Anyone who has ever attempted to record music in a home studio via a (simple) four track will know only too well the pain and agony that runs parallel to the process. A few years ago the humble four track was the only affordable recording system for home use and computer based recording was the domain of large expensive studio systems. For computer based recording we are massive fans of Apple Logic (Express) yet anyone who has bought an Apple mac in the last few years will have heard if not played with the iLife application ‘Garageband’. There is a natural assumption that any application that comes with the computer isn’t going to be good enough for anything other than playing with Apple loops or creating sound effects. (That said, playing with the supplied loops is great from an education point of view, it teaches the concept of tracks, levels and processing and I know of one eight year old who can use these with great success). Anyway, any thought that Garageband is not good enough for live or studio recording is simply wrong. The massive advantage over logic is there is little or no learning curve. Best external storage for photos and videos. Connect your instrument and you are pretty much off. Although you can use your actual computer keyboard as a music keyboard if you are at all serious about recording music on your computer we would advise you invest in an M-Audio keyboard (around?60) this device doesn’t need a driver and allows you to record directly to garageband using the range of built in patches. This tutorial will not even scratch the surface of Garageband but it will certainly get you started with the basics of multitrack home recording. We are using the (expensive GT10) as one option of linking the guitar to the computer but a range of equally good solutions range from?20, this is not just for GT10 owners! Recording Guitar requires the need of an interface device to convert the analogue guitar to digital out. There are a range of options available: The or the low cost cable. I haven’t actually tried these but the cables range from?20 to around?80. Dedicated USB connectivity boxes such as the M-Audio devices or the new Native Instruments Guitar Rig Session systems we mentioned a few weeks back. More and more high end guitar systems now offer direct USB audio streaming. The latest Line9 systems all offer USB out and the relatively new Boss GT10 does the same. In the case of the GT10 you need to download the Mac USB driver from. Install and reboot and you are ready for your digital recording session. Connect the device to your computer. Boss (in my opinion) have skimped a little by not providing a USB cable with the GT10, the good news is the connection is the same as that to your printer. We tend to just disconnect the printer when we need to record anyway via the floor unit. A USB LDC connects directly to the USB port on your Mac; the USB port supplies the phantom power for the condenser. In addition, the USB mic is its own audio interface, so you don't need to purchase a separate interface to plug the mic into. If you turn on the GT10 while Garageband is open the software will sense the device and prompt to select the unit as your audio device, click yes. The next options are personal choice as the computer will now be using the GT10 for both your audio input and your output. Personally we prefer to hear the output via the computer rather than through the guitar amp. To change this click on File, then Preferences. Click the midi tab and make the necessary changes, setting the output to ‘system output’. If you are using the system for personal practice firstly click on the eye icon and drag some of the Apple loops to the main work area. Start with Drums, then your main rhythm sound / sequence then the bass line. Once you have your tracks selected click at the end of the sound (on the main track) and a circular arrow should appear. Drag each line for the duration you want to record. If you want to loop the tracks indefinitely then it may be best to use the cycle tool (circular arrows on the main control bar). You are now ready to record your guitar track.
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