Recording At Home
With my area back in full lockdown due to government mandate to attempt to control the spread of COVID-19, I have been reexamining the entire process of recording at home. I'd like to take it a bit farther than plopping down an iPhone or Zoom recorder, although they are excellent fast ways to remember chord progressions and riffs that you create.
I avoided recording for a long time, because while I love playing, I still think that I am a lousy player and wonder why I would ever record anything that I create. I don't play out, I suppose no one is these days, and don't bother to learn entire songs because I don't play out and don't work with a band. So I have had to force myself a lot to get this done.
I do a lot of video and audio work for clients and for podcasts and web shows so I have a bunch of kit and in talking to other musicians in the period when we could actually go into a music store, what I learned was that many folks avoided anything more serious than the smartphone was the perception of complexity.
I would like to help you gentle reader, to get past that.
Interestingly, the audio interface wasn't the big issue for many people that I spoke to, their concern was getting the sound to the interface and how to buy and how to place microphones. This is an important thing for studio recordists for certain, but maybe less critical in getting started, so for the moment, I am going to skip miking amplifiers and acoustic instruments entirely, but will come back to it in a future article. The reason for this is the plethora of microphone options and that choosing an ideal microphone is highly dependent on your use case. Alternatively if we start with the end in mind, you might be farther ahead.
The DAW (Digital Audio Workstation)
Sounds complicated. It's just software. Software designed for a purpose, like photo software or even a good spreadsheet. Ease of use is paramount, and while there are very high end products that are used in professional studios, maybe you don't need all that.
I'm a Macintosh user and will keep my article Mac oriented, but be certain that if your computer runs Windows, there are good options for you that I will talk about further along in the article, including how to get them at no cost.
Let's start with FREE. Meaning the software either comes with the machine or is available at no cost. Since we are talking Macintosh, we are talking about Garageband. I see Garageband poo-pooed often, mostly by people who have never used it.
Garageband comes with a number of defined project starters. Think of them as templates, but remember that even if you choose the simple Songwriter template, it does not mean that you need to do something for all the tracks. What is useful is the variety of drum tracks and different kits IF you want a drum track and a) are not a drummer or b) are a drummer with a kit but without a stack of microphones and mixing board or c) have a set of electronic drums that has an output to a recording interface. I am not a drummer, it's not a talent that I have, although I do like to play drums from time to time. Sometimes I just want a simple drum backing track to play against. Sometimes not and Garageband makes it easy to include or not include a track. The default setup includes a grand piano. I am not a piano player and while I have a keyboard USB interface to make sounds, I don't do piano music, so I just turn the track off. Off is a very powerful tool as it removes a lot of confusion and complexity.
The Audio Interface
Next we want to get the sound from your guitar into the computer. This does assume that your guitar has a pickup of some kind. Most guitar pickups are high impedance so you need an audio interface. Don't get scared. Think first about how many tracks that you will record at the same time. Garageband allows you to have a ton of tracks but you do not have to record them all at once. If it's just you, all you need is an audio interface that has a single input that can handle a high impedance signal and a low impedance microphone. While I use interfaces from Universal Audio for my client work, they are rather pricey, so let's start with something proven, with a very decent microphone preamp that plugs in via USB and is inexpensive.
There are lots of audio interfaces. I am going to cut through all the noise and get you started with a simple yet really nice sounding interface. It is called the Focusrite Solo Pack Mark III. Here's a link to where you can buy one online from my friends at The Arts Music Store.
Low cost point of entry. Focusrite SOLO with microphone, headphones, mic cable. Just add a boom microphone stand
The unit is is Focusrite's Scarlett range and includes the Focusrite Solo USB interface, a pair of monitoring closed back headphones and a decent condenser microphone that you can use for vocals, miking an amp or an acoustic guitar. The only thing missing is a microphone stand. Find a boom stand that fits your budget and you are done, and if you don't need the microphone right away, you can wait. The entire kit sells for about $329 CAD at the time of writing.
The audio interface connects to your computer via USB. Sure you can spend more for Thunderbolt interfaces, but then your computer has to have Thunderbolt. Every computer has USB and it's a single interface so you really don't need massive horsepower. There is an input that takes a high impedance signal from a pickup with it's own gain control and a low impedance input with dedicated gain control to capture the signal from a microphone. There is a headphone jack with it's own level control for monitoring. If you happen to have a microphone or add one in the future that needs what is called Phantom Power, basically +48v to drive the microphone, that is built in as well.
The USB connection is USB-C, so you can use it with your computer or if you have one of the appropriate iPads, with the tablet as your recording platform as well. On the back are two ¼" outputs for connection to powered desktop monitors if you have such things. You don't need monitors to get recording done, but they are nice if you want a higher fidelity playback, and you can use them as your computer speakers as well because the SOLO is a bi-directional interface.
One of the things that I like about the SOLO is that setting it up involves plugging it into the computer or iPad. No drivers to fuss with. It just works. The SOLO will appear as an input source and an output target automatically. It does not get easier.
Garageband Interface showing drum loop with kit and my choice of a clean British amp (in this case a slightly modded VOX AC30/2
If and when you do use the microphone the SOLO includes the Focusrite AIR function which modifies the preamp response specifically for use with microphones to provide a more open and full sound. You can certainly do this in Garageband but pushing a button is so easy.
The SOLO also includes what are called plugins. Plugins are tools used by your recording software to allow you to enhance your recorded sound. I encourage owners to invest a bit of time to download the Focusrite Collective and RED plugins. The RED equalizer and compressor are really nice. No rush to do this, but know that your investment yields access to some very useful tools
Hey Windows users, or Mac users who don't want to use Garageband. Your SOLO purchase also gives you Pro Tools Lite and Ableton LIVE Lite, two very fine DAW offerings. You will have to register online, do the downloads and then install the software but it's pretty easy.
Easy Recording
Ok back to recording. You have your SOLO plugged into your computer and Garageband (or whatever) running. Choose the SOLO as your audio input and audio output. Plug your guitar into the SOLO and plug in the headphones. Enable the track where you will record your guitar by making it ready to record. Then adjust the input level so the meter floats between -12 and -6dB. At 0 the signal will start to clip (distort) and you do not want that when recording. Garageband comes with a number of guitar amplifier emulations so if you would like the sound of a different amp, click the amp and choose a different one from the comprehensive list. One of the things that I like about Garageband is that it gives you on screen controls for your virtual amplifier so you can tune your sound the way you want it.
Once you are ready, you can press the record button. You can set your bpm and a metronome will provide you a click track to stay on time if you wish. It will even count you in if you would like.
This isn't tape, so if you make an error, just take a break, count yourself in again and do another take. No need to continuously start and stop because this is digital audio. You can cut and move a track as you wish. If you have a perfect part and just want to keep repeating it, perhaps as a rhythm track, copy / paste works for this. In this way a solitary musician can build up a pretty rich piece of music on your own by recording different tracks.
Save your work regularly as you would with any digital file. Remember, storage is cheap, heck you can get a 4TB USB drive for well under $200 these days, so record to your heart's content.
So Get Started
You don't need 4 or 8 concurrent track recording. You don't need to spend thousands on an interface and more thousands on microphones and even more on a DAW. For most of us, the no cost / low cost options are going to do the job beautifully and simply. While I have very high end UA gear, I still have Focusrite interfaces in daily production because they are simple, low load and do a great job.
If you are locked down as I am, you can shop online for your interface. Use the link above to get your Solo Mark III recording kit from The Arts Music Store. They ship all across Canada. By the way, I am not compensated in any way for recommending the store. I have been shopping there since the early 1990s and find them to be a great shop with great people who are all very positive and having a superb customer focus.
Talk to you again soon.