Advice needed for recording

[odinsride]

Hi,

I am pretty new to Macs (just got my first one last week). I am a guitarist of about 10 years, and on the PC I dabbled in recording using Adobe Audition.

My current recording setup is a simple Foxtex Digital 8 track recorder, and an instrument mic sitting in front of my Amp. Sound quality is decent with this, but it's a hassle to move all the files off the recorder onto my computer to work on them - it would be better to record directly to my Macbook.

I am impressed with Garageband (especially the loops you can use). I bought a 1/4" to 1/8" adapter to record directly from my guitar but it's not the greatest quality recording.

I was wondering what is a good setup for someone like me - not a total newbie to recording but I don't need something that's overkill for a hobbyist. I was looking at M-Audio products and they have a decent looking USB interface to hook my instrument mic directly to my Macbook, and a control board made specifically for Garageband. Are these recommended products? Is Garageband worth spending the time to learn or is there better (yet affordable) recording software out there. I'm not looking to spend thousands of $ on this, but I would like to have a decent setup.

Any help is appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[cmccarten]

I think Garageband is a terrific program. There is definitely no other program available that is so streamlined, easy to follow and straightforward.
That being said, it does have its limitations (mostly if you are looking at recording more than yourself or one other person). But I would definitely advise using Garageband until you start to find it limits your productivity (maybe it never will!), and then start exploring other options.

As far as interfaces go and for a great intro to computer recording (I keep posting this as advise to other people - I just think this is an awesome site), go to: http://tweakheadz.com/guide.htm
If you follow the guide, you will come to a list of all sorts of different interfaces available for recording your guitar.
M-Audio is a decent manufacturer, but I think that in their cheapest products (Fast Track and Fast Track Pro), the USB 1.1 doesn't offer a lot of flexibility. I would be inclined to look at the lowest-end firewire interfaces (you've got the connection on your macbook, might as well use it!). Take a look at the guide...

 

[scottlinux]

Yes M-audio makes good stuff. They are a respectable brand. Anything by them would work fine. Also check out edirol, alesis, and presonus. Firewire is best. Avoid USB, if your budget allows.

 

[CanadaRAM]

First stop, study up on the Primer plus the other Sticky threads at the top of this forum page.

There are several audio interfaces available that cater specifically to electric Guitar:
M-Audio Black Box, Line 6 TonePort series, Waves has one designed with PRS, Native Instruments GuitarRig.

USB is just fine for a limited number of simultaneous inputs and outputs. If you want 4+ channels recording all at once, look for Firewire.

 

[Killyp]

Guitarists I've worked with tend to prefer micing up their Amps.

Get a Blue Snowball, USB Condenser Microphone. I have one, and it runs straight into the USB on my MacBook Pro. It has made some fantastic recordings and is very easy to carry around with you.

If you place the microphone near the edge of your amplifier, you'll get a warmer more musical sound. If you place it near the middle, you'll get a brighter, and often more difficult to listen to sound.

You can also use it for recording other instruments too though. I've used mine for recording a bass guitar, and once an entire drum kit to get a classic kind of 'motown' single-mic sound (didn't sound to far off once I'd run it through a speaker cone).