Check this out for an inexpensive way to start. Audio interface plus a bunch of free software included to have fun with different amps / tones.
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Roland Go Mixer Pro…and 3 other items,bass, cellphone and you…easy peasy Roland - GO:MIXER PRO | Audio Mixer for Smartphones
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getting the sound into the computer is the easy part. learning how to record it is the tricky part. there are simple ways to just hit a record button and get the raw input recorded and maybe that’s what you want to do (for recording practice or whatnot). but if you want it to actually sound good you are approaching the world of the DAW, like ableton or pro-tools, and that is difficult to explain to a five year old. it is teachable, but it takes a lot of small steps that build on each other.
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Also recording audio on a computer is different than recording video like for example a cover video.
Depending on your computer or device you are using, you should already have a built in recording app. All you need is the interface and a good one is pretty cheap. The initial setup is just merely downloading the plugins
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That is something that I am not sure about. I was given a DAW (Ardour) for free, but it seems rather complicated. Also, while I am interested in plugins like amp simulators and basic effects, I am not sure which ones are good or worthy. Do you have any experience/recommendations?
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Someone around here might know 
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Hmm, I should update that top post a bit, getting dated.
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Also - Ardour is free (which is very nice) but it would not be my top choice. What OS are you on?
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Ableton Live 11 Intro (not free) has a selection of amp and effects presets which come with the DAW and are OK for bass and guitar. I found the Basic Bass amp preset today and its OK for my (lack of) skill level. For guitars I’ve been using Blue Cat Audio’s free amp - they also do phaser, flanger and chorus effects. I’ve started to try to use some of these with the bass with varying results. I tend to get quite a lot of hiss on some presets - less on others - not sure where this problem originates. Maybe the audio interface I use? Anyway I’m still discovering.
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If you want effects plugins for guitar and bass, Amplitube 5 would be my current recommendation. Huge number of bass and guitar amps and effects pedals. Really amazing plugin. Max goes on sale for $99 pretty frequently.
My favorite bass amp sim is still Kuassa Cerberus though, and I do most of my effects via Kilohearts and MeldaProduction plugins. Despite owning Amplitube.
For a DAW today, I would go with Reaper or Logic, if on a Mac; Reaper or Ableton if on Windows; Reaper if on Linux. However I am also pretty curious about Bitwig, looks like a nicer and more powerful Ableton Live but with fewer frills and included content, for substantially less money.
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MacOS
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Then you already have GarageBand, it’s stupidly powerful and simple to use you just need an interface. Scarlett would be my first choice, pretty much plug and play. It’s a simplified version of the ever popular Logic X. I own all 4 of Apple’s app, Final Cut Pro/ Logic, iMovie/ GarageBand and use all of them. As the matter of fact, 2 of the covers I posted yesterday were finished on iMovie on my iPad Pro
It’s still so powerful and very easy to use.
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Howard, this is not true. Bitwig just baked some functions straight to the DAW. Everything that Bitwig can do, Ableton can also with Racks and … Max For Live let you do exactly what Bitwig does with way more control over signal flow and processing. The only thing Bitwig is way better than Ableton is out of the box touch screen support.
Just my two cents.
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Ahh, thanks for the input. I haven’t looked deeply yet. As usual, the fans are extremely vocal about how awesome it is.
Just whatever you do, use an actual DAW and not Audacity, if you are interested in more than just recording.
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@Rob150 I use GarageBand for my covers. I’m pretty stupid and I can use it.
Feel free to send me a message anytime about using that software. It’s powerful enough to record a cover and post it to YouTube.
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Yes if you’re on a Mac I would use GarageBand way before Ardour, and then upgrade to Logic if you push it past its limits.
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Well, it’s definitely not bad. However, after a bit of time fiddling around both with Bitwig and Max I think I have an idea or two what’s going on there and what’s not. You can do simple things easily by just dragging and dropping a connection in Bitwig. Tons of signal modulators and utilities are available in the box. It’s more like modular. In Ableton you have to route things through tiny menus, add some utilities etc. etc.) But as soon as you will start to go for complex things (Let’s say handling both lights and music at the same time.) you will have to start to do some routing shenanigans in Bitwig and still be short on some conditional options no matter what etc. In Max, you just peel off the DAW interface and have “kernel” access to everything Ableton is doing all the time. So I guess like with everything, it’s just about what you want to do with it. Have a good one.
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Interesting, thanks! One of the things I was reading was something that made it sound like they had kind of built a synth in to the DAW itself (i.e. not as a plugin but like the DAW had modulators you could apply to individual voices, etc).
You can do that in other ways of course via routing and other methods but the Bitwig folks seem to love it and bring it up as a central thing. I haven’t looked in to it though, and that is getting pretty advanced.
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