Asking for a friend who has a birthday coming up. She had a rough year in 2023 and I really want to surprise her with something to record with, but I don't know really anything about recording any kind of audio. She's got an electronic keyboard and a bluetooth speaker & microphone but thats it. She also really likes to freestyle!

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[–] supafuzz@hexbear.net 7 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

Does she have a computer? laptop? tablet or phone (ios is better for music but android isn't totally out of the question)? What's your budget?

Generally speaking to record you need: 1) microphone(s); 2) a way to connect the microphones to your computer/tablet/phone (a cable and an Audio Interface); 3) software to handle recording and editing (a Digital Audio Workstation).

Probably also want a mic stand and some closed-back over-the-ear headphones.

None of this has to cost very much. There are excellent microphones on Amazon for $25, and serviceable interfaces can be had for $60 (or really quite good ones for $100-120).

I ask what kind of compute platform she has available, because it affects software recommendations and she may already have something (Apple products come with GarageBand which is a perfectly good DAW). It'd be good to get as specific as possible here.