This is an idea: when I started doing voice acting, All I had was a $20 Microphone from Wal-Mart. It held up and did it's job, and for the price tag it did really well. I still have it today. Basically what I'm getting at is if you want to start on a no-budget, pick up a basic microphone from a mall or something near you. Record each thing separately Start with the guitar, then use the keyboard (if applicable) followed by the vocals and mix them together in Audacity. That's how I started. If you have the money to go out and splurge on higher quality equipment (listed lower to higher in price), go for the Blue Snowball, Shure SM-57, or the Blue Yeti (what I use) and continue using Audacity until you get more money to get a program like Pro Tools or Adobe Audition (again, what I use). If that's no where in the near future, don't worry. I recorded my brother's acoustic music for 2 years with that $20 microphone, and some off the recordings STILL sound great.