Musician, looking to record with computer

[Zimdesign]

Hey there, my father-in-law is an amateur guitarist and he would like to be able to record his playing on a computer. Apparently Macs are well-suited for this type of thing (as simple as plugging the guitar directly into it?) but of course a PC with similar capabilities would probably be quite a bit cheaper.

Anyone here doing that kind of thing? If so, what type of hardware are you using?

 

[Excelsior]

http://www.maudio.co.uk/index.php?do=products.list&ID=pciinterfaces

http://www.maudio.co.uk/index.php?do=products.list&ID=mobileinterfaces

And that isn't true about Macs. They have good software, yes, but you can plug the guitar into the Mac any better than you could into a standard PC.

 

[ShadowBlade]

at work, we use macs for all audio recording/editing purposes

 

[Zimdesign]

Those M-Audio products look awesome Excelsior.

 

[Zimdesign]

I guess GarageBand is the major draw on the Mac side then... what are the equivalent apps on the PC?

 

[hopejr]

Equivalent apps on the PC cost quite a bit. Believe it or not, a mac with garageband pre-installed will probably be cheaper than a PC plus the money for extra software that is needed (Adobe Audition, Cubase, etc).

 

[Zimdesign]

Ok... do you think a Mac Mini has enough power to run GarageBand?

 

[ProviaFan]

Originally posted by: Zimdesign
Ok... do you think a Mac Mini has enough power to run GarageBand?

I've been told that, but I would go with an iMac at minimum for a bit more expandability and power (if you do either you'll need to be looking at external firewire or USB audio interfaces). Or you could get a PC, which would work fine (I do stereo recording and multi-track stuff on a Dell Precision 370 with 3GHz P4, which is a bit overkill for what's actually needed - and a M-Audio Delta 1010LT sound card).

And no, it is not possible to plug a guitar straight into a computer and get "good" results. The best way to get decent results is to either direct inject the guitar into a preamp that supports this, or mic his amp with the mic then going through the preamp. Either way, the output of the preamp goes into the line input of your audio interface. Regardless of which way you choose to do things, the quality of the recording is going to be limited to the weakest link in the chain. Whether it be a $30 mic, a bear-ringer or crapvin (er, behringer or carvin), or the onboard sound of your computer, it will limit the quality of the final result. Plan the budget accordingly.

 

[Excelsior]

Originally posted by: Zimdesign
Those M-Audio products look awesome Excelsior.

Yeah, and I forgot about garageband.

If you do get a macmini, either select at least 512 from apples website, or install a 1GB stick yourself, it needs the extra ram.

And I would get this for the interface.

 

[btdvox]

Hi there, I own a Mac Dual 1 GHZ G4, with Pro Tools Digi 002 and a whole bunch of other stuff! anyways, Mac's are the standard for music, and they are amazing for it, I would reccomend buying, Reason, or Ableton, with the Ampltube for your guitar stuff to start out with, or even a Pro Tools Digi 002 Rack version (1200) you can get started easily by doing this, check your local Guitar Center ask any questions if you want.

 

[imported_Lucifer]

Garageband on a Mac Mini actually runs very well. My friend uses Garageband a lot on his mini, with 512mb, and says it works wonderful. I tried it too, and it was pretty smooth. I am going to be connecting my guitar to my Powermac G4, but I won't be doing it anytime soon. Reason is that my G4 is only 400mhz. I will do the processor upgrade when I get the chance, though it may be a while. (I'm a busy busy man.)

 

[hopejr]

My iBook is fine with Garageband (when I have the processor on highest performance). The mac mini is better spec'd than it too.

 

[NewSc2]

Yes. Using Logic Pro 7 and a 17" 1.67ghz Powerbook and MOTU traveler. Get back to me when I've finished learning Logic Pro (audio production is confusing! busses and channel sends and wth are they used for).

Runs smoothly but I haven't gone wild with samples and effects yet. Mac > PC, but if you're looking for a hobby and don't want to spend too much money then PC is a fine way to go. (I feel workflow in Mac is easier = easier music production)

 

[GuitarDaddy]

MAudio is definately the way to go for entry level PC recording. They have a nice range of interface products from around $100 to about $500 for 8 inputs.

If you want pro quality look at Pro-tools, but be prepared to spend a few thousand just to get started. The local studio that I use has about $30k worth of Pro-tools hardware and software

 

[Nutdotnet]

A PC would be fine...and probably cheaper (unless you're talking about using a Mac Mini).

As for the software, there are a number of GOOD software programs out for the PC that are under $100 (I think a few are under $50).

Go over to homerecording.com/bbs and do some research.