right now when i record guitar, i plug my mic (quite a nice one) straight into the laptop with a big to small jack. the quality is terrible. i was wondering what i need to get a good sound from it. a big recording deck? i just want to record and then put it toghether on the laptop. i was thinking of getting an external sound card. would that help? in a nutshell, what do i need to record on a laptop. i have a laptop and mic so far

i plug my electric into the amp, then run out a headphone jack from the headphones socket in the amp... sound quality comes up pretty good too. and you can add effects and stuff in.

hmmm...

do you know a really good external sound card thats more thaN $200?

You don't need an external sound card. I'd recommend an Mbox or something like it.

 

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/fg=141/g=home/search/detail/base_pid/240469/

thats what i'm looking for excellent. do you know of any that look a bit more stylish?

You need an external "Audio Interface" which could communicate with your laptop via USB or Firewire. Audio inputs on laptops are terrible quality for recording, so no matter how good the audio interface, if you plug it in through the audio input it will sound shit. So make sure it's got USB or Firewire, or that it can connect to your PC by any other way than through the audio input.

 

The M-Box really is very good, and it comes with ProTools which is widely considered the best multi-track sequencer in the business (and I'd have to agree). Otherwise, Google for "pro audio stores" or "audio interfaces" or something similar, and eBay is a good place to look as well.

 

Also, exactly what mic are you using, and are you recording acoustic or electic guitar? It might be a decent one, but it might not be right for recording guitar with.

awesome help, thanks. the mic i'm using is the Shure SM57 (i think! sounds like that anyway) and I;m recording acoustic and someone else's vocals. I didn;t know hte M-box came with pro tools. thats awesome. did you know taht coldplay use pro tools.?

I myself just got an external Sound Blaster cause the primary sound card on my laptop got fried. It works like a charm. I plug my guitar into my amp and plug a cable into the headphone jack in the amp and plug it right to the sound card. i use Sound Forge to touch up the recording.

awesome help' date=' thanks. the mic i'm using is the Shure SM57 (i think! sounds like that anyway) and I;m recording acoustic [/quote']

 

A condenser mic would be better for acoustic guitars (the Shure SM57 is a dynamic mic). The Rode NT1 and the Audio Technica AT3035 are probably the best ones for the money. I have an Audio Technica AT3035 and it sounds great on acoustic guitars, and both these mics record vocals really well. But make sure the audio interface has something called 'Phantom Power', which is needed to use condenser microphones. The SM57 is better for recording electric guitar.

 

Now for the slightly technical bit: Acoustic guitars have complex high-frequency harmonics. Dynamic mics (like the SM57) are less sensitive than condenser mics and have a narrower frequency range (about 60Hz-14,000Hz as opposed to 20Hz-20,000Hz) so they can make an acoustic guitar sound dull. Because condensers have the bigger frequency range and are more sensitive they can pick up more of the subtle high frequencies that make an acoustic sound the way it does.

 

Of course if you're happy with the sound you're getting from the SM57, then there's no reason to change it.

oh. my. god.

 

i haev no ide awhat im doinf

Yeah, the SM57 is more of a live mic, like was said earlier, condensers are the best for studio situations, especially with acoustic guitar and piano and vocals. More of an "uncolored" tone from that. I personally would recommend an AKG 414, but those other ones are great too. If you spend the money you're generally going to get something good no matter what brand you go with.

ahhh!