Recording Classical Guitar

[Clement]

I am a complete newbie to Macs (actually my iMac hasn't yet arrived - another few days) and a newbie to any type of home recording.

My question is this...if I want to record good quality classical guitar in my home, does GarageBand work well for recording, mixing, both, neither??? What options do I have?

Thanks!

Clement

 

[CanadaRAM]

Garageband will record it and mix it, as will almost any Mac audio recording software; more critical to your sound is the choice of microphone, &/or audio mixer or preamp &/or computer interface. Pick up a book and/or some "Recording" or "EQ" or "Sound on Sound" magazines for articles on recording technique and mic selection. The proper positioning of the mic makes a huge difference, as does the acoustic properties of the room you are recording in. Do some study on this.

You'll want to audition a number of mics with your specific guitar to see which does the best job. Make some field trips to music stores or find one that will rent you several mics for trials. There are a number of large-diaphragm condensor mics available in the $100 - $400 region.

How are you getting the audio into the Mac? You have to convert audio - to - digital at some point. Some Macs have audio mic-in or line-in jacks, some don't. These will be the lowest quality, and almost certainly not suitable for professional quality microphones. Separate Audio-Digital interfaces (USB and Firewire) range from $100 and a bit to $2000.

If you have a professional microphone that needs "Phantom power" - 48 Volts sent up the cable to the microphone to power its circuits - you will have to choose an Audio-Digital interface that has a preamp built in with phantom power capability - approx $300 and up. Alternatively you can use a stand-alone microphone preamp or a mixer to power and preamplify the mic. These run from $150 to $8000 depending on how esoteric they get. Some people prefer a preamp that also has a compressor built in to even out the sound.

Thanks
Trevor
CanadaRAM.com

 

[wowser]

I got a superb system from Behringer. The b-5 condenser mic (about 90 dollars http://www.behringer.com/B-5/index.cfm?lang=ENG) and the MIC100 preamp of theirs (50 bucks http://www.behringer.com/MIC100/index.cfm?lang=ENG ) I am very pleased with the results.

 

[Clement]

Thanks for the replies...are any of you familiar with some of the portable recorders that apparantly do it all? This one is new:

http://www.edirol.com/products/info/r1.html

And it seems with all its features, I wouldn't need anything else, right? How would the recording quality be on something like thise versus going out and getting separate components (mic, preamp, etc...)? And then I am assuming with a device like this, I could use GarageBand for mixing/effects???

Sorry for all the basic questions...I appreciate the help!

Clement

 

[jtgotsjets]

whatever you do, don't use an acoustic-electric guitar for recording. those are for live play only. for recording, you've gotta use a mic.

 

[wowser]

Thanks for the replies...are any of you familiar with some of the portable recorders that apparantly do it all? This one is new:

http://www.edirol.com/products/info/r1.html

And it seems with all its features, I wouldn't need anything else, right? How would the recording quality be on something like thise versus going out and getting separate components (mic, preamp, etc...)? And then I am assuming with a device like this, I could use GarageBand for mixing/effects???

Sorry for all the basic questions...I appreciate the help!

Clement

This would only replace the Garageband element, as you would still need a mic and preamp. I'm sure for portability, it is fantastic, but with Garageband, it is easier to see what you are recording, and has more powerful features.