I've listened to some of the songs that people uploaded on to bandamp.com. i was wondering how they did it? is there special software i have to download? I would like to know how to record music and put it on here so people can listen to it 
Thanks

well what most of us do, (or at least what i do) is I take my guitar, record it, and then edit it in a program called Audacity. Its completely free and great to use.

to record the instruments you need some type of recording device (i.e. your guitar plugged into your computer and you directly record it, you plug a mic in your computer and record, or...what i do... is get an external recording device which can be $49 to $200 for a decent one, and then start recording in Audacity.)

just search audacity in google. you use audacity to record the sound, but you need a device that will first pick up the sound

Click on the forum tab and go to recording, there are some excellent threads

How do you do that? Plug your guitar into your computer?

you need a special cable converter that you plug into your microphone jack....ORRRRRRRRRRR

get a cable that has the 1/4inch jack on one end (the guitar jack) and a USB jack on the other...you can then easily directly plug your guitar into a usb slot on your computer

Alright, thanks 

here are some great guitar usb cables:

http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=usb+guitar+cable&tag=googhydr-20&index=aps&hvadid=1140567641&ref=pd_sl_2u1xk1ba89_e

I don't recommend going down that route at all.  Instead, you might want to get something a bit more modular--i.e., a system where the chain is broken down a bit more and you can upgrade components without re-buying everything.  The quality of this, even on the cheap, will be much higher than those 1/4"-to-USB cables.

I wrote a now-outdated but informationally-relevant guide here: http://forum.bandamp.com/Gear_Talk/2770.html

Outdated because the components are now old-generation/changed in price/redundant.

I have that exact setup and it's very solid in terms of quality given the price.