Looking to Record Drum Machine and Guitar scratch tracks

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tra999

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Hello Everyone,
I'm very new to recording via the computer and could use some tips on how to get started. All that I'm looking to do at this point is record some scratch drum tracks and then record guitar to them. Something to document ideas, basically.
So I found an evaluation of a recording software called Reaper, and using some online tutorials, was able to hookup a VST called Independence Free, which allowed me to add a drum track.
The confusion I am having is how to best hook up the guitar to record a guitar track. I have a nice little combo amp and a microphone, so my thought was to just mic up the amp and record that into the computer. Obviously I need a way to get that interfaced into the computer.
In doing research, it seems that the best way is to use a little USB interface box (the one I looked at is the M-Audio Fast Track). But my concern is that everyone says that there will be a lot of lag when inputting the guitar into the computer. I would ideally just like to lay down the drums and play along while recording the guitar. Is this realistic? Or is there a better way to do this? I really don't care which software/hardware I use (well, as long as it's relatively cheap). Again, at this point, I'm just looking for the basics. Any tips on how to get started would be helpful.
Thanks.
 
tra999 said:
Hello Everyone,
I'm very new to recording via the computer and could use some tips on how to get started. All that I'm looking to do at this point is record some scratch drum tracks and then record guitar to them. Something to document ideas, basically.
So I found an evaluation of a recording software called Reaper, and using some online tutorials, was able to hookup a VST called Independence Free, which allowed me to add a drum track.
The confusion I am having is how to best hook up the guitar to record a guitar track. I have a nice little combo amp and a microphone, so my thought was to just mic up the amp and record that into the computer. Obviously I need a way to get that interfaced into the computer.
In doing research, it seems that the best way is to use a little USB interface box (the one I looked at is the M-Audio Fast Track). But my concern is that everyone says that there will be a lot of lag when inputting the guitar into the computer. I would ideally just like to lay down the drums and play along while recording the guitar. Is this realistic? Or is there a better way to do this? I really don't care which software/hardware I use (well, as long as it's relatively cheap). Again, at this point, I'm just looking for the basics. Any tips on how to get started would be helpful.
Thanks.
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Yes, that would be realistic. What mic do you have? You can find a small USB interface to suit your needs, there are a lot of them out there. The fast track would work just fine, and a sometimes small interfaces will have a TS and XLR combo jack so you could plug your guitar (TRS or TS) into the interface and record it into the computer through that, but you could mic (using the XLR input) your amp if you would like too, nothing wrong with either of those options.
Reaper is a very good program, and you seem to be on the right track with things.
Eventually you may more inputs to record another guitar at the same time, or a vocalist, or maybe a bass.
If you get that you would be just fine making scratch tracks.

Good luck man!
 
Seems like you've done your research man! kudos. Yep, a little audio interface will do just fine for recording your guitar tracks! There shouldn't be much lag at all (just a handful of milliseconds) if everything gets set up correctly!
 
Thanks so much for the input and encouragement. Much appreciated.
 
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