help mic'ing guitar amp into Mac Garageband

[Dnew]

I'm trying to record my guitar amp into Garageband on my Mac and the options are dizzying. I've tried to search through links, but maybe you all can help me cut to the chase?

I was just going to buy a Shure SM57 and plug it directly into the mic port of my iMac, but after talking with a salesperson at Musicians Friend, they recommend a mic preamp and possibly a condenser mic.

So...

1. If I'm mic'ing an amp and possibly a room with a full drum kit and amp, would the condenser mic be better than a dynamic mic? (I'm not wiling to go through the time and expense to mic the drum kit individually-- this is purely a hobby)

2. The sales guy recommended the $40 MXL Mic Mate XLR to USB Mic Interface because he said that I'll get quality loss plugging the mic directly into my computer. Problem is, the reviews are not great. People complain about volume loss and distortion. I want something that doesn't color my sound and is a cheap, easy to use solution. I'm not a tweaker- I just want the sound that I hear to transfer to the computer.

3. I've seen separate units that allow you to plug in mic's and guitar, etc, but they seem to be $200-500. Is it necessary to spend this kind of money and if so, what unit would you all recommend.

I started with just wanting to plug a microphone in and it's developed into what seems like a pretty complex and costly venture. I'm not a professional musician. What would you recommend?

Thanks.

[woodman]

for $150, you can get into the POD Studio UX-1, which is an interface with a slew of guitar sounds plus a mike input (and several preamp models). something like this will take you a long way in your hobby. ... that's actually a cheap entry fee compared to hobbies like golf, woodworking etc.

this is only one of dozens of options, but i mentioned it because i've been thinking about getting one myself.

[Astro1176]

A 57 is the most versatile mic for guitar, and with a pop shield it can be surprisingly good for voice too. Despite the price, this is the mic used to record millions of guitars on millions of albums where price is no object (well you know). I wouldn't spend more on a mic as your first guitar mic.

If you go down the mic route, I would suggest a stand for it so you can adjust where it is placed and angle, a pre amp and an audio interface to get the sound into your computer. If you love the sound that comes out of your amp, this may be the best route to go.

Alternatively, as Woodman says, it may be better to go with a pod type solution, using a virtual amp and plugging the guitar in via a dedicated interface. This is particularly good if your main purpose is songwriting. Personally I would opt for amplitube's offering rather than Line 6, but both are similar.

Since you have an interest in recording other things, I would suggest an SM57 and an interface with 8 mic inputs - this would give you flexibility to grow. If the interface has a DI input too, then you can use amp modellers too anyway.

[PeteMac]

Dnew, you mentioned that you just want to get the sound you're hearing into your Mac . . .
This is not as simple as it sounds.
The SM57 mic is an industry standard for mic'ing guitar amps - Get one, you will always need it.
A second mic (if your budget allows) could be a large diaphragm condenser. Better for vocals, room mic'ing or drum o/heads.
Just plugging straight into your Mac will not get you anywhere near the sound you're hearing from your amp - the pre-amp in the Mac just isn't up to the job. You need a reasonable pre-amp/interface.
Lots of 2 input USB interfaces on the market - most have half decent pre-amps built in. (Most also supply "phantom" power to power your condenser mic's.)
I use the Lexicon Lambda - it works very well with my iMac and GarageBand. It has 2 mic inputs, a direct instrument input as well as midi ins & outs (for hooking up a midi keyboard to use with the virtual drum kits and other instruments supplied in GarageBand.)

That's really the minimum gear you will need - but getting the right sound is more than gear.
Experimenting with the placement of the mic in front of (or behind !!!) your amp untill you get a sound you like can take a while. There are lots of on-line articles relating to this; do a little research and it can save you re-inventing the wheel .

The search for the perfect sound into your recorder is almost as never ending as the search for the perfect guitar tone !
You may have to compromise your ideal, and get a sound you can live with . . .


But once you start, there's no turning back :-)

Have fun.

[T Prior]

Originally Posted by woodman

for $150, you can get into the POD Studio UX-1, something like this will take you a long way in your hobby. ... that's actually a cheap entry fee compared to hobbies like golf, woodworking etc.

Amen to that brother !

Purpose is everything, the biggest issue with " live mic" recording at home, whether it be in the bedroom, bathroom, small dedicated room off the Kitchen etc., is consistency and "quiet" , you need to plan the event. I do not have a POD unit but do have various electronic things with batteries or wallwarts which I use thru a tube preamp direct. "MIC" recording really requires all the elements to be the same , yesterday, today and tomorrow. Direct recording , although many connoisseurs stress at the thought, is quite practical for the minions of home recording where the purpose is fun , sharing or maybe a demo. Direct is consistent, each and every time. I would argue with many, not all, many, that a very pristine quality tone can be achieved with direct recording, it does take time to dial it in, but once it is there, it is the same all the time and takes miliseconds to set it up.

I don't have the patience to set up cables and mic placement and amps blah blah blah, and I don't have cats that care when I record, they wanna go out when they wanna go out , I have phones that ring and I have a great wife who comes up and asks," Oh are you recording" while I'm recording ! My neighbors Camaro is so loud I have to turn the TV up when he drives by ! Live mic's love all this stuff but unfortunately hearing a toilet flush on the other side of the house while is using the large D condenser mic usually doesn't fit the track !

Fresh strings , a good tone box such as the suggested USB POD , a small tube preamp etc , may not win you an award for the best guitar recordings but it will offer something much better, simplicity, consistency and the ability to record a track without the baby crying in the background !

For me, my direct path is: One of the guitars ( 52RI is primary > Sparkle drive> DanElectro tremelo > Art Preamp > Soundcard input. For Steel Guitar tracks, it is Steel> Art Preamp> Soundcard. I should mention that the ART preamp has a knob with a bunch of EQ settings so you can dial in some added warmth , brightness , whatever.

Ok, now vocals..

put the cats out, put all the phones on hold, tell your neighbors not to drive by, lock your kids in the garage with a sock in there mouth, etc.

Oh and I do have Golf clubs too as Woodman suggests, they are somewhere up in the loft, I saw them once last year.

t

[PeteMac]

Yep, direct recording is an alternative.
And with GarageBand you have quite a few amp models right there in the software.

But you still need to plug your guitar into the computer some way (the interface) . . .
and you'll still need a mic (or 2 ) to get those live drums recorded.


You could, conceivably, record your amp and the drum kit with one mic.
Place your amp at the front of the drums, facing them, and angled slightly up, toward the drummers face.
Place your 1 mic, on a stand, peeking over the drummers shoulder, angled down toward the front of the kick drum.
This way the mic will be "hearing" what your drummer hears when he plays, as well as your amp.
A small diaphragm condenser would be best for this, but it would need to have an attenuation switch, or "pad", on it, so as not to overload the mic with those big sounds. You'll also be getting a fair bit of "room sound" as well, so it's not gonna be as "punchy" as if you close mic'd the amp and drums.
An SM57 (or similar quality mic, your choice of brand) could do a similar job.
You're not going to get a "hi-fi" recording with this set-up - but it does fine for jamming and getting song ideas down.

[woodman]

good points in this thread ... a few thoughts:

• you're likely to be unsatisfied and frustrated with the mike-into-the-amp approach — you really need an interface to get anywhere.
• having success with directly miking your amp depends on a number of variables, one of which is isolation. in my case, the Woodshed is an 8' by 15' foot space; cranking my amp to live volumes to capture my "real" sound isn't an option, as it drowns everything else out. plus, as Tony says, the time-consuming process of experimenting with setup, mike placement and so forth impedes the creative process.
• for my situation (semipro, demo-oriented), good amp models get me closer to the recorded sound i want than miking my amp due to my compromised situation. the key is to actually tweak the sound on your models rather than dialing up presets ... some of the presets are good starting points, but you need to tailor the sound from there to suit yourself. (for my sound, i've found i need to dial back the Drive on almost all presets.)
• live one-mike recordings in a room can be fun and get you going on the creative process, but as Pete pointed out, you're going to get a lot of boom and not much presence. with a good interface similar to (but not limited to) the UX1, you can EQ to taste with modest success. you could also run a direct guitar track simultaneously if your software allows you to record-enable more than one track at a time.
• Garageband gives you plenty of onboard processors and effects (including compression, EQ, stompbox-type FX, amp models), but how many you can use depends on your processor. GB is quite processor-intensive, and if yours is less than beefy, loading up with effects (especially amp models) will limit the number of tracks you can run and cause your system to bog down earlier.

these considerations come from the standpoint of a less-than-pro recordist (myself) trying to get decent recorded sound on a shoestring in a small space. Dnew, what are the specs on your Mac (processor speed, RAM, hard drive capacity etc.)? and what is your music space like?

[Loudline]

Consider the AxePort Pro from CEntrance:

http://centrance.com/products/ap/

It sounds clean and has a headphone output for monitoring. They also have a mic version, the MicPort Pro, which you can use to record your amp.

[lestat1600]

for mics, get the sm57. as far a condenser mics go try the akg percecption 220. It's a good all around condenser for the price. and you can use just that mic on a drum kit and capture everything if you postion it right. (did it with my brothers band, and drums came out awesome)

[Martin R]

And if you scroll down a little you'll see tihe info I got on the M-Audio Fast Track Pro. It's about $150.

Martin
http://EChristinaHerr.com

[backalleyblues]

+1000 on the SM57. Another +100 on a condensor mic, especially for vocals (not a fan of them for guitar amps, but maybe I'm not using them right). But absolutely, you need a preamp-interface for the mics. There's a lot of good ones out there (at least for home recording-I won't get into the high-end arguments here). I personally use a Presonus Inspire, which is a Firewire interface (much faster than the old USB 1.0 interfaces) and it works fine for what I need. Poke around on Craigslist, they turn up for around $100 used (if not less).

Franc Robert

[Higgs F. Boson]

I use the Presonus Inspire as well and love it. Most of the guitar tracks in my home recordings have been made with an SM57 aimed right at the cone of whatever amp happened to be around at the time. I've used a POD too but always went back to the SM57 on an amp.

HOWEVER...I recently stepped up to Logic from Garageband and I've really been impressed with the Guitar Amp Pro software modeler. I haven't done a lot of deep-tweaking yet, but the presets are much more impressive and realistic to me than the POD tones I've gotten in the past. Plus, with a dry, direct guitar signal, you have the ability to tweak the tones as much as you like after recording - something you cannot do when you mic an amp.