Where to start?

[F&B]

Thanks a lot for the reply.

I spoke with a friend yesterday and he said that a 200$ soundcard should be fine enough for starters.

Great info about using the smartphone as controller

So basically, I "just" need a good DAW? Would Ableton be a good place to be, even though I don't specifically want to do techno? I'm thinking more of a mix between things, inspired by acts like Legendary Pink Dots.

[Moon]

If you add a tiny bit more on the 200$ you can afford a zoom h2n:
http://www.4sound.dk/shop/haandholdte-o ... undle.html
That's the site you linked from earlier, you can probably find it even cheaper.
Then you can use that as an interface/soundcard, record with the mics, and it comes with an LE version of cubase that will suit you fine. Bedroom recording sorted.

I don't use Ableton so I can't be too specific, it seems to have a larger emphasis on the software as an instrument rather than the normal sequencer. It doesn't limit you to rhythmic material if that's your worry, I know lots of improvisers and noise artists use it, too. Just make sure you learn how to use it so the software doesn't play you instead. That's always the worry with instruments like that and you don't want to get stuck with routines that people easily connect with a piece of software instead of your own creativity.
You can also incorporate max/msp patches in the mixer or something, when you get into that. I wonder if you can run supercollider inside max/msp inside Live, has anyone ever tried that?

[joseghast]

I would try REAPER you can download and try it for free for a while and comes with quite a buch of plugins that can also be used for noisemaking. It's also available for Mac OS and Windows. Some friends of mine use Ableton and they like it a lot, I don't have an opinion on this one.

And if you're using Linux (there's also a Mac OS version) I would use Ardour. I don't like Audacity too much, but is because it has been failing to run on my computer since I bought it about 4 years ago, so I don't use it but it's also an option.

[F&B]

Sitting with Reaper these days, trying to get into it. It seems like a nice DAW.

Just to get a feel for things, an album like ABN - It Is What It Is - can someone dissect this for me? How was it made?

Or another example, if you already have some albums and you know everything about how they were made.