How do I record a track simply, with a Mac
Discussion
Just starting on learning my guitar, but it's clear that in order to replicate songs or even perform my own I need to record various layers of Rhythm & lead guitars.
I have a Macbook which has "garage band" on it, if I get ilife. I have an external 750gb for storage. I have no experience in this area and some of the features it has in the promo video look completely pointless.
In the beginning all I want is to record either the lead or the rhythm guitar via the effects in my amp which has an in & out, dload it to my ipod then input the ipod back to the amp so I can play along with it.
However it would be good to be able to record all tracks separately playing over what has already been recorded, I'm thinking at least 5 tracks, 2x guitar, 1x bass, 1x drums 1x vocals, also I'll need something I can use to add bass & drums with, does the software come with built-in drum machine or bass or is this some thing I can add say with a cheapish keyboard plugged into the mic socket.
Does this kind of software exist as one package? I assume it does otherwise Daniel Beddingfield
would have never been heard of? just looking for some simple pointers at the beginning.
I have a Macbook which has "garage band" on it, if I get ilife. I have an external 750gb for storage. I have no experience in this area and some of the features it has in the promo video look completely pointless.
In the beginning all I want is to record either the lead or the rhythm guitar via the effects in my amp which has an in & out, dload it to my ipod then input the ipod back to the amp so I can play along with it.
However it would be good to be able to record all tracks separately playing over what has already been recorded, I'm thinking at least 5 tracks, 2x guitar, 1x bass, 1x drums 1x vocals, also I'll need something I can use to add bass & drums with, does the software come with built-in drum machine or bass or is this some thing I can add say with a cheapish keyboard plugged into the mic socket.
Does this kind of software exist as one package? I assume it does otherwise Daniel Beddingfield
would have never been heard of? just looking for some simple pointers at the beginning.I have a Macbook with Garageband. I know a little about it but I haven't fully got to grips with it yet.
There are a number of pre-recorded drum loops and rhythm patterns you can drop into a sequencer. This is easy enough to suss out if you have a little play. You can program your own drums but I haven't got my head around this yet.
I don't think the mac has an audio input other than the built in microphone. Guitars can be plugged in via an interface. I use a Line6 Toneport UX2 which I had before getting the Mac. This has standard 1/4 inch jack inputs for guitars as well as a couple of balanced inputs. The output from Garageband can be routed through the phono and headphone outputs on the Toneport. It connects to the Mac via USB. There are several interfaces that will do the job, such as this which also has MIDI: http://www.reddogmusic.co.uk/Computer-Audio/Audio-...
There is a tone library in Garageband so you can plug your guitar in directly and play with the effects on there. You can record live to each track as well as cutting and looping sections. You can still plug your effects unit into the interface or mic up your amp, however, if you use the effects in Garageband, you can tweak the effects after recording.
I also have a USB keyboard that you can plug in and use the Garageband sound library with.
There are a number of pre-recorded drum loops and rhythm patterns you can drop into a sequencer. This is easy enough to suss out if you have a little play. You can program your own drums but I haven't got my head around this yet.
I don't think the mac has an audio input other than the built in microphone. Guitars can be plugged in via an interface. I use a Line6 Toneport UX2 which I had before getting the Mac. This has standard 1/4 inch jack inputs for guitars as well as a couple of balanced inputs. The output from Garageband can be routed through the phono and headphone outputs on the Toneport. It connects to the Mac via USB. There are several interfaces that will do the job, such as this which also has MIDI: http://www.reddogmusic.co.uk/Computer-Audio/Audio-...
There is a tone library in Garageband so you can plug your guitar in directly and play with the effects on there. You can record live to each track as well as cutting and looping sections. You can still plug your effects unit into the interface or mic up your amp, however, if you use the effects in Garageband, you can tweak the effects after recording.
I also have a USB keyboard that you can plug in and use the Garageband sound library with.
Thanks for that it sounds promising, it was only £17 on amazon for a single user, so I've got that for now. I assume you can output your tracks in mp3 or cd format.
Input options look a bit precarious. I'll have to do some thinking on this. At moment I'll only want to put a direct signal into the software, either from the guitar-mac or guitar-amp-mac, so I don't need a million options or multiple jacks. Even better if I can play the drums & bass lines in the software and not need a dedicated hardware input for this. I suppose it is preferable not to use the mic port for any input? Would it be possible to just get a 1/4 jack to USB/firewire cable to do this for the guitar? If I get a cheap synth/keyboard down the line I'll use the built-in USB/firewire interface.
Input options look a bit precarious. I'll have to do some thinking on this. At moment I'll only want to put a direct signal into the software, either from the guitar-mac or guitar-amp-mac, so I don't need a million options or multiple jacks. Even better if I can play the drums & bass lines in the software and not need a dedicated hardware input for this. I suppose it is preferable not to use the mic port for any input? Would it be possible to just get a 1/4 jack to USB/firewire cable to do this for the guitar? If I get a cheap synth/keyboard down the line I'll use the built-in USB/firewire interface.
Google brings up this 1/4" jack to USB: http://www.maplin.co.uk/mono-jack-to-usb-recording...
I can't guarantee it would work but I see no reason why it wouldn't.
I can't guarantee it would work but I see no reason why it wouldn't.
I used to use my Mbox digi 02 (when I couldn't be bothered to do a full protools session).
Load up Garage Band
Plug in Mbox via USB to the Mac
Insert a (digital instrument I think there are two settings from memory)
Plug guitar I assume via the amp into the Mbox
Set levels then press record
You can then save and export directly to iTunes.
You can also drag MP3's straight into Garage Band as well which is simple enough.
Load up Garage Band
Plug in Mbox via USB to the Mac
Insert a (digital instrument I think there are two settings from memory)
Plug guitar I assume via the amp into the Mbox
Set levels then press record
You can then save and export directly to iTunes.
You can also drag MP3's straight into Garage Band as well which is simple enough.
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