[hb]

Not being much with computer technology, the rare times that I try to record, I just turn the computer microphone on and play. Then maybe open it with Audacity or something and listen. But it doesn't matter whether the guitar is electric or acoustic, or how far I am from the microphone, it always sounds like there's a lot of noise in the background, (and no, it's not always my guitar!). In short, the recording is really not fit to listen to as it sounds as if you recorded it on some $1.50 recorder. Is there a simple way to plug your guitar into the computer and make a clean recording? I'm sure there must be, but I don't know where to start.
Thanks to all,
hb

[cshude]

if you haven't already, head over to the recording studio section of the forum. There's more information than you can shake a stick at there on this topic.

[carol m]

And Tekker's lessons on recording are great too.

[lorsban]

Hello there!

Miking is really quite a tedious process. That's why studios are thought of as a "room within a room" that's to isolate the sound as much as possible. In my mind studios look a lot like "safe rooms" in psych wards, with wall to wall padding.

Anyway, what you could try is direct line-in recording. Although, if you go the pc route, your next issue will probably be latency. That's where you have a delay from when you play to when it's recorded. Although I think pc's and software nowadays have fixed that issue.

What I use is a separate recorder: Zoom MRS8. It's a 16bit recorder with built in effects, drum patches. It's not that "loaded" but it gets the job done but it'll never pass as studio quality. For that, you could try some other all in one units but they cost a bit more.

Anyway, best of luck and happy recording!

lorsban

[scotty_b]

There are many factors involved in recording; it is not as simple as turn everything on and play.
You need to consider the sound source, the signal chain, gain structure, acoustic properties, equipment used and mic placement.
Even plugging straight in can produce poor quality recordings.
If you haven't already done so, why not post something here so we can listen and make some suggestions?

[mantablueraider]

hb, if your going straight into your pc whether it be mic in or line in if your soundcard isn't top of the line your recordings will be faint and distorted. if so, you can make a huge difference by simply bypassing your pc soundcard with a external soundcard designed for recording via one of your usb inputs. the line 6 ux1 is about 150 bucks "is what i have" and does a good job. some like m audio.....