Set up for noodling.....

[martthebass]

It’s been years since I’ve done home recording of any kind. I had a Fostex X15 which shows the ancient-ness so to speak. The last few decades , musically, have been mainly of a gigging nature and not being a multi-instrumentalist I’ve refrained from putting ideas down to media.

With my new semi retirement status I’ve a hankering to do a bit of noodling but would like a bit of advice. I have a new iPad Pro and a zippy gaming PC (that I use for Astro imaging) and wondered if I’d be best employing one of those in some way or would a 6/8 track standalone unit be the best option (it would need to have rhythm built in). Which ever route, I could do with guidance on what would be required if going the PC or iPad route. TIA

Edited April 30, 2023 by martthebass

[Waddo Soqable]

As an old geezer who doesn't really like or "get" the computer based stuff, I'd say use a stand alone multi track recorder thing, it's the only way I could do owt like that, I tried computer based stuff very briefly and just thought "nah" & gave up with it. 

I realise this will be a minority view btw 😁

[Skybone]

I'd say the first thing you'd need to consider is whether you're wanting to record just yourself or will be wanting to record multiple instruments simultaneously.

 

If it's just a "solo" affair, then maybe some sort of DAW and an interface would be a good idea. The iPad should have GarageBand on it, you'll just need a compatible interface for recording.

 

If you wanted to use the PC, again, an interface with a suitable DAW is the way to go. If you bought a brand new interface, it should come with a bundled DAW to get you started.

 

Simple interfaces will have 1 or 2 inputs, and probably cost less than £100 for a pretty decent one. More inputs = more outlay. If you have a Multi-FX (Zoom/Line6/Boss/etc.), then you could simply use that as the interface, and record via its USB connection.

 

A standalone multi-track recorder is a great idea too, there'll be loads of second hand ones kicking about, something like a Yamaha AW16G with an onboard HDD & CD-ROM.

[Reggaebass]

I dabble a bit with recording and quite surprised myself how well I managed it, I’ve got the new iPad Pro and was using GarageBand with an irig, but I upgraded to a focusrite solo which I found better quality, I tried other apps but GarageBand was easier for me to use ,and once I spent some time with it I soon had it working well 

[martthebass]

1 hour ago, Reggaebass said:

I dabble a bit with recording and quite surprised myself how well I managed it, I’ve got the new iPad Pro and was using GarageBand with an irig, but I upgraded to a focusrite solo which I found better quality, I tried other apps but GarageBand was easier for me to use ,and once I spent some time with it I soon had it working well 

Thanks matey, I’ll check that out. I’m only looking at recording one thing at a time.