- Make sure you have a decent sound card otherwise anything you record won't sound as good as the equipment you might purchase. Assuming you have a newer laptop, you should be okay. - A good microphone under $100 should do the job, but if you really want a clean sounding guitar, invest in an acoustic pick-up so you can go directly from the strings to the computer. The beauty of recording software is that you can layer your vocals...so you can attain clear tracks without the ambience. Recording Software : Protools, Cakewalk, Acid (my preference)..they all pretty much do the same thing. They're expensive programs, but if you search hard enough (wink wink) you'll find a good deal out there.