Recording Songs

emerald21

Hi My daughter would like to sing some songs and record them at the same time. Would an ordinary dictaphone type recorder do or is there something more sophisticated out there. For example if she plays a song and sings along with it. We have a ps2 with some singstar cd s which enable her to sing along to but i dont suppose they can be recorded can they. Thanks.

Im_just_careful

There is a multi-million pound industry built around this process !

How far do you want to go ?

Very simply, connecting any recording device, for example a second hand minidisc recorder from e-bay to the TV connections will record the sound from the PS2.

A cheapish mixer (look at Behringer) will enable a microphone to be mixed in.

A more expensive mixer will add effects to make the microphone sound "better" in various ways.

A good make of microphone (say Sennheiser) for a few £10s of pounds will be a good investment if quality is a consideration.

fwor

As the above says, there are so many options, but if you want to start with free ones, why not install Audacity on your PC, plug in a mic and start recording.

Audacity can multi-track so, provided your soundcard can cope (most can), she can sing multiple vocal tracks over the original backing track, for example.

emerald21

Im_just_careful wrote: »

There is a multi-million pound industry built around this process !

How far do you want to go ?

Very simply, connecting any recording device, for example a second hand minidisc recorder from e-bay to the TV connections will record the sound from the PS2.

A cheapish mixer (look at Behringer) will enable a microphone to be mixed in.

A more expensive mixer will add effects to make the microphone sound "better" in various ways.

A good make of microphone (say Sennheiser) for a few £10s of pounds will be a good investment if quality is a consideration.

Hi well not that far lol. She would just like to hear what she sounds like on a cd. She s too shy to attempt karaoke or singing in public even thought she has quite a good voice and not tone deaf etc. Its a shame really. There is an offer on Tesco clubcard deals for a 1 hour taster experience when she can have a cd made of a song of her choice which sounds ideal but then she d have to sing in front of someone lol

emerald21

fwor wrote: »

As the above says, there are so many options, but if you want to start with free ones, why not install Audacity on your PC, plug in a mic and start recording.

Audacity can multi-track so, provided your soundcard can cope (most can), she can sing multiple vocal tracks over the original backing track, for example.

Hi that sounds interesting i ll have a look at the site and let her know Thanks

Mr_Toad

emerald21 wrote: »

Hi My daughter would like to sing some songs and record them at the same time. Would an ordinary dictaphone type recorder do or is there something more sophisticated out there. For example if she plays a song and sings along with it. We have a ps2 with some singstar cd s which enable her to sing along to but i dont suppose they can be recorded can they. Thanks.

It's all about the microphone.

Those on dictaphone type recorders are designed for use with the spoken word so don't need the range required for singing. They can make a good voice sound bad!

There are some good suggestions from the others like installing Audacity on your PC and getting hold of the best mic you can. You don't have to go mad to get something half decent.

Also be aware of the acoustics of where she records, nothing soaks up and deadens sound like a sofa and chairs!

closed

vista onwards has a useful sound recorder built in, soundrecorder.exe

jamespir

another vote for audacity here

emerald21

closed wrote: »

vista onwards has a useful sound recorder built in, soundrecorder.exe

Thanks i ll have a look.