What do I need to do a recording w/ my amp?

Rob,

A lot of it depends on what equipment your friend is using and how the recorded track will be used. If your friend just needs something to practice with the simplest and cheapest solution is to get an adapter that will allow you to connect the output of your amp directly into the mic input on your laptop. You can use the recorder in Windows or download Audacity (a great audio program btw) for free. It won't be the greatest quality but, like I said, it will be fine just to practice with. If you need a better quality recording there are hundreds of options out there that will let you record into a computer or there are also tons of digital (and analog) stand alone recorders, too.

BTW - midi is a different animal altogether and, for what you are doing, that is not what you need.

I'm not sure why you'd need a midi interface to record a live instrument. All you need is a 1/4" to 1/8" converter, so that you can plug your cable straight from your amp to your mic or line-in input on your computer. Try this before anything else since your other options are normally a little more expensive. If you're not happy with the sound you get from this, then you'd be better off getting some sort of USB adapter like this which can improve sound quality because it processes some of the info itself as opposed to leaving it up to the crappy soundcards that normally come with laptops.

Hey Rob,

I use this

http://pro-audio.musiciansfriend.co...ro-Mobile-USB-Audio-MIDI-Interface?sku=241710

and have had wonderful luck and experiences with it. I just used an XLR cable out from my amp head into this, and this was connected via USB. It's a bit expensive, but I use it for recordings in my dorm room and it's wonderful to take to friends' houses to record with. It's also wonderful live (I use it for keyboards). It's bus powered, so you don't need an external power supply, and works great.

Otherwise, I've had good luck just getting the above-mentioned 1/4" male to 1/8" male cord and going directly from my bass to my computer. I was using a Mac, so it sounded and worked great in Garageband. It obviously won't sound as good as going through the preamp on your head, but has worked well in a pinch.

Kyle

I use a 1/4" to 1/8" adapter to go from my head directly into the Line In on my PC's sound card.



I first set up the arrangement of the tune in Band In A Box with the intention of just getting a drum track. I then import the drum track into Audacity and record the bass and guitar parts over it. Here's a couple of jam tracks to give you an idea of the sound quality.

Drums and bass:

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Drums, Bass, and some rhythm guitar:

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I don't have a fancy sound card. I've been trying out Reaper lately for it has a couple of features that I like over Audacity, but the stable version of Audacity works just fine. I found that the beta version has too much latency.