[FrankHudson]

Hard to give you an answer because your are so upfront about your fears with technology. I'm going to start by dividing up recording into three things that are different tasks that ask different things from you to do it yourself.


1. Just recording a "live" performance, a "digital tape recorder". Installing your software, jacking in the microphone and few minutes learning about enabling a track for recording and turning the level knobs on your interface to get a signal are your tasks, followed by how to save it as a digital audio file to listen to it back later. Not demanding of computer hardware at all, but for the technophobe even the software install can be daunting. Alternatives are the small digital recorders like Zoom sells. Those are easier to use for the technophobe, but you give up a lot of flexibility in the following two areas if you wish to enter them.

2. Recording multiple tracks and/or editing and modifying the recordings. This is the "recording studio in your computer" function. You can be a one-man band, or record friends adding new parts. You can edit out that false start at the beginning or even combine the best parts of several takes. You can add effects like compression and reverb without owning any extra hardware. There are stand-alone devices that let you do this too, but I don't find them nearly as flexible, and audio editing on a computer is often easier once you get over the hump of learning the software you use for this. Still, as stand-alone digital "portastudio" like device is more straightforward for multitrack recording, including overdubbing, as long as you don't want or need to manipulate or edit the recordings much.

Modestly demanding of computer hardware. You can learn as you go with all the functions your software allows. Your bundle has a "lite" version of Studio One, which I have almost no experience with, but it has a reputation of being as easy as any other software produce for this sort of thing.


3. Virtual instruments and the lot, "a whole musical instrument store simulated with software." Of lesser interest to most AGF members, but some of us are into this. Grand piano in your 10x10 foot office? String quartet in your basement? Pounding drums that don't wake the neighbors? Weird synths, vintage electric pianos, Hammond organs? Obviously this is an advanced topic, and the computer hardware needed can sometimes be considerable, but almost everyone does this on computers these days from hobbyist beginners to pros.

So, back to you after this simplified break-down. There's nothing I see "wrong" about your bundle. Let's assume you have a computer. It is a Macintosh computer? What are your immediate aims with recording? Do you have any further aims beyond the immediate aims?