A question I get asked quite often by guitarists of all skill levels is “how do I connect my guitar to my PC or laptop?” Most players are interested in recording and editing their playing for the first time, although another reason is the many great amplifier and effects modeling software that can be powerful tools for musicians to be able to access.
With modern technology, it has become very affordable to get high-quality recording gear with “studio-grade” sound without leaving your home. Doing so has a lot of benefits regardless, of your experience, and the equipment setup is simple enough that anyone can learn. In the rest of this article, we’ll cover exactly how to record guitar on PC or MAC.
To record your guitar on PC or MAC, first, you need to have a piece of hardware that is capable of being an audio interface to process your guitar’s analog signal into a digital signal that can then be input to your computer. This interface hardware is typically a dedicated audio interface box or it could possibly be a guitar amplifier or effects board if it’s a model that comes equipped with the features required to act as an interface to your computer. After you have an audio interface, you need Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) software on your computer that is designed to process and edit your guitar’s signal coming from the audio interface.
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It doesn’t matter what instrument you play, the following applies to any instrument you want to connect to your computer. By the end of this article, you’ll understand basic recording requirements for acoustic as well as electric instruments. In most cases, the variation occurs with acoustic instruments and their dedicated microphones (For example clarinets require a different type of microphone than would be used for recording vocals).
Connecting your guitar to your PC/laptop is easy, but you do need a few pieces of specialized equipment to do it properly. Do not plug your instrument into random inputs on your PC/laptop, they were most likely not designed to handle the signal from your instrument, they will work poorly, not at all, or in some cases, you could damage your computer.
The first piece of gear you’ll need is an audio interface. The purpose of an audio interface is to convert the analog signal coming from your instrument into a digital signal that your PC or laptop can interpret correctly, with minimal loss of sound quality.
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A Digital Audio Workstation is a dedicated piece of software, designed to handle most tasks related to instrument recording, looping, audio editing, mixing, and music production in general with all that this entails. Though a DAW is not an absolute requirement to connect your guitar to a PC or laptop, as there is a good amount of software out there that just lets you loop or add different effects to your tone, it’s the most versatile platform to tinker with your sounds, and it’s definitely worthwhile to invest some of your time learning to use one. Most of the software will run just fine on MAC as well as Windows PCs, and there are lots of free options to choose from.
If you own an acoustic instrument that doesn’t have a pickup, like an acoustic bass or guitar (or vocals, wind instruments, percussion instruments…) you will need a microphone to record it.
Once you have run your signal through the audio interface, you will need a way to listen to it. You can get passable results using a standard PC speaker set, though it is not recommended because they are usually unable to faithfully reproduce your sound. The best results can be achieved with a decent pair of monitor headphones or monitor speakers. These are designed to deliver a flat response curve (or as flat as you can afford), meaning that what you hear is as close as possible to your true undigitized sound – no more, no less.
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The most cost-effective way to connect a guitar to your computer is to go with what you already have. But there are advantages and disadvantages to both PCs and laptops. The rule of thumb is that as long as your computer can run your desired software, you’re good to go.
A PC is generally more expensive and more powerful than its average mobile counterpart, and its inherent modularity makes upgrading it relatively easy. Editing and digital processing on a PC are faster than on a laptop, so if you want to record multiple tracks and add a lot of effects, a PC is the way to go.
On the other hand, Laptops are not as powerful PCs but they offer great convenience and mobility. If you are traveling, or if you want a change of scenery to get those creative juices flowing, a laptop is an ideal companion. Heavy editing and processing can be a bit slow and frustrating sometimes, but for songwriting, recording, or looping (to be processed at a later point in time) it will perform just fine.
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As stated above, an audio interface lets you connect your guitar or bass to a computer, usually through a USB port. They come in various shapes, sizes, and varying price points, depending mostly on their capabilities and the quality of their components.
A good audio interface will enable you to get a high-quality audio signal in and out of your computer while being able to accommodate a wide range of instruments, microphones, headphones, and other studio equipment. Its basic function is to convert your analog signal from your instrument into a digital one, and back again (ADC/DAC analog-to-digital convertor/digital-to-analog convertor). A quality ADC/DAC will ensure that none of your precious tone gets lost when passing through the interface.
Besides a good ADC/DAC, a good interface will have a high-quality preamp, to raise the signal level of your instrument or microphone to industry-standard specs.
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A headphone output with a good preamp is a prerequisite for a good interface, as a good set of headphones is the least expensive way to monitor your sound. Connecting headphones to your interface will also let you practice in silence, this is especially useful if you already have a few effects – probably the “cleanest” sounding practice amp to ever grace your ears.
There are many audio interfaces on the market, and their set of features usually determine their price tag. Thinking about what you want to do with your interface will point you in the right direction, but they will all let you connect your instrument to a computer.
Focusrite has produced one of the most popular audio interfaces on the market today: the Scarlett range. These interfaces feature at least an instrument input and a microphone input, so you can record yourself playing and singing at the same time, a high-quality headphone preamp, and a monitor speaker output. The current third generation of Scarlett interfaces also features an “AIR” mode on the inputs, designed to spice up the sound of your instruments or vocals as if running through a transformer-based preamp.
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At first glance, you may get flustered seeing the multitude of knobs and switches, but rest assured, they are intuitive to use, and all make sense after a few minutes of experimenting.
You just can’t go wrong with the Scarlett range, they are very well-built, they sound great, they let you connect anything you may want to (including phantom power mics), and perhaps most importantly they are very affordable. You can get the Focusrite Scarlett on Amazon here.
If you are planning to record acoustic instruments or vocals, Focusrite also offers well-priced bundles, containing a decent set of Focusrite headphones, or microphones, or both. You can get the Scarlett Bundl on Amazon here.
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PreSonus has been providing quality gear for the audio industry for over 25 years. Their expertise and experience has manifested in the AudioBox USB 96. It’s a sturdily built little box that features two combo inputs, designed to handle anything from microphones (with 48V Phantom Power if you need it) to instruments at the same time. Besides the standard headphone and monitor outputs, it also boasts MIDI ins and outs letting you connect external MIDI controllers, an option you will not find on most entry-level audio interfaces.
If you are just getting started with home recording, and you don’t own any other gear or software, PreSonus also offers bundles containing a set of decent monitor headphones, a condenser microphone, and some cool software to get you started. This is probably the most affordable way to get into home recording.
If you are looking for extreme portability and just want to plug in and record anywhere, take a look at the iRig HD 2 from IK Multimedia. It’s a super-compact audio interface that lets you easily record directly to your iOS device or PC, Android is not supported!
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As the name suggests it was designed to function as a virtual rig; it may not have the versatility of one of the desktop audio interfaces we talked about earlier, but it’s a powerhouse in its own right. It has an instrument input, a headphone output, and a
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