Recording your guitar on a PC computer, Laptop or Mac
One of our most frequently asked questions is how to record a guitar on a PC, Laptop or Mac. There are a range of ways, depending on your budget, from purchasing a simple computer guitar cable to dedicated USB or Firewire solutions or upgrading your sound card set-up:
The Computer Guitar Cable
USB Interfaces for Recording Guitar
Using a Microphone to Record Your Guitar
Upgrading Your PCI Sound Card set-up to Record Guitar
Listening to your results
The Simple Cable
There are several ways of recording your guitar directly onto the hard drive of your computer. If you play an electric guitar, then the simplest way is to connect the headphone/line out from your amp to the line in of your soundcard. All you need to do this is which has a standard jack on one end, and a mini-jack on the other. You can try out how this sounds by using the built-in Windows sound recorder software although better still download Audacity which is free recording software.
You can also experiment by plugging your electric guitar directly into the mic-in socket on your sound card. This will work but it may not give the high quality performance needed for a more professional sound. In general, electric guitars need a high impedance input, but although most computer soundcard's mic inputs have a high impedance, it is not as high as a normal guitar input. This lower impedance can result in quality problems.
To help you find your way around generally if the sockets on your sound card are colour coded then the microphone will be pink, the standard single channel line-out or headphone will be green, and line-in will be blue.
If you have a standard generic sound card, then you may find that the above solution gets you going but the recording quality is not too good. Ordinary sound cards are better at sound output than recording and will often produce noisy low-quality recordings. You may also find that many laptops and macs do not have any line-in socket at all. If this is the case or you want to make a huge improvement, then we have a whole range of specially designed USB solutions for recording your guitar on your computer
USB Audio Interfaces For Recording Guitar
Although the computer guitar cable is a simple and cheap solution, there are a whole range of dedicated devices which will offer massive improvements in quality. For the guitarist with a slightly bigger budget seeking a higher quality solution, there are a tremendous range of USB devices which have been specifically designed from the ground up to with your recording needs in mind. All of these eliminate the need to use your existing sound card for recording and provide a dedicated external solution with all the hardware and software you need to record your guitar. We are big fans of these dedicated devices, they are easy to use and install, have special inputs for guitar, usually come with a great software package and will massively improve the quality of your recordings.
If you are right at the budget end, and just looking for a simple connection, take a look first at the . This is as simple as it gets - a guitar-USB connector that is just plug and play. Perfect for PC and Mac. Works on an iPad with Apple's USB adapter. And for less than £20 actually comes with Guitar Rig LE software too. The GuitarLinkPlus has been so successful, Alesis have now launched which has a pickup for acoustic guitar, USB connection cable and Cubase LE recording software all in the box.
Many guitarists also want to be able to record vocals, so prefer to look for a device which will successfully record both guitar and mic. We sell a whole range dedicated interfaces especially designed for and there is something to suit every budget.
All the products in our can be used to record guitar alongside a dynamic vocal mic, or look for devices which also have onboard phantom power if you want to use a condenser mic too. These all-in-one devices offer great value because you need very little additional equipment to get started - just the device, a guitar cable, a decent microphone and then a pair of headphones or powered speakers and you're away. The idea is they are to record guitar and vocals. To give you a starting point example, put together a for complete guitar and vocal recording on a tight budget.
If you want to build a small guitar recording studio around a condenser mic, then you'll need to spend a bit more to get a device with phantom power and also the condenser mic will cost more too. As a suggestion, try combining the Alesis IO2Express with the Samson C01 in this great .
Don't forget, these devices bypass your built-in sound card to give a great result, but you will need to listen to them through or , as the sound will no longer come out of your existing computer speakers. The added benefit of buying one of these devices for recording your guitar and/or vocals is you can also set it up as your default audio output device (or sound card) so it gives your whole audio set-up on your computer a complete upgrade. Great for YouTube video and general music playback
Spending a bit more
We have looked at a couple of real budget solutions. What do you get if you spend more? Well you may want more inputs and outputs, more expensive devices often have a larger number of microphone inputs for example so you may have to consider how many things you want to record at once. And of course high end devices will have better analogue to digital conversion for a more pristine result. The old 'you get what you pay for' is true. On the other hand, if this is your first time out then you will find many of the sub £100 devices offer fantastic value and will get you up and running.
Using a Microphone to Record Your Guitar
Another option is to use a microphone to record the output of your amp (in the case of electric guitarists), or your acoustic guitar. A dynamic microphone is usually the first choice if you want to record your amp. For real ease, choose a USB mic then you don't have to worry about any other equipment. The is a particularly good choice because you can use it either as a USB or a standard mic, and you can monitor what you're doing with the headphones it comes with. Any of the devices we have already looked at that take a microphone as well will be just as good for this recording scenario. If you want to record your acoustic guitar then you should buy a condenser mic and an audio interface with phantom power - or consider a USB condenser mic such as the
More information about recording using a microphone can be found in our sister article on .
Upgrading Your PCI/PCIe Sound Card
It may be that rather than using an external device you might choose to upgrade your sound card. Professional sound cards offer a considerable improvement over the recording capabilities of generic sound cards, and are also have the necessary drivers to reduce latency and help you get the most out of your music software. Plus they usually have MIDI in/out as well to complete your home studio. Our offers pro-quality recording and playback. When choosing, compare the number of inputs and outputs, and also check whether you have a PCI or a PCIe slot. To record your guitar you will usually need to use your new card in conjunction with a dedicated standalone pre-amp or a small .
Listening to the results
With all the above guitar recording solutions you can monitor your results using , but sooner or later it is likely you will want to play your masterpieces to your friends and family. Again, will greatly enhance your music making experience, and there are speakers at a range of price points which will work well whichever route you opt for.
Guitar Recording Software
Once you are getting a satisfactory recording from your guitar, then our top selling recording software is great for recording and then adding backing tracks. Alternatively you may well find you can create pro results using any of our especially if you wish to incorporate MIDI tracks too. Most come with huge libraries of loops and riffs to help you create complete performances behind your killer guitar tracks.
If your main aim is to improve your playing then we think that it's really worth giving a go. Especially as you can get a whole course for the price of a couple of lessons.
If you've found the above interesting, why not follow our Blog - we are continually adding new articles about recording your guitar, hooking up your mic to your PC, connecting your keyboard, and what kind of software to go for. We have a dedicated section on recording your guitar