Recording Guitar With Garage Band
Posted by Matt on Dec 20, 2005 in music
I’ve been noodling around on the guitar for years. I’m not a great musician but I definitely have a decent repertoire of songs I’ve written or learned over time. Lately I’ve been using Garage Band to record my guitar and lay down bass and drum tracks. Here are a few useful tips for Garage Band that I’d like to share:
- Unless you have a very nice sound system for your Mac, the best way to hear what you are recording is with a decent pair of headphones. I recommend Etymotics.
- Garage Band has a tuner for tuning real instruments. Just select a real instrument track and then Apple+F key to access the tuner.
- When recording a guitar track, turn all other tracks down to half volume except the drums. This way you can still hear the bass and other tracks and still concentrate on the instrument you are currently recording. If you are having trouble with creativity, try removing various tracks one at a time and replacing them with different parts.
- When recording with a real instrument such as the guitar, play with the existing MIDI instruments to create new instrument sounds. I found that with some tweaking, I could create alot better tone and more original sounding guitar tracks.
- Save often. I like to go back over everything I record in a session later and decide which parts sound best together and do most of my mixing. My brain has to work in different modes when recording versus mixing so I always save everything I record, including the stuff that I might not find interesting at the time I record it.
- Save many files. The more tracks you have in a file, the more memory it takes to record. Try to use the minimum number of tracks necessary to record a song and combine tracks when possible.
- Experiment with preamp effects. I have an Ibanez TS-9 Tube Screamer distortion peddle that helps me achieve a nice blues tone. I’ve created a special MIDI instrument that adds an amp simulator and a little reverb. The effect is a MIDI instrument with great crunch and tone.
- I’ve plugged in a couple different guitars and my Gibson SG with humbucker pickups sounded alot better than my Fender Telecaster which has single coil pickups. If you have multiple electric guitars, experement because sound quality varies drastically from guitar to guitar.
- A keyboard is a decent investment because its almost impossible to use the computer keyboard or mouse to play in real time.
- Practice with the metronome. You must have absolutely perfect timing to create a decent recording. There are features in Garage Band to fix timing and tuning issues, but the track won’t sound as good as it would have if the timing had been correct originally. If you plan on using looping or mixing any of the prerecorded loops into your recording, then perfect timing is even more important
- When recording, don’t forget to relax and have fun. When I was starting to record I would get impatient because I had to record several takes before I could get a part right. This is natural and the best way to overcome it is to (a) play slower and more accurately and (b) relax and get in the groove!
Update:
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Hi, I’m also a musician (mainly guitars) - found your blog while searching on how to record guitar with garageband. I just got into it (like yesterday) and thought I could just interface my guitar to my PowerBook using the iStudioLink (a 1/4″ to 1/8″ adapter that plugs into the mic input) - but my studio friends are pushing me to get an M-Audio firewire interface - saying that there is a delay going through the mic. Do you record your guitar throught the mic input or through an interface?
There is definitely a noticeable delay going through the mic input. Depending on the extent of your recording needs, you can get by with the mic input but the delay does get in the way after a while. It makes it hard to play in time. I would absolutely recommend the firewire interface if you can afford it.
[...] This is a follow up to a post I wrote a few weeks back about recording guitar with Garage Band. This article is useful no matter what type of instrument you are trying to record. Whether you are using a real instrument or a software instrument, there are many caveats to creating that perfect song without sounding like you recorded it in your bedroom using your computer. Garage Band is a sweet piece of software that allows just about anybody to make a decent recording. If you follow the three guidlines below you can really harness the power of Garage Band and create some great songs: [...]
I have a DigiDesign mBox (1st series) and there’s no support for it yet on the Intel iMac I just got.
“Grand.”
In the meantime I’m running through the Griffin iMic. The delay is noticeable, I was wondering if changing the buffer size would really effect this… and, on the flipside, will changing the buffer for recording affect playback of the MIDI instruments?
Thanks for the articles.
I don’t think that changing the buffer size will effect playback. I’d be interested to know if that solved your delay issues.
I thought I could just plug n’ play - but, sadly, I was wrong…
I am using Garageband v1.1.0 (26) and plugging an electric guitar through a Griffin iMic and into the audio line in. trouble is, the internal microphone remains on and, with all the noise, I can’t really tell if there is any guitar coming through the line. Can anyone help me out here?
Hey Paul, what you need to do is choose the line-in as the audio input device in your system preferences. To do this go to Finder, Applications, System Preferences. Then select the Sound icon and the Input tab. Then just highlight the “Line In” option instead of the “Internal Microphone” option. This should fix your problem. Good luck!
hey!!! thanks for all the info… i was about to record a guitar with IStudioLink, and changed all the sound preferences to set the line in but then my macbook stopped detecting all the sound inputs and outputs, including its originals so now it doesn’t displays any sounds, and a lot of applications doesn’t work now including GarageBand and iTunes… someone has any idea??? thanks a lot!!!
thank you for taking the time to post this!
on the questions about delay while recording real instruments:
something you can do about this is find your tone via effects and amp simulation. then, deselect your effects, etc. and record without them. after you do that, reengage the effects and amp simulator.
I have a macbook pro laptop and I wanted to record some electric guitar on garageband ( For the past year I’ve just recorded acoustic songs using the built in mic.) I plugged my guitar into my tube amp head and then connected it’s LINE OUT to the computer audio in (by the way i bought a little 2 dollar adapter that my guitar cable plugs into and then plugs into ‘audio in’ for the computer) . I changed the settings in SOUND and switched from Built IN MIC to LINE IN. I went to “Garageband preferences” and made the audio input BUILT-IN INPUT. The computer recognizes the guitar when Im in the sound settings, but when I try to record in garageband I dont get any sound from the real instrument.
I searched the internet and found out that you need to use a preamp to give your guitar signal some power, thats why I used my tube amps LINE OUT. DOES ANYONE HAVE ANY SUGGESTIONS? Im gonna buy a firepod, which will solve my problems, but i dont have the 400 bucks yet…..
You know what, while configuring all that garbage to record I had garageband open the whole time. After I changed the audio settings and rebooted garage band I finally had success. Haha maybe thatll help somone out who was having the same problems I was having….
I have a PB G4 15″, running MacOS X 10.4.
I have plugged my guitar in to the mic input, using a mono 1/4″-to-1/8″ adaptor. In System Preferences, playing the guitar produces sound that shows up on the VU meter, but I can’t hear it, whatever audio output is selected, whether or not I have headphones plugged in. I also can’t seem to hear it in GarageBand.
Any clue what I might be forgetting to do? Any tools that would allow more detailed troubleshooting?
i am new to garage band, when recording i do want the click track but i find that it is picking up the click sound as i record.
How do i have click track and not record at the same time.
Thanks for sharing that. I’ve been recording in GB for awhile and sometimes get lost in just trying to find a good sound and by the time I could have recorded I’ve been inspired to write something completely different. The joy of writing and recording in your own home. Take all the time you need and wait until you feel it.
Quality as well in recording: I was in a conversation with a friends band who just put out a very well produced record and as we were speaking about it he said “you know, we spent all this time, getting all these little nuances and most people won’t even be able to hear them because the headphones”. The conversation goes on about nothing beating a professional recording- but the truth is - if you write what you like, it will come across on any recording.
Back in the day before GB we used four tracks to tape to record then went to a studio. Looking back now at how much being able to record demo’s (in house) has helped learn the recording process and spend less time in the studio getting what you want- it’s priceless.
I have a new Macbook and my son wants to record his guitar in Garageband. I’d like to get him what he needs to be able to record for Christmas. Can you give me suggestions? He is only 10 and while talented, certainly not at the advanced level. This would be his first experience recording. I am hoping for something simple - an inexpensive cord?? I don’t have a ton of money to put into it at this point, even though I’d like to. I’ve seen the Griffin iMic mentioned in other forums. Would that work? thanks so much for your help, I really appreciate it. (And my son will too!)
Macbooks have an audio input so the Griffin iMic is less of a necessity. If your son has an electric guitar the only extra hardware you will need is a 1/4 inch to 1/8 inch audio adapter. You might consider picking up a cheap microphone if you want to capture vocals. Musician’s friend has some good deals going on microphone’s right now:
http://pro-audio.musiciansfriend.com/microphones
Best wishes to you and your son in your Garageband endeavors!
I just got Garage Band for my Mac, and need to know what to get to be able to record voice, and electric guitar…..also, where to get it from, but not anything expensive.
Hey, I just got my new macbook with garageband and I’m all ready to start recording. I’m poor, so how I’ve always recorded before with my previous PC was to plug my amp or keyboard directly into the “line-in” with a 1/8″ adapter. I’ve never had problems until now with my macbook. I was able to get it all working and even recorded 2 guitar tracks, and when I was going to attempt a third, there was only a consistent thumping coming through. I’ve tried and checked everything I can think of… but now whether Garageband is open or closed all that the computer gets from plugging my adapter in is that consistent frequency with no sound at all from my guitar. I would just figure that the computer has rejected my method or equipment… But it worked twice! What’s going on?!!! Anyone have any ideas, or faced a similar situation? I really want to get started with this awesome program!
I was wondering. I purchased a Griffin USB iMic and was hoping to use the line in for my guitar as well as the on board line in for my microphone. Problem is, when I go into Garageband, I can only select the Griffin as my source, and I can’t seem to access the onboard line in. What is the point of the Griffin if this is the case? I feel like I wasted $30.00.
Has anybody any experience of using usb interface connections such as the ’stealthplug’ for connecting your guitar to GB via usb? They seem a cheap solution to being able to record guitar in GB without the need for a preamp.
Hi all,
I just started with GB and I too am getting this delay when playing with my guitar. Can anyone help me solver this problem…??? thanksss
Hey,
Just had a look at stealthplug and it seems pretty hot.
It should work flawlessly with Garageband. If I had a mac, I’d buy that straight away. Due to lack of funds, I’m pretty screwed at the moment. It seems like a decent bit of kit anyway. Should prevent your delay too, Steve.
Have fun guys.
Hi I have a line 6 KB37, and i’m trying to record my guitar through it with garageband. I can record the piano part with the kb37 but i cant seem to find out how to record my guitar through the device. Please help.
I recently bought an M-Audio Fast Track Pro. A bit of investment at $200 but it works great with no delay in recording. Definitely do not have an action plan of being a musician, but recording has inspired me to maybe try to just work out my ability and see where it could go. I was going to get the Line 6 pre-amp interface but was sold on the durability of the M-audio and the various other Midi lines in and stereo outputs.