Digital Guitar Recording

johnmcdnl

i'm not great at all the techie stuff so i was wondering if anyone could help me to basically hook my guitar up to my laptop and be able to record decent quality music

i have a 1/4" to 3.5mm adaptor but it doesn't seem to work when i just plug this straight to the microphone in jack

any ideas

MilanPan!c

could be literally a dozen things... does a mic work?

Demeyes

Using the line in will sound terrible even if you get it working. Are you sure you have the correct input settings set on your laptop though? I remember messing with one at home a few years back and eventually I ran it though a pedal first to get it registering.
If I were you though I'd invest in a 1 channel interface. You can pick up some cheap enough USB ones that will give you a better sound than the onboard input. Also a lot of guys are using the Line 6 Toneport to good effect. It's basically an interface geared towards guitar and I believe it comes with some software for amp sims.

MilanPan!c

Demeyes wrote: »

Using the line in will sound terrible even if you get it working. Are you sure you have the correct input settings set on your laptop though? I remember messing with one at home a few years back and eventually I ran it though a pedal first to get it registering.
If I were you though I'd invest in a 1 channel interface. You can pick up some cheap enough USB ones that will give you a better sound than the onboard input. Also a lot of guys are using the Line 6 Toneport to good effect. It's basically an interface geared towards guitar and I believe it comes with some software for amp sims.

All of this IS true, but you SHOULD get something....

johnmcdnl

i've got the microphone input working now and can record with audacity the quality isn't great but it's enough for me at the minute...

i've heard about amplitube to try to get electric guitar effects but there's no way i'm paying the money for it... is there any cheap alternative i could consider

also i've been looking for the usb to guitar leads and they all seem to be priced around 50 euro... is there any cheaper one anybody knows about

iMADEtheBBC

The guitar-to-USB leads get mixed reviews.
The problem with using the line-level input or the mic level input is that you're mis-matching the signal from the instrument.

Take a look at the various USB audio interfaces out there (ebay, thomman) and check that the interface has an instrument level input.

MilanPan!c

johnmcdnl wrote: »

i've got the microphone input working now and can record with audacity the quality isn't great but it's enough for me at the minute...

i've heard about amplitube to try to get electric guitar effects but there's no way i'm paying the money for it... is there any cheap alternative i could consider

also i've been looking for the usb to guitar leads and they all seem to be priced around 50 euro... is there any cheaper one anybody knows about

Sorry mate, but nothing for less than 50e is gonna make that setup sound any better.

Laptops aint great for recording audio (for a host of reasons) built in soundcards aren't great either (also for a host of reasons) and unless you get a decent signal recorded most amp simulation software isn't gonna sound to hot.

look in the classifieds for a cheap old tape fourtrack...

it's sound better and do more for prolly cheaper.

madtheory

Jayzus, spend some money, go on, treat yourself!

JonathanAnon

johnmcdnl wrote: »

i have a 1/4" to 3.5mm adaptor but it doesn't seem to work when i just plug this straight to the microphone in jack

I've used this way to record my guitar before. Not top class but it's fine for messing about with. Have you tried a mic in the same port and make sure that a) it's working b) it's turned up and enabled in windows. You could use a program like Sound Recorder or Audacity to test record.

johnmcdnl

JonathanAnon wrote: »

I've used this way to record my guitar before. Not top class but it's fine for messing about with. Have you tried a mic in the same port and make sure that a) it's working b) it's turned up and enabled in windows. You could use a program like Sound Recorder or Audacity to test record.

this is the setup i'm using now and it seems to be working it'll do the job i suppose for the minute

just wondering how to get a cheap/FREE (i'd prefer free even if the quality isn't great) digital amp software thingy :rolleyes: yes i know i'm great at the technical terms lol something like amplitube but for free basically so i can get distortion and all that sort of craic when i play

MilanPan!c

johnmcdnl wrote: »

this is the setup i'm using now and it seems to be working it'll do the job i suppose for the minute

just wondering how to get a cheap/FREE (i'd prefer free even if the quality isn't great) digital amp software thingy :rolleyes: yes i know i'm great at the technical terms lol something like amplitube but for free basically so i can get distortion and all that sort of craic when i play

Most of the free stuff is VST and not standalone, so you'll need software to host the VST plugin/amp plugin.

Once you sort that there's dozens of pretty awesome quality free amp Emulators.

But again, they'll only sound as good the signal they get!

Rockshamrover

johnmcdnl wrote: »

i've got the microphone input working now and can record with audacity the quality isn't great but it's enough for me at the minute...

i've heard about amplitube to try to get electric guitar effects but there's no way i'm paying the money for it... is there any cheap alternative i could consider

Audiomid.com are doing a no brainer deal on amplitube 2 for $20. That's about 15 euro. It's a download.

As they say, it's a no brainer.

Demeyes

There are some nice free VST plug-in amp sims out there that are modelled after real amps. http://www.ultimatemetal.com/forum/equipment/541010-list-guitar-ampsim-software.html That's a page with links to a tonne of them, some free, some not. These can get some pretty convincing results when used right.
If I recall though Audacity has a vst host but it's got a generic UI so it is more or less useless with some of these. I recommend you download Reaper and use that - www.reaper.fm. It is a full uncrippled trial that is more or less a full recording program similar to Cubase or Pro Tools in functionality. If you like it you can stay using it after the trial runs out but a licence is very cheap if you feel like contribing to the creators.

Nozebleed

what you need is a boss micro BR and mic. I have one on adverts if our interested...excellent for the sort of thing you doing

MilanPan!c

Demeyes wrote: »

There are some nice free VST plug-in amp sims out there that are modelled after real amps. http://www.ultimatemetal.com/forum/equipment/541010-list-guitar-ampsim-software.html That's a page with links to a tonne of them, some free, some not. These can get some pretty convincing results when used right.
If I recall though Audacity has a vst host but it's got a generic UI so it is more or less useless with some of these. I recommend you download Reaper and use that - www.reaper.fm. It is a full uncrippled trial that is more or less a full recording program similar to Cubase or Pro Tools in functionality. If you like it you can stay using it after the trial runs out but a licence is very cheap if you feel like contribing to the creators.

I am currently really considering switching, but i'll have to learn a LOT more.

Demeyes

MilanPan!c wrote: »

I am currently really considering switching, but i'll have to learn a LOT more.

Switching to Reaper? It's well worth it, it has the same basic ideas as programs like Audacity but it is cabable of a lot more. The net is full of tutorials on how to use it for all sorts of things and it really doesn't take too long to figure out how to set your ins/outs and get recording.