How can i turn my computer into a recording studio cheaply?

Question

I just need to know what i need to hook a microphone to my laptop, and what program i can use to record my vocals and put them over tracks of music.

Or would it just be cheaper to buy a decent karaoke machine??

Answer 1

I do believe I have seen karaoke software.

most laptops have a stereo mike input.
sndrec32 is a simple program included with windows to record audio. "start" / "run" then type "sndrec32"

play with that - may be all u need.

Answer 2

There is a reason why pro musicians, use real recording studios. 1. there is more to recording, than getting some cheap gear and a mic. there is no secret, no shortcut, to make a $10,000 computer setup sound like a $200,000-multimillion dollar studio. the studios have thousands of dollars of mics, to see which one works best with each artist. A mic that works with one artist, may not work with the next. they also spend thousands on good electronics, and acoustics, then it takes years, to make all that work together. sorry, but its harder than a computer game/ edit Robert's answer is pretty good, I am not trying to be negative here, just realistic, so you don't expect too much, too quickly. good luck