my bass and garageband.

[bennetsaysargh]

im finally trying to record my bass in garageband, and i have the cable to, but it's not letting me use my line in jack. it uses the mic by default, and there is no way for me to change it.
any suggestions?
thanks

 

[Oroboros]

System Preferences? More Information?

Knowing what sort of computer, operating system and input device you have would be nice.

iMacs before the 1GHz came out didn't have line-in jacks, and you'll require either a USB or FireWire device to get your bass tapped in physically.

If you have a more modern Mac with a line-in jack, sound input is affected at two points - The SOUND control panel in your System Preferences, and GB's own AUDIO/MIDI Preferences. Have a look to see that both of those little buggers are set to the same thing.

Let us know if everything works out or not

-Oro

 

[bennetsaysargh]

i have a 1 Ghz 17inch iMac, 10.3.3 768MB RAM
i tried the system preferences to no avail. im using a 1/4 inch to 1/8inch adapter cord. the input prefs in garageband aren't working either.
i have to say that i am befuddled

 

[musicjon]

Go to the sound pref pane. -> Input Tab

Change input to "Line-In"

Record.

 

[603]

impedance...

i assume you have some sort of mixer or preamp too? your bass is probably going to be very quiet without some sort of gain boost going into the line in. plugging your bass directly into the computer will probably sound... not too hot.

 

[Oroboros]

i assume you have some sort of mixer or preamp too? your bass is probably going to be very quiet without some sort of gain boost going into the line in. plugging your bass directly into the computer will probably sound... not too hot.

Whoa - Good point. But second-guessing from the way the initial post is phrased, ie. "...it's not letting me use my line-in jack..." implies the computer is rejecting a setting, rather than his instrument chain is under-powered. If he made the correct settings, he should be getting next-to NO sound from his bass. His problem seems to be switching from computer-mic input to the line-input.

So... If Bennet could clarify this, that would be cool:

1) Have you switched to Line-Input in both system preferences AND GB preferences?

2) Are you STILL recording sound from the computer mic, OR are you recording silence/ hum/ very low-level bass sounds?

3) Do you have a pre-amp hooked in between the bass and the computer?

-Oro

 

[bennetsaysargh]

1) Have you switched to Line-Input in both system preferences AND GB preferences?

2) Are you STILL recording sound from the computer mic, OR are you recording silence/ hum/ very low-level bass sounds?

3) Do you have a pre-amp hooked in between the bass and the computer?

-Oro

1)-Yes
2)-Humming
3)-No, cable directly from the bass to the line in jack.
Should I use my amp as an in-between? I'll try that and post back in a few minutes.
Thanks for all the help you guys

 

[bennetsaysargh]

it works now. i plugged the 1/4 to 1/8 inch cable into the headphone jack of my amp, and my bass into the amp (duh) and it worked
i am a bit confused though because i was under the impression that you could just plug it strait into the computer
oh well.
thanks again

 

[Horrortaxi]

i am a bit confused though because i was under the impression that you could just plug it strait into the computer

You can. You just get terrible results.

 

[musicjon]

Not so terrible results with a nice bass with active electronics

 

[Harald4]

1st try to record to a click track in Melody Assistant, available at www.myriad-online.com, then think about goin' on the road for a living,
then contact me

 

[crenz]

You'll get the best results recording your bass using a pre-amp or at least a DI box.

Once you manage to record something, let us hear your bass!

*slap* *slap* (modified Tobias Growler here)

 

[triage]

my bass and garageband

If you use an iMic as entry bridge to a USB port - at $35 a cheap alternative to most of the USB converters - you'll get a full-bodied sound from your passive bass or guitar. My Fender P-Bass Special sounds like anthracite.

 

[bennetsaysargh]

i have discovered my problem!
the cable i was using to get from my bass to my imac was a stereo 1/4" to mono 1/8", when i have stereo line in. i need mono 1/4" to stereo 1/8" to make it work. off to radio shack i go!
oh, and i need to get an iMic anyway because my new old powerbook doesn't have a line in jack

 

[continuum]

This is just the thread I was looking for. I just started messing around with inputting my bass into GB yesterday. I have an active Carvin Custom 4 and was able to get good enough sound to monitor and record. And that's straight in via 1/4 to 1/8 inch connector. I also have a passive G&L p-bass that I assume would not get such good results - haven't tried yet.

1) So if I read correctly above, I can place my amp in between the instrument and the line in of my mac?

2a) I also read above that you used the headphones out jack on your amp. Is this the way to do it or can I go out of a speaker jack on the amp and into the mac...or is this way bad news due to increased power of the signal?

2b) If I should use the headphones out, will the signal be processed accordingly to my amps settings for frequency cross-over?

3) On a separate topic, what can anyone tell me about the iMic? I've heard about latency problems and other down sides.
Excited to see what ya'll know about this!

 

[evil_santa]

1) So if I read correctly above, I can place my amp in between the instrument and the line in of my mac?

2a) I also read above that you used the headphones out jack on your amp. Is this the way to do it or can I go out of a speaker jack on the amp and into the mac...or is this way bad news due to increased power of the signal?

2b) If I should use the headphones out, will the signal be processed accordingly to my amps settings for frequency cross-over?

1/ Yes it is better to use something to boost the signal.
2/ Use the headphone or line out. The speaker jack will be far to high level, it will be very distorted or could fry your audio input on your mac
2b/ i would have though so.

I use a Roland GP-16 as a pre amp to get guitar/bass into my mac. I am thinking of getting a Bass POD

 

[James L]

So, to review,

1) The audio in jack on the Mac is NOT a pre-amp at all, so you need to pre-amp the signal to get a decent tone.

2) This pre-amp could come from built in active electronic pickups, your amps preamp stage, or a 3rd party preamp device.

3) When using an amps preamp section, you want to go instrument into amp, and use the LINE OUT jack from the amp to your computer. NOT the speaker out. The speaker out has already passed through the power amp section, and would be way to powerful for your computer... maybe even damaging.

4) Apple basically lied when they said you could just plug in and go with garageband.. you can, but the tone will suck!

5) Once all the above has been done, you must adjust the settings on your computer (appropriate input in the system prefs, etc) as mentioned above.

Record away!

I learned most of this the hard way a year ago too. Have fun,

James

 

[continuum]

Great! Thanks for the info. I've been getting responses to this on MacJams too and I think I'm going to do this in addition to picking up a USB input device like the M-Audio MobilePre or the Tascam US-122.

 

[jackieonasses]

i never understood why they didnt have a pre-amp on the g5's.... maybe the line in sounds better?? any guru's out there that can tell me the truth?

 

[fingers]

i never understood why they didnt have a pre-amp on the g5's.... maybe the line in sounds better??

For most people a line in is all they need - most audio equpment will output a 'line level' signal be it your ipod, cd player or cassette recorder. Maybe Apple could have made the line input switchable i.e. between line level and mic/electric guitar but it might have complicated matters for the average user.

Shame really...