interface direct in

[682]

I record into an interface usually with 2 mics in stereo. I put a pick up on the acoustic guitar and went direct in.
It sounded good thru headphones with the HiZ button on.That setup will be just for acoustic guitar with heavy fx.
I forgot to remove the other mic from the interface and noticed it was still active. Is there any problem with having both inputs going at one time like that??...the one direct with HiZ and the other balanced mic input..?
If I record in Garageband will it show up as 2 separate tracks?? Or is it better to leave the mics out when I use the direct
plug...?
The interface has 2 other unbalanced plugs on the back but I dont use them..
What do you think..?

 

[ecc83]

I record into an interface usually with 2 mics in stereo. I put a pick up on the acoustic guitar and went direct in.
It sounded good thru headphones with the HiZ button on.That setup will be just for acoustic guitar with heavy fx.
I forgot to remove the other mic from the interface and noticed it was still active. Is there any problem with having both inputs going at one time like that??...the one direct with HiZ and the other balanced mic input..?
If I record in Garageband will it show up as 2 separate tracks?? Or is it better to leave the mics out when I use the direct
plug...?
The interface has 2 other unbalanced plugs on the back but I dont use them..
What do you think..?

There are potential problems but it is quite common to use a DI from and electric guitar and a mic source from the cab. Not so common perhaps to do that with an acoustic.

One problem is 'time displacement' the signal from the mic will be delayed WRT that from the DI but since you normally close mic an acoustic, at about a foot that is 1mSec and hsrdly an issue. If you were to mono the two signals it might sound a bit weird?

Don't know Garage Band but any DAW (?) can be set to record a stereo track or two, discrete mono ones. Do the latter and you can mix the track's contributions.

Make of mic and AI please for full grocking.


Dave.

 

[682]

AKG SE300B 1992 and Steinberg rt2

so no electrical damage issues anyway??..I was doing direct in from the guitar and at the same time had one mic recording ambient sound from that same guitar also..

 

[gecko zzed]

Is there any problem with having both inputs going at one time like that??...the one direct with HiZ and the other balanced mic input..?

No. There is no problem.

If I record in Garageband will it show up as 2 separate tracks??

It depends on what you've set up Garage Band. I'm not familiar with GB. I use Reaper, and in Reaper you need to tell it which channels to record.
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[agiledood]

If you arm the track to record in stereo, it will record the signal from 2 inputs onto the same track. Always record in mono if you can.

When I record acoustic guitar, I sometimes record 3 tracks simultaneously (each recorded in mono). 1 input is the acoustic pickup, the other two are close and far mics. Then I have sounds to tinker with in mixing. My basement has a nice sounding natural reverb so the 'far' mic is just to capture the room. Some people mic the neck and body area and use a pickup. Try a whole bunch of different ways to record and you'll figure out what sounds best.

When mixing, I'll hard pan the acoustic pickup to one side, and the close-mic to another side. I have a habit of always having 2 different acoustic parts so I usually do a whole pile of takes and then pick whatever sounds best.

In Garageband, you can arm as many tracks for simultaneous recording for up to as many inputs as you have so leaving any of them active doesn't really matter, nothing will get damaged. You might just hear noise or feedback if you have track monitoring turned on.

I used to use GB, but upgraded to Logic Pro X.