simplest and cheapest recording setup

bloomer

I want to be able to record myself but only as a sort of diary to monitor progress with my playing. This year I'm especially keen to sort out my timing and thought it would be interesting to have a visual representation of how far off the beat I am. I know absolutely nothing about recording so please assume no prior knowledge whatsoever but how do would I go about recording myself to a PC? 

octatonic

Use your phone.

Seriously, I have a recording studio but when I am checking my playing I just film or record myself playing and look back over it.
Nothing else is faster.

Jalapeno

Wisdomed !  ( and it's brutally honest )

CeeJay

I went for the Scarlett 2i2, and Reaper software. It’s a relatively inexpensive way in. Reaper is not necessary as the Scarlett comes with a Lite version of Ableton. I just didn’t get on with it so downloaded Reaper instead. I think there is a cheaper Scarlett with just one input too.

bloomer

thanks @octatonic, I sort of do this already using a looper pedal, but really want to be able to see whats going on too. @CeeJay thanks I'll look into the scarlett.

octatonic

bloomer said:

thanks @octatonic, I sort of do this already using a looper pedal, but really want to be able to see whats going on too. @CeeJay thanks I'll look into the scarlett.

You can do that with many applications that give you a waveform.
Garageband comes to mind but many phone audio recorders have a visual display.

TheBigDipper

bloomer said:

thanks @octatonic, I sort of do this already using a looper pedal, but really want to be able to see whats going on too. @CeeJay thanks I'll look into the scarlett.

If your phone is an iDevice, then GarageBand will do what you want. Set up a drum loop or click track at the bpm you need and the record yourself against it. And it will work wherever you are, not just when you're next to your PC or your looper pedal. You might also like AnyTune, which has some useful practice features. 

Regarding the "visual" aspect of being before/after the beat...  I honestly think it won't help to see it if you cannot actually hear it for yourself

bloomer

My phone is android, any recommendations for an android equivalent of garageband?

@bigdipper I hear what you're saying about if you cant hear it then seeing it wont help but I'm interested to see whether as I progress my sensitivity increases. So right now maybe if I'm within 20 ms of the beat it sounds perfect to me but in a months time that will sound off and i might average 10ms either side of the beat. The nerd in me wants to quantify it

TheBigDipper

Lbloomer said:

My phone is android, any recommendations for an android equivalent of garageband?

@bigdipper I hear what you're saying about if you cant hear it then seeing it wont help but I'm interested to see whether as I progress my sensitivity increases. So right now maybe if I'm within 20 ms of the beat it sounds perfect to me but in a months time that will sound off and i might average 10ms either side of the beat. The nerd in me wants to quantify it

No suggestions for Android alternatives, sorry. There's a few out there, fairly cheap,  but I've not used any of them.

i think you've said it yourself regarding timing. If you're 20ms out and it "sounds" off...  Just sayin' :-) Good luck with it, anyway! 

TBH, I'm not sure how I'd do what you're planning and be able to distinguish between a rhythm where you have to be bang on the beat for musical nirvana and another rhythm where being slightly behind is musical nirvana. It all comes back to the ears. It can sometimes be hard to hear it when you're trying to play it, though, which is why recording yourself is so useful.