Anyone here like to record original music for fun? I have done it with a great friend for over thirty years part-time on the weekends. It's a blast. Finishing up our 15th album. In those 30 years we have made about $40 dollars (online purchases), so it's only for fun. I do not use a computer to record; have a modest setup - Tascam DP-24 and a CD burner. Yep, I'm a dinosaur and refuse to click a mouse and get buried in windows to record something. Started on a Yamaha 4-track in the 80's. I am finally at the point where GAS (gear acquisition syndrome) has subsided. Always looking but never buying, finally happy with what I have and I have too much. I am finding that my old AKG D330BT microphone sounds just as good as the higher priced Mojave MA200. It is said that it's not the equipment, but the person using it that makes a difference. I don't know if that's true but I can get a track done a lot quicker than before. 

Any other weekend warriors out there, what's your setup, any stories to tell?

I play with multiple bands, and though some have varying delusions of grandeur regarding the band becoming a career, I regard all my original groups as "for-fun" projects (I do get paid to play covers now and then, though!). I think recording is an important part of the band experience - it's always a shame when a band falls apart and there are no good recordings to remember it by. Right now, I've got 3 different albums with 3 bands on the go in various stages of completion, most are recorded at home but one band has a studio booked. I've already released two with one band, you can find the link to those in my signature.

My personal set-up is either a Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 into my computer, or a Zoom R24. Don't really have any fancy mics either - a couple of SM57/58s and some Apex condensers that seem to do an alright job. Even if I had a great mic, I don't really have any treated rooms to record in. I don't really care if my music sounds a bit lo-fi anyways. I used to record with just a Blue Snowball into my computer, always figured that if my guitar sounds like a guitar and you can hear what I'm playing, it should be good enough.

I don't mind recording into a computer, but I do find that shutting it off and using the R24 helps make me a bit more honest. It's too easy to get obsessed with minor details when recording on a computer since you can go back and easily overdub a single flubbed measure or what not. With the R24, I record a few good takes and edit together the best bits on my computer. It saves me from having a really embarrassing mistake, but keeps a few imperfections so that it sounds real. I've watched producers take bad takes and just tune the vocals or drag the drum hits so they're in the exact right spot, and really I hate that sort of production. I've always wanted to do live recording with a whole band, but it's tough to find the kind of band who will be willing to do that and do a good job of it.

Thanks for the comments and keep them coming. 

Alex, I like Boreal Kinship, was that recorded at home? Sounds good.

Thank you! Everything was recorded at home. We are notoriously cheap - we don't like the idea of investing piles of money into a band that probably won't bring in any income. So if we can do something for free (well, not counting the cost of equipment) by ourselves, we won't pay someone else to do it.

They seem to sell for $400 US, but when I bought mine it was quite a bit less.

I'm cheap and a "means to an end" kinda guy who plays for myself. So I went from my phone, to a looper and my phone, to an iRig with JamUp Pro on my old iPad, to Garageband on a new iPad. That allows me to achieve enough of what I want to satisfy the desire to make music.

And lots of pedals.

From the BUSKER (listed here) studios circa 1982

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Did quite a few albums in this space. I was the engineer.

The band was much more talented than is indicated by their rating on PA. But they were a victim of their own device being a working bar band. The albums never caught the energy of the live performances.

Best album to date is Northern Fantasies (2007) IMHO. It was recorded at the keyboard player's house (a small one room studio) then mixed at my place (in my dining room) all on a Korg D1600 DAW.

I've been recording stuff for 35 years or so. Lots of stuff exists but only a tiny bit is here. These days I don't find enough time but would like to record again (I'm using Logic on the Mac, that's basically all... of course plus bass, guitar, keyboards and some other stuff that makes noise)... occasionally I do "noise improvisations" with the Funex trio (some is on the Lewian soundcloud page) that probably won't be very popular around here, but who knows, some panheads may like it...  these are just recorded by a small digital recorder and later minimally mixed on Logic.

https://soundcloud.com/lewian" rel="nofollow - https://soundcloud.com/lewian

https://soundcloud.com/poeten-und-moerder" rel="nofollow - https://soundcloud.com/poeten-und-moerder

Some videos:

https://www.youtube.com/user/LewianBra/videos" rel="nofollow - https://www.youtube.com/user/LewianBra/videos

The photo of the Hotel Encore guy on bandcamp, who is an old friend of mine, actually shows my first bass guitar that I left in Germany for music visits. I am on a pretty small number of the things that he offers there but won't tell you which because some of it is a bit embarassing. 

https://hotelencore.bandcamp.com/music" rel="nofollow - https://hotelencore.bandcamp.com/music

I only made money from music once, or rather from "music"; we (Poeten & Moerder) got some 1000 Euros for producing a sound installation from household items that was (maybe still is) used in a German museum, because the guy who was responsible for curating the exhibition knew as and thought (I think rightly) that we'd do a good job and be cheaper than professionals. 

I should say that I don't see myself as a "real" musician and I never had any ambition to become semiprofessional or anything... I know I'm too lazy to become good on any instrument and also I have two left hands as Germans would say... everything that sounds like I can play an instrument properly is either achieved by trickery or by focusing an insane amount of time on playing the same part... but I'm fairly proud that I think I got something good to listen to (at least for myself ) out of my inabilities. 

I have no ethical issues with manipulations of this kind at all, because, as I like to say, music is for the ears!