FAO fellow RO members: I propose we sticky a thread like this. A veritable tome of information, a thread to end all threads. And either point people at it, knowing it'll answer their questions (or confuse them).

FAO OP: welcome to RO. (Un)fortunately for you someone swings by asking roughly the same question and getting roughly the same answer about 4-5 times a month. Depends on the season.

People come with different starting gear and experience and goals, but ultimately, to record an instrument...

You need an instrument!
You need a microphone to point at that instrument (but bass can go via DI pretty easily, same with keyboards).
{You need a preamp to get that mic signal volume up.
{You need an interface to get the signal into your computer.
^^FWIW, a lot of interfaces have preamps built in.

You point the mic at the instrument, record a little, listen back via some sort of speakers or headphones. If you like it, great. Record away. If you don't like it, move the mic around, maybe play with the EQ e.g. on a guitar amp. Repeat.

Buying an interface typically lands you with a lightweight version of a program. That should be good enough.

Stay away from Behringer, and buy wise. Buy something you can get long usage from, unless you absolutely need it at that point in time.

Welcome ook,
I am all for a "Getting started" sticky but in the meantime
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An over 200 post thread from someone asking your question who decided to buy a guitar instead but it does cover a lot of newbie ground
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and on and on ad nauseum.

What OS are you running? windows or OSX?

Oh, this is very simple.

You need some kind of laptop. Not the cheapest. Not the most expensive. You need multiple USB 2.0 ports along with at least a single FireWire 400 port. This machine ain't for playing video games.

I use Windows because it has a price point advantage over Macintosh. Certainly not in the reliability department but that keeps changing. They're both sleeping with each other.

You want to get yourself one of those FireWire 400 audio interfaces that have at least 8 reasonable microphone preamplifier's. Something like the Presonus, HME, units & others. Those will come bundled with perfectly reasonable, perfectly adequate multitrack audio software. You don't need buy any plug-ins. Learn to use what it's supplied with first.

Then you need at least 4 SM58's, a couple of SM57's, a couple of inexpensive bargain Russian and/or Chinese condenser microphones. Stands, cables, some headphones (cheap ones), a small pair of powered monitors such as KRK and their ilk.

Add some talent. Marinate your chops. And voilà. You're done.
Ms. Remy Ann David

i'm running windows vista, hp pavillion, 250 gig hd, 3gig of ram,

Now you just need everything else Remy recommended. Plus a USB external HD for actually recording the audio to.

okay, any chance you could post links on good ones? sorry if i am asking to much i just want to make sure that i am getting only the stuff i need ya know and not for too much

Do not buy Behringer and do not buy Alesis Multimix. I love the Alesis HD24XR but not so much anything even vaguely like the Multimix.

All other advice would depend on budget number of gozintas and gozoutas and whether I thought someone would actually follow that advice.

okay, any chance you could post links on good ones? sorry if i am asking to much i just want to make sure that i am getting only the stuff i need ya know and not for too much

ook wrote: and not for too much

This is the wrong approach. It is ripe for the opportunity to plumb the depths of regret and despair without the Dred Pirate Roberts to save you.

Plan

Prioritize

Budget

Buy wisely

Find a mentor to intern with and check the recommended reading list that is linked in every post.

Avoid the pit of despair.

Any component which is essential for your recording chain shouldn't be crap.

If it's unreliable you'll find yourself having to drop more cash to replace it earlier.
If it lacks a feature you really could use then you'll end up dropping cash to upgrade.

Ask yourself, when spending $200 on something you'll use for years, is an extra $30 really too much to ask for?

That said, don't go crazy. Just make sure to buy from reputable places and not anything which has consistently bad reviews.

ook wrote: okay, any chance you could post links on good ones? sorry if i am asking to much i just want to make sure that i am getting only the stuff i need ya know and not for too much

X2....

Okay. Repeating your post via cut and paste simply because you dont want to engage in the learning process is going to seriously limit the type of responses you're looking for.

This is a free sight full of great information and that information is available to those that adhere to some sort of responsible question and answer format.

You need to get a book. You also need to use the search function here. It will answer many many questions you might have.

If I see that same question posted again in a cut and paste manner I will assume you are simply a troll and shut you down.

Otherwise welcome but dont disrespect this site. Do research of your own and ask questions about things you have actually taken a moment to understand.