Making Digital Music (R&B, Pop, Jazz) - What do i need?

carl_rogers

My brother and I are planning to make some music for fun (R&B, pop, Jazz fusion etc whatever!). We've written some songs, messed around on the keyboard and guitar recording (using my cellphone) some initial beats etc.

Now we are at a point where we want to play around with our ideas and start recording some sounds and edit and compose some tunes digitally using the computer. I was wondering if anyone could recommend some equipement and software which an amature starting out like myself would need. My budget is under $1000

What kind of Mics could i purchase for recording vocals and random sounds (door knocking, banging pot lids, dog barking, car engine etc)?
What software is available for reasonable price (is fruity loops or Acid pro acceptable, and which is better?)

is a midi keyboard necessary and whats the advantage.

ive heard from a buddy that a lot of the recent new hits are made using basic software packages.

any other things i probably wouldnt consider?

remember this is for fun, so im not expecting to become the next lionel richie!

thanks guys

Jeedan

You need a DAW, an audio interface, some kind of input instrument thing, and some VSTs/softsynths

What interface you want really depends on how much you want to record simultaniously

For DAWs Logic Express is probably the most amount of quality stuff for the money. Ableton is great but expensive. Reason/Record I fucking hate but a lot of people like, Cubase I found tricky to learn but again, other people like it. Havent tried any others.

You dont need a midi keyboard you need a usb one.

Sir Carcass

I use ACID Pro and it's okay. There's probably better ones out there, though. If it has a demo, try that out.

For drums I highly recommend EZ Drummer. That's a link to the base package, and you can buy add-on drum kits for it, like a Jazz kit (I personally use Drumkit From Hell, but I record mostly rock/metal). You can track it through the DAW using midi (using your mouse and a virtual keyboard). It's time consuming, but it gives a great result. It also has a ton of midi loops you can drag and drop if you just want to get something going quickly.

carl_rogers

Man i had to google every one of those software/hardware devices. Starting to get a better idea of what i'm looking for. Cheers guys! if anyone else has any suggestions i'm still keen on hearing them!