Recording Zoom B3 and Mac audio at the same time

[jkonrath]

I thought this would be a no-brainer, but it's driving me nuts. (Could be both.)

OK, I have the following:
1) Zoom B3, plugged via USB to...
2) MacBook Pro
3) Various Mac programs I want to play along with, like Band in a Box, iTunes, Jammit, etc.

I basically want to fire up something like GarageBand or Audacity, and have a track that's the Mac program, and a track that's my bass. I would like to do this in one pass, so I could follow along on the chart in BiaB or the notation in Jammit. I realize I could make an MP3 of the Mac Program in one pass, and then record the bass in a second pass, but this is mostly for practice where I want to follow along with the chart/notation.

I know Soundflower might be involved, but I don't really know how it works.

Can I do this, or do I need to buy some kind of mixer or something?

Thanks,
Jon

 

[Jim Carr]

Can't BiaB do this?

http://bandinabox.wikia.com/wiki/Recording_with_Band_in_a_Box

 

[jkonrath]

Not on the Mac. I asked over on their forums, that's a PC-only feature, unfortunately.

I ended up half-ass solving this problem by getting a Zoom H4n recorder. Now I use an XLR Y-cable to go from the B3 to the two inputs of the recorder, and a 3.5mm to bypass the mics and feed in the Mac's headphone out. Then I can record four-track, get a WAV for the bass and one for the Mac output. I can later drag these into Audacity or Garageband to master and add other tracks and whatnot.

 

[Jim Carr]

Oh...PC only? yuck. yuck. yuck.

I was going to suggest a Zoom H4. I have run two analogue channels into the xlr mic connects on one from a Mackie Mixer. The inputs to the mixer obviously can be just about any analog audio device, as well as a DI, a laptop, etc.