Newbie At The Start Point.., What looking for the start! Options

[flutejb]

Today i've received my FIRST mac, a great powerbook 12" 1,5 Ghz.
I'm a classical music musician and i'd like to rec my performance with a good quality...
So, i think i should buy an external HD, i thought for LaCie 100Gb.
But i absolutely don't know nothing about mic and ampli (or pre-ampli, i don't know the difference too..).
Can you help me? i would like to spend at max about 150-200 euro (200-250 $).
Who are so kindly to help me?
Thanks for your help

jb

[gonechan]

hi flutejb

well ,a flute is not a very easy instrument to mic ,and of course the final sound will depend on this.since your budget is tight ,i think a good choice mic would be a shure SM57(around 70euros) ,this mic is a very good investment because of it's versatily and durability.then you'll need a preamp ,well you could look into de 'mic 100' series of Behringer(about 40~50 euros i reckon),these preamps are not exellent ,but they do their job well enough for the price tag.then the best would be to get a small audio interface like the low range M-Audio ones.maybe with 250~300euros you'll get the whole rig.,second hand gear is always a good choice.
now to mic the flute ,you'll have to experiment a bit ,a shure way to do it is to point the mic towards the mouth piece(is it called that way??) but not too close ,i think that 20cm is around the minimum distance ,then try different angles ,different positions in the room you're planning on record into ,even different rooms.
good luck!