Very confused recording begginer

[Simps]

First off I'd like to apologise for having to make a new thread about this, but the threads I've seen were either obsolete to my needs or even more confusing.

Here's the deal: I want to record from my amp, to my PC. That's it.

I just want a decent quality of sound recorded from my amp to my PC. I've read a lot about a Shure SM-57, which I will consider using in the future, but right now, living with other noisy people, recording with a microphone may not be an option.

So I went to look this up and a bunch of pages came up regarding "direct recording", but they didn't help enough...

If it's worth anything, I have a Peavey Vypyr 30. The only thing that I could use to record is one of those small 3.5mm that it has at the front. I'm guessing that can't handle transfering a quality recording to my PC, or am I wrong?

The reason I assume that is because I've tried connecting a 3.5mm jack to my PC from the amp, and the quality was beyond terrible. My PC is quite old, but I will be upgrading it with a 7.1 sound card, but even then will I need something else to connect to my amp, or will the 3.5mm jack be enough to record properly?

A lot of questions, I know, and I apologise, but just a few more:
Would I need an audio interface, and what are they for?
What other equipment would I need?

Thank you very much in advance, and again I apologise for having to post a new thread about this, but, as you can tell, all these problems didn't seem to me as if they'd fit anywhere else in these forums.

 

[Chili]

Does it have to be 'your' amp, or do you just want to record your guitar playing?? If noise is an issue, then I suggest you look at an amp modeler. You can find one that plugs into your computer through a usb port, monitor with headphones. Most will come with some form of a popular DAW program, like Cubase.

I've got a digitech RP150 which I like very much. It isn't expensive and I can record while the family sleeps.

 

[chrisharris]

A lot of questions, I know, and I apologise, but just a few more:
Would I need an audio interface, and what are they for?
What other equipment would I need?

The answer is "probably." This is what Chili is talking about. I have a 13 year old kid who wants to start recording, so I got him a little USB Firebox which he can plug his guitar straight into, or he can plug into it from the output of his amp...or he can plug a microphone into it and record his actual amp sound.

It's not the best, but it's cheap and it gets the job done fine. FIREBOX

I'm sure the reason your 3.5mm jack solution didn't work is because you were overloading your soundcard by sending more signal than it could handle. Guitar distortion is cool. Overloaded digital distortion sucks ass.

 

[Peter B]

Hi. First things first .........I'm no expert. I was home recording for a while just using my PC's sound card and the free download application Audacity, but I soon realised that the results were pretty poor and good though it is for a freebee, Audacity is pretty limited. So I went for an audio interface. You ask what they are, well, in simple terms they are an external 'sound card' which accesses your PC via a USB port and has multiple audio inputs. Mine's the failrly basic Lexicon Lambda which has inputs for two microphones, two line inputs, an instrument and a MIDI device. It came with Cubase LE which is seems to be a pretty universal home recording application with its own users' web site which is very useful. There are hundreds of interfaces out there and to be honest Lexicon is not the most popular make, so just Google 'Audio Interface' and take your pick.

So if you wanted to record you guitar, for instance, you'd just plug it into the 'instrument' input of the Lambda and off you go. In fact my daughter's partner does this on my set up regularly and produces some nice tracks. What other euipment would you need? In my view, though not essential, a stereo amp, nothing fantastic, maybe just 10 - 15 watts and very basic, a decent pair of monitor speakers and a decent pair of headphones. I found that I just couldn't mix and master my recordings with the crappy little speakers attached to the computer so I take the L&R stereo outputs from the Lambda to the stereo amp and the monitors and use them. When you're recording you'll need the headphones to listen to yourself and you'll use the monitor mix control on your interface to blend your live input with the other tracks you've put down and are playing over.

So whatever your situation, if you're going to get into home recording I think you'll need and interface to suit your needs and an application like Cubase, which most interfaces come bundled with.

Good luck...............

 

[TimOBrien]

My obligatory standard reply-for-newbies that I keep in Wordpad so this is just a paste (I don't want to re-type this all the time):

First off, immediately get a good beginner recording book (spend $20 before spending hundred$/thousand$) that shows you what you need to get started and how to hook everything up in your studio:
Home Recording for Musicians by Jeff Strong - $16
Amazon.com: Home Recording For Musicians For Dummies (9780470385425): Jeff Strong: Books

PC Recording Studios for Dummies - $16
Amazon.com: PC Recording Studios For Dummies (9780764577079): Jeff Strong: Books
(Wish I'd had those when I started; would have saved me lots of money and time and grief)
You can also pick up this book in most any Borders or Barnes&Noble in the Music Books section!

Recording Guitar and Bass by Huw Price
Amazon.com: Recording Guitar and Bass: Getting a Great Sound Every Time You Record (9780879307301): Huw Price: Books
(I got my copy at a place called Half-Price Books for $6!!)

Home Recording for Beginners by Geoffrey Francis
Amazon.com: Home Recording for Beginners (9781598638813): Geoffrey (Geoffrey Francis) Francis: Books

When you get a bit into it, I highly recomend The Art of Mixing by David Gibson
Amazon.com: The Art of Mixing: A Visual Guide to Recording, Engineering, and Production (9781931140454): David (David Gibson) Gibson: Books

A MUST READ: Kim Lajoie's "Lifesigns from studio" - FREE - http://www.errepici.it/web/download/KLBD.asp

And you can get a FREE subscription to TapeOp magazine at Tape Op Magazine

Barnes&Noble or Borders are great places to start --- they have recording books and you can go get a snack or coffee and read them for FREE! Don't pass by a good recording book --- this is a VERY technical hobby and you REALLY want to start a reference library!!!

Good Newbie guides that also explains all the basics and have good tips:
Tweak's Guide to the Home and Project Studio
Free beginner PDFs | Computer Music Magazine | MusicRadar.com
The #1 online community for musicians | Harmony Central
Tips & Techniques - Gearslutz.com

Guitar Amp Recording: Guitar Amp Recording

21 Ways To Assemble a Recording Rig: How to Configure a Recording Studio Rig

Other recording books: Music Books Plus - Home Recording

Still using a built-in soundcard?? Unfortunately, those are made with less than $1 worth of chips for beeps, boops and light gaming (not to mention cheapness for the manufacturer) and NOT quality music production.
#1 Rule of Recording: You MUST replace the built-in soundcard.
Here's a good guide and user-tested suggestions that work: The Best Audio Interfaces for your Home Studio by TweakHeadz Lab
(you'll want to bookmark and read through all of Tweak's Guide while you're there...)

Plenty of software around to record for FREE to start out on:
Sony ACID Xpress 10-track sequencer: ACIDplanet.com: Free Downloads: ACID Xpress
Audacity: Audacity: Free Audio Editor and Recorder (multi-track with VST support)
Wavosaur: Wavosaur free audio editor with VST and ASIO support (a stereo audio file editor with VST support)\
Kristal: KRISTAL Audio Engine
Other freebies and shareware: Music Software - Computer Music Resources - Shareware Music Machine

Another great option is REAPER at REAPER | Audio Production Without Limits
(It's $60 but runs for free until you get guilty enough to pay for it...)
I use Reaper and highly reccomend it...

Music Notation and MIDI recording: Melody Assistant ($25) and Harmony Assistant ($80) have the power of $600 notation packages...
Myriad: Music Notation Software and much more... / Myriad : logiciels de musique, et bien plus...
Demo you can try on the website.

And you can go out to any Barnes&Noble or Borders and pick up "Computer Music" magazine - they have a full FREE studio suite in every issue's DVD, including sequencers, plugins and tons of audio samples. (November 2006 they gave away a full copy of SamplitudeV8SE worth $150, November 2007-on the racks Dec in the US- they gave away SamplitudeV9SE and July 2009 issue they put out Samplitude10SE, December 2010 they gave away Samplitude11LE. FREE. It pays to watch 'em for giveaways...)

'Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.'

 

[Simps]

I... did not expect this many replies in such a short ammount of time. Wow!

Well thank you all for all your responses! Chilli, yes, it's the only amp I have and can use, thank you for the input!

Chris, that was probably why, I have a really bad sound card at the moment. I've heard about those USB boxes, I've heard of a Tone Port and a Line Pod, so I have plenty of options here, thank you for the recommendation!

Peter, thanks for explaining what they are, now I know, and I'm liking the sound of them (excuse the pun). Awesome, I also have Fruity Loops installed so I could use that too, thank you very much for all that help!

Tim, that pretty much covered everything else I wanted to know! Thank you for the book recomendation, I've got some reading to do it seems. Thanks for all those links, they're already proving useful!

Well it seems I'll be getting one of a USB box/Audio interface PC with a better soundcard, and some nice speakers and a quality headset.

It might take a while until that happens, but hopefully I'll be back here one day to show you what I've made.

Thanks again for all this help, I definately did not expect so much help and advice, you guys are awesome.