I'm thinking like fuzzy background noises with friends of mine reading stuff over the top - I'm never gonna have a myspace or a band name or ever play a gig, I just wanna make something I think will be pretty and will take up some of my time. Maybe if I get into it I'll have some light instrumentation and write some lyrics, but first and foremost I need to buy the stuff to make it happen.

A 4-track recorder seems like the most important thing, but I'm not sure whether fussing around with analogue will be worth the hissy 'charm'. There's a few analog and a few digital on ebay for pretty cheap, but I do I pretty much just get that, plug a microphone in and fiddle around? Is it really that easy?

Some tips on how to get the best sounds from reality to tape-reality would be good as well. Hopefully there's a few people on here with that kind of experience... also please don't use any big words, I can't stress just how uneducated I am with this kind of thing, beyond LOUD and GOOD and I DON'T LIKE THAT MUCH.

I am both terrified and excited. Thank you.