Completely Stuck, HELPME!! Options

[mancabbage]

right here goes, me and my band want to record a demo that we can turn into mp3's.... Im using an new ibook and have no idea about where to start - i looked at some software and as soon as im ready im pretty sure i'll download the desk light trial for editing, etc. We want to record our tracks seperatly as well so we can edit them in the computer - thing is how the fuck do i get these sounds into my computer 0n a tight (very tight) budget? i have usb and firewire on my ibook so im assuming ill need some kinda connector box that will conect to a normal mic lead and will send the info thru one of these ports??? i only really need one mic lead type input because we have a PA system at the studio we jam at so we can mic the drums up with loadsa mics then set the levels on the pa and take a wire out of the pa into whatever i am using to connect to my computer??! but what do i use? ive searched the net but all i can come up with are biiig home studio expensive things when this is not what i need at all - just something that will let me plug a mic into it that will allow me to record the audio in my mac ??? so can someone help me and tell me what i need any advice - steps - suitable products- anything would be of help - cheers

[MOLLOWITZ]

it's short for Audio Interchange File Format, it's basically a very high quality audio file (tends to be quite large in size, say, about 40 some MB per song.)

if you really want to know about AIFF files: http://www.borg.com/~jglatt/tech/aiff.htm

it's a good format for burning normal cds (about 14 songs or so).

--
anyway... you can always convert AIFF files to mp3 if you need to.

[kaboombahchuck]

AIFF is the standard. I'm assuming that the protools program will save your music files as AIFF. You can use iTunes to convert them to mp3 if you wish.

[danml69]

One thing your band can try is miking the drums and getting all the balances and levels just right. Then set up mikes in front of all the other insturments in your band. Record a bit on the song you want to do and listen. Do that a few times until the balance and levels are to your liking. Then record the song live. minus the vocals. You will preserve the energy of the tune and will sound good. That done, record the vocals track at a time. Process and mix until done. Total cost. $40 bucks for the iMic.

[ryosode]

I actually agree with danml69. When you don't know much about this stuff, you want to start simple. Go ahead and get your sound recorded using SoundStudio OS X which is a 20days free trial shareware or Spark LE (free?). Save it to AIFF or whatever it might be, if necessary convert it to MP3 using iTunes. After you get it right, go ahead and explore into multi-track recording and other professional features. One thing is multi-track recording software by itself usually costs you $200 at least. A decent USB audio i/o is also at least $200 and could go up to $700 for those FireWire models. My point is that the investment is not cheap. You should try it first.

Also, don't forget that there are decent portable recording studio solution for $500 ~ $1000 (depends on number of channels and extra feature). These are multi-track recorders that have a hardware drive and USB interface in them or a flash memory slot for your convenience. This way, you don't have to worry about all the technical crap and after the recording is done, you can transfer the sound to your iBook for editting. Just a suggestion.