I have been thinking about this for a good while now. We are all geeks in the household so something on the computer would work, I think but I am not sure how clear the recording would be. Are there (free to test out) newbie programs for say a Windows user that can pick up the things we play in the same room (not far from the computer), or would I need a real mic setup for this?

Unfortunately, enable to get a clear quality sound you would need to have some type of set up. Recording into a regular computer voice mike would pick up too much static. Here is a link with information on what equipment would be needed and some free software programs available on the web.

http://www.hermitageacoustics.com/computeraudiorecording.html

The free recording programs out there should be able to provide clear and clean sound; the critical components in the chain are:
1)the microphone you use to capture the sound;
-and-

2) the musical interface you use (the component that is between the mic and the computer- ie the connection between them)

These are important to check out and try if possible. As for good interfaces, check out Presonus and MOTU.
as for Microphones- there are so many... Shure and AKG make for good starters...

Hope this helps!

There are plenty of free recording software on the Internet. I suggest that you read as many reviews as possible before going in for them. Also, I am not sure if you will be able to get a high-quality recording if you use the computer mic alone. So, if you want top quality recording, you might have to use an additional mic set up.

You can get a solid version of Cubase Lite or Pro Tools lite in the same package as most interfaces, the ones that gearhed is talking about. Presonus and MOTU are great, as is Alesis (at lower prices) and most of them come with some kind of recording software.

A few years ago a friend of mine got a lighter version of Cubase with his Firebox interface.

It worked out great, because that version was almost the same as my Cubase SE and I was able to show him around the program.

He used it to record audio that was later put up on websites.

My friend spent about half as much on his interface compared to the one I bought three years before.