Guitar Into Macintosh, newbie getting started question Options

[oreo]

hi macmusicians

i have downloaded and installed PRO TOOLS free and the free version of AmpliTube... so now i want to hook up my electric guitar and start recording some stuff.

but i amn't quite sure if i need anything else to be honest..

i need to get started as quick as possible before the AmpliTube free stops working

i have a G4 Dual 450MHz 768MB (firewire,USB)

anybody that can help?
i live in sweden so if there are any Swedishtalking you can write in Swedish.. otherwise English will do fine

o.r.e.o


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ahhhhhhhhhhhhh... i just discovered Kyur4ThIch similar topic. Hope you don't throw me out of this great forum now..

This post has been edited by oreo: Thu 3 Apr 2003, 20:54

[Synthetic]

well here is the thing... I have read that if you get a 1/4" to 1/8" adaptor... you can use the mic input (not sure if your model has the 1/8" mic in but should)... however your line signal from the guitar in will not be so great and using the internal apple audio for recording is subpar as far as quality goes. So ideally, your best bet is to invest in a audio interface of some type preferably with a preamp for the guitar signal.

just as an idea... Line 6 now has a USB interace just for guitarists that lets you dial up your favorite guitar player sounds and lets you record directly to most audio apps via USB and its reasonably priced at around $150 or so.

[left2write]

I'm totaly new as well to the whole music mac expirence, I picked up the imic but and still at a loss as to how to get the guitar plugged into my powerbook G4. I mean do I have to run a line from the guitar amp to the imic? Or do i have to go out and purchase a mixer? And if so what kind of quality yet cheap one should I be looking for? I have been looking around at this thing called the guitar port but it's not for mac is there anything like that for mac? Any enlightenment you could toss my way I would be thankful for.

Thanks

[Synthetic]

hmm, good luck with imic.... I never used one but seen lots of complaints in forums about them and some describe as poor sound quality. The signal from the amp (if it has a line out) will probably be better than running straight from the guitar to imic. You don't have to get a mixer if you are just doing guitar recording either. You will just have to experiment a bit to see what sounds best. If your signal from the amp to imic is too low and running from the guitar directly is to low... then you might want to consider a preamp of some kind to plug in between guitar or guitar amp and imic.

a preamp basically lets you maximize the line signal and sometimes add color such as from tubes to make it more warm sounding. I have heard some really sterile and harsh guitar recordings that were the result of porr signal path, bad fx, and lack of good amp or preamp.

another idea is to buy a nice uni-directional mic and simply record your guitar amp sound. This is what most studio sessions do but if your recording enironment doesn't sound good (reverbs, echoes and vibrations can make a recording sound awful) then recording directly without a mic is sometimes better.

i am not sure what guitar port is but it sounds like the Line 6 USB interface I described in last post.

[James1966]

I'm also getting into the idea of different toys for guitar(or GTR) into the MAC protools freeware version. Recently I lost the powersupply for my 4 track analog machine-AKA a scratch pad thats portable.this forced me to look again at my MAC.I realised I needed something useful but easy to set up.I looked around and found a GVOX Guitar pack that nobody wants.It is not made anyomore!Not supported either...GVOX has moved on to Metro and other cool stuff.I paid 50 dollars for it.And it's ok for me for now.Since I am running a old Powermac 6500/300 it's easy to configure and it's a nobrainer 4 me.
I plan to get a Midiman midisport once I have more knowledge of the G3/G4 Macs and upgrade to OS9/X system software. You may want to educate yourself about signal/noise and preamping and studio setup B4 you get anything.(No point in getting buyers remorse!) One thing is for sure the bigger the hard drive and more memory, generally, the better.especially if you plan to keep adding tracks.
A good place to start reading about MAC offline is the Recording 4 dummies book that came out recently.It is easy to follow,and if your new, or have a lot on your mind and love music it's a good thing to check out.

[gidfiddler]

you could try getting one of those small behringer mixers http://www.behringer.com/02_products/ub_in...SERIES&lang=eng then take a dual rca to minijack into the minijack in of your mac .
if you don't have a minijack input you can use an imic .
from there you can go into any of the audio applications .
good luck dave