There might be some topics about this already but you don't mind writing a little, do you?
I'm a guitar player and want to start to record some of my stuff. (not that it's worth it but it's nice if you can record it together with a drum loop or something like that and to capture ideas on hd)
I would be using a 12" 867mhz Powerbook with 640MB Ram and OSX.
I tried putting my guitar directly into the line in of the PB and then using Audacity to record. As a preamp I use Amplitube Live.
But with that setup I had quite some latency which I think comes from Amplitube because when I play guitar and for example open a window or scroll it takes about 1-2 seconds to do that... not really nice.
So one of my questions is now if this problem would be history with a nice interface? (this one looks nice: http://nav.440network.com/out.php?mmsc=forums&url=http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/sid=030711154135080131175107062893/g=rec/search/detail/base_id/103189
I'm also looking for a nice recording program. There are so many out there and I really have no idea which one to get. I don't need anything professional, it just has to record my guitar and maybe be able to insert a drum loop. (I'm currently using Fruity Loops on a crappy PC but I could get Reason)
So I don't midi.
I hope you understood what I mean. Thx!
Can anybody help?
Should I get the M-Audio MobilePre USB?
And is there a possibility to insert FL loops into a recording program and then record my guitar together with the loop?
I downloaded the Reason 2.5 demo and couldn't really get through it... FL seems so much easier to me.
Also which recording program would you recommend? Like mentioned before, I don't need MIDI.
T1mon, Wish I had an answer for you. I'm basically in the same boat. Looking for a way to lay down some digital drums and keys, then mix in some of my own bass, guitar and vocals. Not looking to spend alot since I recently got myself a 1ghz TiBook and am already on the wife's .... list.
I too have been looking at the M-Audio MobilePre USB. It looks like a good deal. One thing I couldn't ascertain from any of the on-line stores that carry the MobilPre is whether or not it comes with any recording/sequencing software, which would be ideal.
Anyway, I'll point you to any forums that may answer our question.
good luck.
Thx, Bytor!
I don't think that the MobilePre USB comes with a recording software.
scientificbox, Thanks for the info. I think my mind is made up then. Can't wait till payday ;-)
r/
T1mon,
I don't think your latency is from the audio capture method you are using; I think Amplitube Live seems to bog down the system. Hopefully they'll clean up the code a bit.
I recently found myself in your position (more or less). I'm a guitarist and wanted to be able to capture and develop song ideas on my Powerbook. Mine has no onboard audio input, so I needed to consider capture, as well. I also wanted *basic* MIDI, just because I wanted the flexibility to change the drum track later.
The cheapest solution I found was Deck with a Griffin iMic, but there was *no* MIDI, and I had a lot of problems with spurious noise in Deck (I later learned that Deck is *very* picky about HD performace, and I was using the built-in, so maybe this could have been resolved).
I looked at other solutions like Logic's BigBox package and Cubase SX. They were ok (especially SX, except that it was pricey and wouldn't recognize my USB audio capture devices) but not really what I was looking for.
Eventually, I went with the Digidesign MBox. I paid a little over $400 US, and it solves my audio capture problem *and* gives me Pro Tools LE. Pro Tools is not *perfect*, but it *is* an industry standard of sorts, gives me enough MIDI that I can record with a click track and add drums later without synch problems, and has pretty good audio editing features. Overall, I've been pretty pleased.
You (maybe) don't need the audio interface (although I suspect the quality of the MBox is much better than the onboard audio in), so you might have more options. If you're running OS 9 (or capable of running it, and willing to boot it), you could try out the Pro Tools Free version from Digidesign's site. It's limited to 8 tracks; if that's enough for you (and you can run OS 9), you've got a free solution. If you think that's *not* enough for you, it would still give you a chance to play with Pro Tools and see what the environment is like. I've been satisfied with Pro Tools LE.
Otherwise, you could look at software-only solutions from Logic, Cubase, Mark of the Unicorn, Sagan (Metro), or as previously recommended, Ableton (Live).
By the way, I tried Amplitube Live and was not very impressed with performance. The Amplitube PlugIn seems to work *much* better. You might consider other options for getting the guitar sound you want: perhaps a Pod or the (much cheaper and reputedly quite good) Behringer V-Amp. I plug into a Carvin Quad-X tube preamp for basic tone, and then process in software with various PlugIns (including Amplitube).
One more thing: you might consider a 7200 RPM FireWire HD. I mentioned that Deck is especially picky about HD speed, but in truth, all DAW environments need a fast drive, ideally one which is not your system drive (and your Powerbook's internal drive is probably no faster than 5400 RPM, if it's even that fast). Furthermore, audio projects tend to use a lot of disk space.
Good luck.
xenonaut,
thx for the informative reply!
Is there another method to get a good guitar sound into the computer if I use the MBox, M-Audio MobilePre USB, or the Aardvark? I would have to buy a preamp, right?
The MBox looks good but it's a little expensive. The M-Audio or Aardvark interface would be a little cheaper...
Why do you need MIDI to change the drum track? How did you record the drum track?
I would like to put Fruity Loops loops into the recording program, that shouldn't be a problem eh?
I'm running OSX and can just start in Classic mode.
I shouldn't have a problem with the HD, we got 3 external Firewire HDs and I think I could use one of 'em.
I think that recording "dry" would be really nice. I'd like to play around with the sound after I recorded...
I would have to connect the guitar to the Amp then and the Amp then to the interface right?
I thought about using a mic too, but I'd like to record with headphones.
Fruity Loops is a windows thing, that's why I gotta go to the crappy PC we have here, create a drumloop (with some nice strings as a background) and then somehow import them to the recording program.
Native Instruments is gonna come out with "Intakt", I think that's gonna be like FL, then I can do the whole thing on my Mac.
I'm still not sure which of those 3 interfaces I should take because PT looks really nice and with the 2 other interfaces I would have the problem with choosing a DAW again... on the other hand the MBox is a little expensive. (but includes a much better DAW than the other two...) I'll see for how much I can get the MBox and then decide.
Thx again for all the help, xenonaut!
OK, I just checked the prices:
MBox 500 Euro (I'm from Germany, that's about 500$...)
Aardvark 350 Euro
M-Audio 177 Euro
I guess it's the M-Audio MobilePre USB then. It's just 16 bit compared to the 24 of the other two interfaces but I don't need professional quality anyway, so I don't think that's gonna be a problem.
The M-Audio has a built in preamp, would I still have to connect the guitar to the amplifier and then to the interface or directly into the interface?
I'm gonna try to use the DAW that comes with the M-Audio and if I don't like that I can still try some demo versions and then get the one I like best.
I don't know the MobilePre. If it can accept an instrument-level input, then you *can* just plug the guitar straight in, and then it's just a question of how you want to work. As I said, some people are perfectly happy to record guitar totally direct; others want to hear the sound of the "amp" while they're playing.
Ich bin selber in der Schweiz; Preis des MBoxes hier war ungefaehr gleich. Aber ich dachte, dass als integriertes Hardware/Software System, es eigentlich nicht ganz teuer war, in vergleich zu Cubase SX oder Logic Gold, z.B.
Good luck, have fun, and let me know if I can answer any more questions.
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