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
Firewire 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
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 recording quality is not too good. Ordinary sound cards are better at sound output than recording and will often produce noisy low-quality recordsings. You may also find that many laptops and macs do not have any line-in socket at all. If this is the case then a small cost but high quality option is to spend a bit more and purchase a , which connects your guitar to your USB port and offers superior quality recording as it bypasses your generic soundcard\'s audio input.
Or the other low budget option is to run the which is a small external sound card which has a 1/8" line/mic-in socket and connects to your USB port, thus eliminating the need to use your generic computer soundcard\'s line and mic-in sockets and inferior recording abilities. You can also hook up your computer speakers to the output for an improved listening experience. Plus it ships with a simple but powerful software suite which is perfect for recording your guitar and mixing it with other tracks and also has Digital i/o.
USB Audio Interfaces For Recording Guitar
< However, 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.
The entry level device which has rapidly become a top seller is the fabulously simple , an easy to use yet powerful inteface which allows you to hook up your guitar directly to your PC or Mac. Just plug your standard guitar lead into the input, connect the USB plug and you\'re away. The suite of software it ships with is tremendous. The really neat thing is you can then connect the output straight up to your guitar amp and crank up the volume, or if you\'re being kind to your neighbours listen through headphones. It has ASIO drivers to minimise latency (the gap you might perceive between playing and hearing the sound) and is probably the simplest and most effective bit of kit for the first-time computer guitarist. You could even really treat yourself and go for the which is a little bit more but comes with the fantastic Fender Studio Amp Modelling software.
Hundreds of LapTop, Mac and PC workstation users have found that the newly updated is the easiest way to record your guitar with professional results. Just connect it to the USB port of your computer and you\'re ready to rock. The Fast Track USB has an input for instruments like guitar, bass and keyboards, plus a microphone input for recording vocals or other acoustic sounds. Plus it comes with Pro Tools Essential Software giving you an entry into the software world of the professional recording studios. This device bypasses your built-in sound card to give a great result, you can listen to it through or , and you can also use it as your default audio output device so that it gives your whole audio set-up on your computer a complete upgrade. The perfect partner for the Fast Track 2 is the , a robust and high quality mic if you want to record vocals too.
Another real killer solution for singer/guitarists is the . What can we say? This fabulous product is a really high quality condensor microphone and audio interface all in one. Record guitar and vocals and the same time - connect your guitar to the audio input, just plug he whole device into your USB port, load up the included Sonar LE software and get recording. It ships with a neat desktop stand, and you can purchase an too.
If you know that you will want to combine MIDI tracks with your guitar recordings at some point, then there is the which has all the mobile recording flexibility of the , plus even more professional features. You get 2 front-panel mic/line inputs complete with phantom power for condenser microphones, inserts for outboard effects balanced and unbalanced analog outputs, S/PDIF digital I/O, MIDI I/O, and more, so really is a great investment and offers so much more recording punch for the money. A really good long term solution.
M-Audio are not the only manufacturers of dedicated all-in-one USB interfaces with all the built in preamps and software bundles. Look also at the for good value and fantastic functionality.
Firewire Solutions To Record A Guitar
If you want to experience the benefits of a Firewire Solution then the obvious starting point is the which is designed from the ground up as an easy-to-use, high-quality interface for songwriters to record guitar, vocal and more on the computer. The perfect partner for this would be the .
Finally on the Firewire Front if you want a really solid, reliable and dependable solution, no frills, just sheer quality then we are huge fans of the range. Love them to bits they are so well made.
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.
More information about recording using a microphone can be found in our sister article on .
Upgrading Your PCI 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 also have MIDI in/out as well. The offers pro-quality recording and playback. To record your guitar you will need to use in conjuction with a dedicated standalone pre-amp. A preamp is a device that amplifies the signal from your guitar to make it strong enough to be usable by the computer. The is a fabulous budget pre-amp which will do the job nicely and has the additional benefit of a 2 mic inputs (including phantom power switch if required) for the guitar player-singers among you.
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.