Recording Guitar At Home. Its well worth it to learn the techniques for recording guitar. For a modest investment of time and money, you can Hear yourself and your instrument with new clarity. Enhance practice time by playing along with backing tracks or your favorite band. Share your music with others. Experiment with numerous simulated amplifiers and effects. Collaborate with others, even if theyre miles from your home. Best of all. add fun to your learning There are a number of methods for recording guitar and storing or processing the sounds. At some point youll probably want to get them onto your computer. Ill cover four methods that are affordable and popular. Ill also describe some of the most popular products used for recording guitar at a reasonable price. The Basic Concepts. Any guitar can be recorded. A guitar that is connected directly to your computer, or other recording device, will provide the cleanest sound, but with a microphone you can record any guitar that produces audible sound. The key to recording, and later processing, your guitar playing is capturing a full, clean sound. A full sound is one where the vast majority of the original sound is captured. A clean recording is one that has eliminated most noise. Here are a few tips to help you capture the best possible sound Capture sound with as much volume as possible, but avoid clipping clipping occurs when the input level is too high, shown by recording level indicators turning red. Capture sound at a fast rate, to collect as much sound, and as many subtleties, as possible. An effects unit or pedal is an electronic or digital device that alters how a musical instrument or other audio source sounds. In the 2010s, most effects use solid. This DIY guitar amp is the answer to the design question what kind of amp can I build with a power transformer designed for a one or twotube radioEnjoy the lowest prices and best selection of Virtual Instruments Software at Guitar Center. Most orders are eligible for free shipping. Guitar Amp 2 Free Edition is a virtual rack of effects and amplifier for guitar and bass, ideal for newcomers to the world of music, but also for the more experienced. In this video i will show you how to connect your guitar in your PC or Laptop, just plug and play. You will need one 14 Inch to 18 Inch adaptor jack to. CD WAV files, for example, record 1. Hz. If using a microphone, eliminate as much background noise as possible. Once youve recorded background noise, it can be difficult to eliminate. Leave some silence at the beginning and end of the recording, it can easily be removed later, but if you cut it too close, you might actually cut off part of your performance. The easiest and least expensive method for recording guitar is to connect your instrument directly to the Audio In port of your computer. The Audio In port is sometimes called Line In or Mic In. Audio In ports are typically on the side or rear of your computer, often near the Headphones Out or other sound ports. Best Guitar Amplifier Software For PcThe Audio In port is usually identified with an icon such as a microphone or a circle with two triangles on either side Macintosh. If you have trouble locating the Audio In port, consult your owners manual or the manufacturers web site. To connect your guitar to the Audio In port you need a special cable or an adapter for your existing guitar cable. Why A standard guitar cable has a 14 phone plug on each end. A standard computer Audio In port takes a 18 stereo plug. You should also check to see if your computers audio input jack uses a TS TipSleeve connection or a TRS TipRingSleeve connection. Unfortunately, when you look at the little hole, they both look the same. Read you documentation. If you cant find the answer there, try the manufacturers web site. If you strike out there, you can still try one cable, then switch if that doesnt work these cables are inexpensive. Two other caveats are worth mentioning here. First, any cable that combines stereo into mono is going to either blend the signals or simply drop one. Thats not going to give you anything approaching great sound. Second, even if you get the exactly right cable, since this solution lacks an amplifier, what youll probably get is weak signal and poor recording. Of course, its still a low cost way to try out recording Radio Shack sells a six foot shielded cable with a phone plug on one end and a 18 stereo plug on the other for about 5. Its a great way to test drive this type of connection. If this method works for you, you might want to invest in a high quality cable, such as the Monster i. Studio. Link Instrument Cable, made specifically for connecting and recording guitar. Once you have a cable, or adapter, heres how to connect your guitar Advantages Low cost. For the connection, all you need is a new cable or adapter. For basic recording, you can use Apples Quicktime Pro Mac or Windows or the Sound Recorder application included with the Windows operating system. Easy. There are few components involved, so its easy to get started. Disadvantages Weak signal. Most guitars produce weak output signals. Standard Audio In ports are not properly equipped to boost this signal, so it may be hard to hear and produce weak recordings. Undesired noise. This method is most likely to cause hum a buzzing sound or pass along other undesirable noises. Delay. The analog signal from your guitar must be converted to a digital form at some point either in an external processor, like a digital amp, or inside your computer. That conversion takes time. How much time depends on what else your computer is doing, and how fast the processor and components are. Only two input channels. An audio in port has at most two channels. The best you can hope for is one stereo input, or two mono inputs. This is not a problem if all you wish to record is your guitar or two mono devices. If you want to add other instruments, or voice, you may need more. If youre unhappy with the sound quality from this method, try Method Two for recording guitar, the Powered Audio In Connection. Method Two The Powered Audio In Connection. A direct Audio In connection may work for you, but most guitars provide a signal that is too weak, and turning up the volume simply produces hum or other undesirable noises when recording guitar. To solve this problem you need to boost the signal from your guitar. Any audio device that contains a pre amp the first stage of amplification can boost the signal for you. Many accessories for guitar include pre amps, so you might be able to try this improved solution for recording guitar without further expense. Look for any guitar accessory amp modeler, pedal, drum machine, direct box with an output labeled PA Out or Line Out. Dedicated pre amps for microphone and guitar are a great alternative. Theyll provide all the power youll ever need to drive the Audio In port. Price, features, and power vary widely. In general, the best tone comes from pre amps that use tubes. Youll find great units for as little as 5. Want to see a sample of whats availableTake a look here,or see my recommendations below. Apache Track Installation Manual. Heres what a typical Powered Audio In Connection looks like This method provides some important advantages, but does not solve all of your problems. Advantages Better signal. Sufficient input signal for quality recording. Added capability varies by component. Choosing the right accessory can give you additional flexibility and capabilities when playing, including amp simulators, drum machines, tuners, multiple inputs. Modest Investment. A setup like the one shown not including guitar, cables, and computer can cost as little as 3. Disadvantages Youre still limited to two input channels. Since the Audio In port is the bottleneck in the connection, you still have only two input channels for recording guitar and other instruments the left and right stereo in channels. Delay. The signal is improved by your pre amp device, but latency delay probably is not. Methods three and four solve both of these problems. Method Three An External Digital Recorder. Products such as the Zoom H4 Handy Recorder and the Boss Micro BR Digital Recorder make recording guitar or any other sound very easy.