I have a baby grand upright (larger overall box) for my daughter and I want to buy her some decent recording equipment. she has started composing and wants to start posting it for feedback.
I understand there are some issues.

Budget is a few hundred.  I have a computer and a piano.  thats it.  computers we have do not have a specialized sound card or any special software.  I am going to get a new laptop soon for other reasons so I might be open to a new laptop that can do this.

I have no idea about anything.  I ain't musical.  she is.

thanks

I'm not really a studio guy, but I'll give it a shot.




You need an audio interface.  This one is USB, costs a hundred bucks, and has an XLR input for a standard mic cable.

http://us.focusrite.com/usb-audio-interfaces/scarlett-solo

You can spend as much as you want on a microphone.  Don't go cheap, though.  Maybe start by spending a couple hundred on something like this:

http://www.bluemic.com/spark/




 



As far as recording software goes, I can at least point you to Audacity, which is free.






Whatever you get, just make sure to play around with mic placement.  That really is the most important part of the process.  Good luck.




 

ETA: Almost forgot, don't skimp on the mic stand

Thanks.

You will want an interface with two ports and one that uses FireWire or USB 3.0. You will want to use two identical microphones placed, typically, within phase of one another at either end of the piano.

You will want to use Reaper as it is free and a professional interface that will allow you to correct phase issues more easily as well as let you add nice eq and compression.


It's actually an easy instrument to record well.

The singer in my band and me have used this:  http://www.musiciansfriend.com/recording-packages/tascam-us-2x2-mxl-990-991-package/j15706 + Reaper to record some quick acoustic guitar/vocal parts.  Not the greatest sound ever, but decent for getting down some parts that we don't want to forget.  No idea how the headphones are though. I've never used them.

Since when is Reaper free? I had to pay $60, but it's well worth it (and much cheaper than comparable DAWs) because it blows Audacity out of the water.

As far as an interface goes, OP, I've had a Line6 UX2 for several years and it has served me well. It has inputs for guitar, 2 line ins, and 2 XLRs with a 48v phantom power switch. It also comes with POD farm, which has some decent mic preamp models, and it comes with a limited version of Propellerhead Reason. So for $200, you could be up and running, or $260 if you opt to get Reaper too, assuming that you already have mics & cables.

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/pro-audio/line-6-pod-studio-ux2-with-pod-farm

You can continue to use Reaper free of charge after the 30 day trial period. It's like mIRC.

They keep Reaper for free as many people who use it use it once in a blue moon. They urge you to pay for it if you use it regularly.

Ok, I forgot that part.