I have reread all this several times now and I'm still not grokking it. Is there something online somewhere that is a good introduction to audio recording and equipment? "Audio recording and post-processing for Dummies" kind of thing?
I had the same difficulty when I first started out, it's like someone was explaining it to me in a language that I didn't speak or at least it didn't speak to me. I actually found
this thread in SOTU very helpful in just getting oriented. I like the way that you asked the question, "Audio recording ... ?" Too much of what you immediately bump into is Studio recording and Home Studio recording and I think it takes you into the deep end a little too quickly. Perhaps the biggest breakthrough for me was realizing I could uncouple video and audio and put them back together later if I wanted. I was much more interested in audio.
Here is my basic understanding. Staying only with recording and assuming you want to store, process, or play your music from a computer (or other digital device), you need:
- Microphone{s} to capture your audio
- An interface to convert you audio (analog) into something the computer can deal with (digital)
- A computer (or other digital device) to store your recording
- Some SW to manage the computer side of the interface and store/process the recording
Most smart phones have all three built in and whether you record video in a photo app or record audio files in a memo app, or use some fancier app on the phone, those are the pieces of the puzzle. Most phones also have SW and an interface to play the recording back over internal speakers or a headset. Most laptops/desktops can do the same things and often have built-in cameras, microphones, speakers as well as basic built in SW to record and play files. The component in the computer that manages the interface(s) between analog audio and digital computer files is usually called the
sound card.
For lots of folks, a smart phone is a great starting point and may be the end point too. When I decided I wanted better audio, I bought a cheap USB microphone. That is just a microphone that has an interface built in (it has both items 1 and 2 above). It connects to phone or computer via USB. I think I learned more about audio just fiddling around with that USB mic connected to my phone than from anything else that I did. I was just moving the mic around and moving myself around in the room, and playing with recording levels etc. and listening to the results. The USB mic was also plug and play with my PC.
Past this point it seemed like there were a lot of choices: which DAW, which audio interface, which mics and it was a bit overwhelming. I went with a portable audio recorder (Zoom H6) because it seemed to let me delay a bunch of those choices and looked convenient. It came with mics, had built in HW/SW to record, playback, mix, render, and do very simple DAW processing on up to six tracks. It could also can act as stereo USB microphone or six channel audio interface to a computer.
My biggest hurdle was the DAW. It was like dealing with the infrastructure to build the pyramids when I just wanted a bird house. I was lucky to have some expert help setting up initially. However, to actually get the hang of it I had to bite the bullet, choose a DAW (Reaper), and go through hours in tutorial videos. The Reaper site has good videos and they are organized in a reasonable way so I could pick and choose somewhat. I just turned the play speed up to 1.25 or 1.5 on the videos and plowed through what I need to get going with my own recordings. I still refer back to them if I get stuck or confused.