Recording tips

[Silenced Fred]

What should I use? I have a macbook equipped with garageband, but what type of interfaces are useful?

 

Should I go direct in, should I mic the amp, etc.

[pohatu771]

I have an ART USB Dual-Pre. I like it enough. If you have a guitar sound that you're completely content with, I'd mic the amp, but I generally record the guitar and use all computer-based effects for amp simulation. I want the ability to change the guitar sound as the song evolves, and I'd have to re-record it if I recorded an amp.

[ShredAstaire]

If it connects to your computer (USB/Firewire) and has a 1/4" input jack, its good and you should buy it. You don't need to go crazy expensive for this ****...

[EVOL!]

You can just get a mixer to interface between the mic and your Mac. The signal chain I use is

 

Amp - mic - mixer (tape out, phono to 1/8") - Mac

 

The 1/8" input on your Mac should accept optical and analog 1/8" connections. Just remember to change the input source in Garage Band to the input and not the built in mic.

[Silenced Fred]

You can just get a mixer to interface between the mic and your Mac. The signal chain I use is

 

Amp - mic - mixer (tape out' date=' phono to 1/8") - Mac

 

The 1/8" input on your Mac should accept optical and analog 1/8" connections. Just remember to change the input source in Garage Band to the input and not the built in mic.[/quote']

 

To go that method, what would be a good mic to record with?

[EVOL!]

To go that method' date=' what would be a good mic to record with?[/quote']

 

Relatively cheap, quick, and easy mic would be a Shure SM57. They sound good, but not great, and can take years of abuse. Just know that if you record all of your guitar tracks with the same mic they will all sound the same. You could mix it up with a SM57 and a Shure VP64 (another tough mic).

 

If you can swing the cash a great upgrade would be a Sennheiser MD421.

[Silenced Fred]

Relatively cheap' date=' quick, and easy mic would be a Shure SM57. They sound good, but not great, and can take years of abuse. Just know that if you record all of your guitar tracks with the same mic they will all sound the same. You could mix it up with a SM57 and a Shure VP64 (another tough mic).

 

If you can swing the cash a great upgrade would be a Sennheiser MD421.[/quote']

 

Thanks, I will look into that. I know the SM57 is highly regarded, and will look for the Sennheiser. I am looking for hard use gear, I will probably go with a 57 and a 58 for the time being. gotta save up the money first though

[FirstMeasure]

Personally I prefer a Stand Alone device, Like a Fostex MR 8 or something from Boss or Tascam. Then take your tracks and mix e'm down with Garage Band.

 

Shure makes good reliable and Rugged stuff, but if you ask me they're not the best at Sound Reproduction. Sennheiser and Heil make the best mics IMO. Blue makes some pretty good Condensers. But all that aside, you'll get fine results from CAD or MXL if you know how to place them and set the levels.

[Mr. Robot]

I have an iMac and Garageband, and just installed Logic Express 9 - lots to learn there.

 

I would recommend an inexpensive interface. I have an Edirol (now called Cakewalk) which is made by Boss. It does everything I need, as long as I am only recording one instrument at a time. But you can get ones with multiple inputs for a little bit more money.

 

Make sure you read the specifications and seek advice that the interface it is compatible with your imac (and that they make a driver for your version of your Apple operating system (OSX). Some interfaces are specifically designed for certain recording software or dont have all the drivers available.

 

Cakewalk now has drivers for the latest version for Mac i.e. Snow Leopard.

[milod]

I run the guitar and a vocal mike into the little ss acoustic amp. Line out from the amp goes to the Edirol inexpensive USB interface into the PC. The interface I have I originally got to use a little boom box and the headphones out to record old tapes onto the computer...

 

I've used a cupla different "for pay" programs but end up using Audacity that's free.

 

m

[pohatu771]

I have Logic Express on my own computer, and use it on occasion, but most of my work is done with GarageBand and Sonar on another PC.

 

I know GarageBand, so I can do things quickly. I haven't had a lot of time to learn Logic Express, so I don't use it much yet. I really only use Sonar (and the awful PC it's on) because it has better monitors than mine, and there are a few thousand dollars worth of plugins.

 

Audacity for PC works fairly well, but in my experience the Mac version is awful. I tried to use it a few times for quick recordings (when I don't want to create a project in GarageBand), but it crashes frequently.

[duane v]

Sonar8 here

 

Two mics for recording the guitar. One mic (SM57) located 3 inches from the outside of the speaker cone. Another mic (SM58) located six feet away centered, pointed just above the speaker enclosure.

[Thundergod]

I usually record using Nuendo, but since they released the newest version I've been using Cubase more and more (cubase 4, not ready for #5 yet, probably never will).

 

Most of the time I record from 3 sources:

 

First is either with a shure sm57 or a sennheiser e609 up front. I preffer the sennheiser.

 

Second is a studio condenser, of the type you always see used for vocals (I go with a shure ksm44 mainly because it's the one that's always at hand) and I use it to record ambient, some 3 meters from the source.

 

Third, if the amp has a line out or something like that and it doesn't get muted when you use it, I use it to record a direct signal.

 

For some guys and deppending mainly on the genre and how good they are at it, I use a direct box from the guitar (guitar->direct box->amp and interface) so I can get a clean signal in case we need to ad fx and other stuff (specially when the amp is cranked up).