New Kid

[jpbannon]

Actually, I am an old man. But such is the case.

I am new to this thing: Recording on a computer. How the heck do you get an accoustic guitar to sound right on the computer? What do I have to purchase? I have attempted (today) to record through the Mic input and it sounds awful.

I am using Mixcraft4 right now and trying to get it right.

Give me some help in plain English.

Thanks,

Jack

[TheMusicMan]

Welcome to the forum!

You are recording an acoustic guitar... May I ask what style? I'm simply interested in the genre you are capturing.

As for your technical questions, I unfortunately have to throw some questions back.

What kind of computer do you have (Laptop vs. Desktop, PC vs. Mac, Powerful vs. Budget)?

When you are recording in the "mic" input, do you mean the often red 1/8" jack that is directly on the chassis of your computer?

This port is a direct connection to the internal soundcard of your computer, and is often very "dirty" with electrical noise from the motherboard. It is quite often the case that an integrated soundcard will produce subpar results, due to poor components, poor design, or several other factors thatt affect recording performance. It's also true that the more adapters you have to use in the signal path, the worse the signal you will ultimately have.

If you would like a better recording, I have two options for you that would open the door to better quality. My first suggestion is to buy a dedicated audio interface with at least 1 TRS/1/4" jack (the pointy one) and an XLR jack (the round one with 3 pins). There are resources on this forum that can help you choose one that is right for you. I personally have heard very good things about Line 6 and Presonus, although my Edirol (made by Roland) interface is very high quality.

This option can run you from just over $100 into the thousands of dollars. You can generally obtain a very respectable interface for $300- $500.

If you don't feel like messing with that kind of deal, there is a second option that I've used with great result. (I highly recommend getting used to the audio interface concept. It's most definitely the way to go for high-quality recording, and often the interface acts as a professional-grade sound card for your computer, resulting in easier and more capable mixing, mastering, and recording.)

Buy a field recorder, such as the Zoom H2, my personal favorite. These handheld flash recorders use very high-quality condenser microphones to record in a variety of common audio formats such as .mp3 and .wav. I have gotten WONDERFUL recordings on my H2, with great fidelity that can be edited in a DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) for even greater result. You can record anywhere you want without having to lug a computer around, and I've even succesfully used a tempo track or metronome to record multiple takes that can then be remixed into a multi-tracked, great sounding song later.

This option will run you between $200 and $400. It could be more or less, depending upon which brand you choose, what accessories you buy, and how many SD or CompactFlash cards you buy. (That's the great thing about the H2. You can fill an SD card, pull it out, slip in a new one, and away you go. Awesome!)

That's two ways to get a better recording. Hopefully I've helped you a little.

[jpbannon]

Thanks for the reply.

I am using an old Guild D-25 that I installed a pick-up on many years ago. Everything is working and it sounds great.

I have an Acer Laptop (3 GB) and, yes, I was attempting to record through the jack that is on the chassis of the computer. Bad idea, I guess.

About this dedicated audio interface. Is this something that plugs into the USB port? If so, I am all for that option.

As you can tell, I don't know squat about what it is I am doing.

Again, thanks for your help.

Jack

[fortyseven]

Hey Jack! Firstly hello and welcome to the forums. Secondly, congratulations on your first attempt at recording yourself even though you weren't happy with the results. At least its a start!
As 'the Music Man' stated above, recording via your computers soundcard just wont do Im afraid. You are going to have to make a purchase or two before you can get those tunes of yours onto hard disk. The main thing you need right now is an audio interface which is sometimes also referred to as a soundcard although in my opinion, a soundcard is what gamers use. As you can imagine there are many shapes and sizes of audio interface, so its important that you determine what your exact needs are and may be in the future. I suggest doing a little research before you just go ahead and buy one. You can find some reviews here: Audio Interface . I'd also recommend using this: Home Recording Soundcard Wizard / Audio Interface Search Tool to help guide you in the right direction. Most interfaces use either USB or Firewire to connect to your pc so as long as you have one of those ports you should be ok.
You are also going to need some software. I see that your using Mixcraft (which Im completely unfamiliar with) but some other suggestions are programs like Cubase which is extremely powerful but can be a little daunting to learn at first. A program that I personally love because of its ease of use is Acid Pro and then there's also Audacity which is free.
There are many choices to make but take your time and research everything thoroughly before making any decisions and please use this forum to ask as many questions as you need.

[jpbannon]

Hey, thanks for the help. It is becoming a little clearer to me now. And I thought this was going to be easy.

Thanks again,

Jack

[fortyseven]

Obviously recording music can become pretty involved at times but in its basic form its really not that difficult to get some decent sounding music down.
Trust me, if an idiot like me can do it then anyone can!