Recording Options for Beginner?

[BRISTOL86]

Hello Folks

I'm looking for a recording solution that will meet my (hopefully) fairly basic requirements, and would appreciate some guidance.

A couple of things:

My guitar is equipped with electronics, for what it's worth
My hardware consists of a MacBook and iPad, so Apple-centric solutions make sense

Based on some cursory research it seems the logical choices are:

- Apogee Jam
- Apogee Mic

Both seem to interface directly with both the Mac and iPad and seem fairly user friendly for a novice to deal with.

If I'm understanding correctly, the 'Jam' connects directly from the electronics in the guitar, so on the negative side it's not an 'acoustic' recording as such. On the positive side, presumably this means zero background/environmental noise - and it's also a fair bit less expensive than the 'Mic'.

Then we have the 'Mic' which would be a 'true acoustic' recording, but is a fair bit more expensive than the 'Jam' and also presumably suffers from background noise a bit more? I do have a dedicated space in the house now to play the guitar - so not sure how much of an issue this would be? The recordings would be made in a fairly normal sized, carpeted bedroom.

The main aim of the recordings is for practice/measuring my progress but I'm also very keen (as my ability increases) to be thinking about the next step of sharing recordings with family/friends/AGF-ers(!) so the quality needs to be adequate for that purpose.

Would appreciate any guidance you guys can offer.

Thanks
Martin

[KevWind]

Couple thoughts
First a bit more info, Are you going to be doing guitar and vocal or just guitar ? And I assume you referring to the " Mic 96" yes?

Also decide on an initial budget expenditure range, the importance of this is often overlooked it will make the process so much more efficient

And you mention the goal (understanding of course that as you progress this can and often does change)

Currently, for simple reference for practice and monitoring progress either the Jam or Apogee 96 mic, are more than adequate

In the short term. For simple sharing online (which is technically considered publishing) arguably still very adequate

In the long term. Looking toward anything approaching the notion of recording and publishing something that will sound like professional quality. While the above units may be able to reproduce adequately sound wise the are also extremely limited in term of options. Most noticeably limited to recording one channel at a time and more importantly not being able to actually record true stereo (two channels left and right at the same time) . Which in terms of professional sounding quality in general, to my mind, is the one of the first major plateau's that differentiates pro sounding from amateurish sounding. Unfortunately moving up to two channels in Apogee is a major increase in expense and may simply be out of the budget range.

So If these units represent the extent of your budget then go for it but understand they may very well not be future proof (depending on how your desires and goals may change)

[MikeBmusic]

Note that if you are using a computer for recording (with whichever input device you end up with), you'll need to learn how to operate the DAW (recording software), too. With a Mac, this can be Garageband, which I understand is fairly easy to set up and start with (but there still is a learning curve).
Alternately, you could look at a stand-alone recorder with built-in mics like the Zoom H4n, which can also be used as an audio interface when you want to start going to the computer DAW route.

[BRISTOL86]

Originally Posted by KevWind

Couple thoughts
First a bit more info, Are you going to be doing guitar and vocal or just guitar ? And I assume you referring to the " Mic 96" yes?

Also decide on an initial budget expenditure range, the importance of this is often overlooked it will make the process so much more efficient

And you mention the goal (understanding of course that as you progress this can and often does change)

Currently, for simple reference for practice and monitoring progress either the Jam or Apogee 96 mic, are more than adequate

In the short term. For simple sharing online (which is technically considered publishing) arguably still very adequate

In the long term. Looking toward anything approaching the notion of recording and publishing something that will sound like professional quality. While the above units may be able to reproduce adequately sound wise the are also extremely limited in term of options. Most noticeably limited to recording one channel at a time and more importantly not being able to actually record true stereo (two channels left and right at the same time) . Which in terms of professional sounding quality in general, to my mind, is the one of the first major plateau's that differentiates pro sounding from amateurish sounding. Unfortunately moving up to two channels in Apogee is a major increase in expense and may simply be out of the budget range.

So If these units represent the extent of your budget then go for it but understand they may very well not be future proof (depending on how your desires and goals may change)

Thanks for your thoughts Kev, very helpful.

In terms of budget, yeah a new Apogee Mic 96 would certainly be getting towards the top end of the scale...I just can't see that for my modest purposes, I need to be spending more than that (I hope, at least!)

Adequate quality (and I know that's subjective) is really what I'm after - something that's good enough to share with family/friends and it not sound like it was recorded via the voice recorder on your phone! I'm certainly not expecting recording studio quality on my budget - but I'd like a step up from what I currently do, which is to record on my iPad via the built in Mic. It's OK for getting a quick playback on what I just played so I can review how it sounds, but it's not great for sharing as it sounds very 'amateur'.

I guess either of these options is going to be a significant step up from that?

I meant to say that I'm looking to record guitar only, I have no desire to record vocals (if you heard me sing you'd understand )

[BRISTOL86]

Originally Posted by MikeBmusic

Note that if you are using a computer for recording (with whichever input device you end up with), you'll need to learn how to operate the DAW (recording software), too. With a Mac, this can be Garageband, which I understand is fairly easy to set up and start with (but there still is a learning curve).
Alternately, you could look at a stand-alone recorder with built-in mics like the Zoom H4n, which can also be used as an audio interface when you want to start going to the computer DAW route.

Thanks Mike - yes I have no issues with using the computer/tablet as the interface, as far as I can tell my simple needs can be met with Garageband (or similar) and I'm happy to put the time in learning the features of whatever software.

[Trevor B.]

Originally Posted by BRISTOL86

Thanks Mike - yes I have no issues with using the computer/tablet as the interface, as far as I can tell my simple needs can be met with Garageband (or similar) and I'm happy to put the time in learning the features of whatever software.

Hello Bristol,
If you're going to be using GarageBand, here's a video that would have been a boon to me before undertaking my first GarageBand efforts. I've posted it on the forum before but can't remember the thread so here it is again. Hopefully it will be a good resource for you and spare you some unnecessary frustration.


Happy recording!

[BRISTOL86]

Great, thanks Trevor!