can anyone reccomend some cheap recording equipment

I started with a Behringer 2442fx board. It came with a USB interface. I used the interface with audacity software which is free. You can check out a recording with that setup at www.myspace.com/likehowband. the song is cold pizza and coffee.

 

btw, you should be able to find one of these boards for 250. make sure it has the usb interface.

 

You didn't mention whether or not you have a pretty good computer. Unless you have a reasonably powerful processor — at least 1GB or dual 800 — and lots of RAM, you'll be frustrated. You might consider a used standalone hard-dic recorder. THere are always plenty on ebay.

 

everything was plugged direct into the board for that recording. it is multi tracked meaning one instrument at a time. thats really the only way to record unless you spend some dough on a big digital board.

this board also gives you a good start on a PA system. We gigged with that board for years. I upgraded to a yamaha board and its much clearer. It also has built in effects which is nice for live reverb on the vocals.

Warning...if you are like me, you will get sucked in by hours and hours of learning about live and studio engineering. Its a good time though.

You will also want a set of good drum mics or atleast a couple instrument mins and a kick drum mic. To me, recording drums is the key to a good recording. Check out the link on my signature for drums recorded with 1 kick drum mic, 2 overheads, and 1 room.

 

good point on the cpu...i installed 4gb of ram to run audacity.

There are some great digital multitrack recorders out there.