Originally Posted by patentcad

The only thing that will make my recordings better is multi-track, which turns everything into a day long hair pulling production, at least for the first year while you manage the learning curve. I'm more interested in writing some songs, getting them out there, and finding people to play music with.

That's a lot of work, on the other hand, the degree to which some of these songs would sound better properly recorded on Garage Band or Pro Tools is quite significant. If you don't understand recording, you might not get that. I only understand multi-track to the extent I've helped friends on their stuff, but with enough patience, you can get results in your home with a laptop computer that rivals that of a major recording studio.

The only difference between the digital recorder I'm using and sitting a 40 year old cassette deck on a chair in front of me and hitting 'record' is that the condenser mics on this little $129 unit are a little better. Otherwise that Soundcloud stuff on my page are mostly very rudimentary one-take live recordings, so any the comments about the 'mix' or the 'levels' belie a lack of understanding how these were recorded. Those aren't demo tapes, they exist simply to share the songs with friends and other potential collaborators. And to torture the 41 of course.

Multi-track versions of this stuff would have no vocal flat spots, guitar clams, over-vibrating acoustic guitar strings, etc. I could also adjust levels, add effects to tracks, lay down harmonies, lead guitar, bass, even percussion. Very, VERY time consuming. I'll eventually pick a few songs and get to it.