. I want to record myself playing my songs for youtube. Do you think a decent webcam designed for that sort of thing will suffice, or should I avoid that approach all together?

If you do use a webcam to record yourself, also record the audio on a studio microphone. You can then put them together later or sometimes the recording software can accept the input from your good microphone.

You can also record the two separate and sync them up later in post-production in your video software, deleting the webcam's audio track and placing in the good audio track, then lining them up.

[midimachine]

At 7/9/14 09:28 PM, Patricus89 wrote: Do you think a decent webcam designed for that sort of thing will suffice, or should I avoid that approach all together?

webcam for video, microphone for sound
unless you already have something like a gopro or some other cheap HD camera. but either way definitely use a separate microphone for the best audio quality. it's a little more work to get it all set up but the results are so much better.

[LexaHergon]

If you save just a little more you can get your hands on a Tascam US-122L.
Its a cheap, but very efficient audio/midi interface. On it's installation c.d. you
have "Steinberg Cubase" so you can record and edit your tracks.

I used to have one of those, and combined with some plugins makes good stuff.