# Electric Guitar through an iMic?



## MacNEO (Jan 7, 2004)

Can I plug in a guitar directy too an iMic, or do you have to use it like a microphone? I want to record my guitar playing too my iBook. Do I need something like a Powerwave instead? I just want to play around and don't really want to spend much...


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## btoneill (Jan 7, 2004)

You can use an iMic, Monster also makes a 1/4 photo to 1/8 mini plug that you can use to connect your guitar to the iMic. Apples store has it for $20, altho I'm sure you can find cheaper solutions.

Brian


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## Hoggy (Jan 7, 2004)

MacNEO said:
			
		

> Can I plug in a guitar directy too an iMic, or do you have to use it like a microphone? .



Is your guitar an electric or acoustic? If you have an electric guitar, then you may get better results plugging into the amp, then connecting your amp's line out to the iMic input. Give it a try.

Note - make sure it is a line out, not a speaker jack or anything similarly deadly


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## cybergoober (Jan 7, 2004)

Hoggy said:
			
		

> Is your guitar an electric or acoustic? If you have an electric guitar, then you may get better results plugging into the amp, then connecting your amp's line out to the iMic input. Give it a try.
> 
> Note - make sure it is a line out, not a speaker jack or anything similarly deadly



Judging by the title of the thread, I'd say it's an electric guitar


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## Arden (Jan 7, 2004)

If you're referring to Garage Band, you can plug your guitar directly into a 1/4 to 1/8 inch adaptor.


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## larry98765 (Jan 7, 2004)

What about Mobile Pre USB that apple's selling in its store for $150. Under what circumstances would I need this instead of just plugging a mic or electric guitar directly into my mac's input? 

-- a music recording novice.


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## MacNEO (Jan 7, 2004)

Ahh, cool. I just need an adapter to fit the iMic. And yes it's an electric, an Eddie Van Halen Wolfgang!  I will use my amp input! Thanx for all the help! I think I may have to try GarageBand!


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## monktus (Jan 8, 2004)

GarageBand would be a good idea, otherwise the sound will suck. You can just plug your guitar straight in to the iMic (I'm assuming that it will bring the signal level up to something usable) but you could do with some sort of preamp to make it sound nice e.g. GarageBand or Amplitube to simulate an amp, or preferably, plug the guitar into some sort of amp first and record the output (either directly or through a microphone). If you just want to note stuff down and aren't bothered about the quality then pluggin straight in will do you, but if you want to make your guitar sound good in any sort of way it has to go through something else first. Think of a similar situation live - you could plug a guitar straight into the PA but it would sound much nicer going through a Marshall or a Mesa Boogie first!


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## btoneill (Jan 8, 2004)

larry98765 said:
			
		

> What about Mobile Pre USB that apple's selling in its store for $150. Under what circumstances would I need this instead of just plugging a mic or electric guitar directly into my mac's input?



The MobiePre USB that Apple is selling has multiple types of input, it handles microphones, low impedence input, and high impedence input. It is also a preamp to amplify the signals from an instrument, and it has controls for limiting the input so you don't get distortion from sending a higher input level then the computer can handle.

If you are actually wanting to record and publish your music (via web, cd's, whatever) you really want to use something like the MobilePre USB. If you're just messing around with it, want to use it as a quick guitar amp, to jam with it's loops, etc, using a line level input should work fine for most cases, but it won't be as clear as going thru a nice preamp first.

Brian


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## larry98765 (Jan 8, 2004)

Btoneill -- 

Thanks much for those tips. 

Could you explain low and high impedance? I've read some technical definitions, but could you explain it as it relates to Garage Band, Mac and the MobilePre?

Thanks!


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## btoneill (Jan 8, 2004)

Well, how technical would you like me to get on impedence?  To make it simple, low impedance is high powered, high impedance is low powered. (This is very overly simplicated)

On how it relates to Garage Band, Mac, and the MobilePre is pretty simple. The inputs you'll find either built into your computer, or via the iMic are low impedence. They expect input that is a line-level input. Most electric guitars, and higher end mic's are high impedence, which is very low powered. If you plug a high impedence device into a low impedence plug, you won't get the best sound quality, as it is not amplifiying the signal before it is processed. So, once that sound gets into your mac, which GarageBand would then process, it will be a bit off of what it should be, ofcourse, alot of peopel wouldn't notice, they'd just crank up the volume higher.

Now, by using a MobilePre you are able to send to your Mac the same level of signal no matter what device you have plugged into it. This will give you a much clearer and more balance sound from the mic/instrument.

Brian


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## larry98765 (Jan 8, 2004)

Brian,

Now I understand. Many thanks for a well-formed explanation!

Larry


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## karavite (Jan 9, 2004)

For direct recording of a guitar you don't really need this, but you really should try a Pod - http://www.line6.com/productpage.asp?productID=27

It is absolutely awesome.


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## bossa nova (Jan 10, 2004)

karavite said:
			
		

> For direct recording of a guitar you don't really need this, but you really should try a Pod - http://www.line6.com/productpage.asp?productID=27
> 
> It is absolutely awesome.



I agree with Karavite, a pod is awesome. But the gain coming out of it will probably overdrive the mic input causing distortion.

do you have a mic input on your imac? if you do you can go to Radio Shack and buy the cable that will work. Since the impedence on a guitar is different then a high impedence microphone you may want to look for an inexpensive "Pad" to put between the guitar and your mac.

But you can get by without it. You may want to turn your guitar volume really low to start and then increase the volume just until it distorts and then back it off a little.


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## italiano (Jan 11, 2004)

Garage band makes me wish I'd kept my Gibson... wow might have to buy another one at 52


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## karavite (Jan 11, 2004)

italiano said:
			
		

> Garage band makes me wish I'd kept my Gibson... wow might have to buy another one at 52



It's never too late!!!  Still, why not a Fender?


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## larry98765 (Jan 11, 2004)

Bossa Nova,

I'm wanting to record chiefly acoustic guitar and vocals. So would you say then to first try a decent mic (I'm looking at a Shure SM-58 as per a friend's recommendation) plugged directly into my Mac would be ok for starters?

Larry


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## karavite (Jan 11, 2004)

Hey Larry, wait to hear from others, but I think a Shure SM-57 or 58 is a great all around mic and everyone who records anything seems to have a few laying around. I'm just not sure whether you will need some kind of preamp to use it direct in your computer or not. If you do, and are on a budget, it might be worth looking at inexpensive mixers or even used 4-Track recorders (just use it as a mixer). Again, I defer to the experts since I have been out of this whole thing for some time.

Also, don't worry about the pod, but it seems like GaragaeBand has some amp simulators built right in - maybe not as extensive or call os the pod, but it I'm sure it will be fun to play with. I need to get iLife!


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## larry98765 (Jan 12, 2004)

Thanks Karavite. Can anyone else weigh in?


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## bossa nova (Jan 12, 2004)

larry98765 said:
			
		

> Thanks Karavite. Can anyone else weigh in?



Larry, an SM-58 would be fine. The SM-57 is the same mic only without the pop screen. They are durable and built like tanks. 

They started out being marketed for touring professionals but quickly became popular in the studio because they are great for mic'ing guitar amps and snare drums.

They have a slight rise starting at around 4k through the 10k region. They are also excellent at reducing backround bleed which is why they were popular in live situations. If you put a vocal mic 20 feet in front of a guitar players amp you will get some bleed. There is no way around that. But these mic's were designed with that in mind using a very "tight" pattern around the mic's diaphram.

You will need to get a hi-z transformer for it though because it is a true low impedance mic. Then you will also need a 1/4" female jack to a 1/8" jack to go into the mac. It will sound very good. I used one with my porta studio in the early years.

If you are truly interested in the art of recording and Microphones. (Mic's are an art in themselves.) Here are some links to check out. There are several magazines at the newstand but there are only a couple that stand out for professionals and being the best.

The first one which has a lot of great information for professional engineers and producers is "MIX" magazine. Check out the forums too.
http://www.mixonline.com/ 
Sign up for the "MixLine E-Newsletter" they often mention alot of cheaper products for home recording especially some of the digital converters that use firewire or USB.

Then check out EQ Magazine
http://www.eqmag.com/
They also have great forums too. George Massenburg has a thread there and he is a genius.

Also you don't mention where you live but if you have a good music store in town they will be happy to let you try stuff out. Go in and tell them you want to try an SM-58 out. 

The SM-58 or SM-57 are good mic's to start with. Most engineers would probably recommend that.

hope that helps...
J.


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## Arden (Jan 12, 2004)

GarageBand has a number of filters built right in for recording audio in, and it doesn't matter what kind of audio.  I'm not sure if it applies the effect destructively or nondestructively, but you can plug in and start jamming immediately.

I like the telephone effect.  Makes it seem far away.


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## MacNEO (Jan 14, 2004)

Yeah, a Line6 Pod would be the way too go, but I seem to be too poor for one of those and I was thinking I could get away with using GarageBand to just jam with. I am kind of concerned that GarageBand doesn't have multi-effects that you can add (delay, etc.). There might just be prebuilt amp sounds. I may have to save up for a Pod... I installed the demo Amplitube and it keeps crashing whenever I open it. I really don't feel like paying for a program like that anyway, I'd much prefer an Apple product!


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## karavite (Jan 14, 2004)

I'm sorry for ewven bringing up the pod! I remember reading somewhere that GB did have pod-like amp processors, but hey, concentrate on your music first and not all this gear stuff - it can drive you insane. I am living proof!  Plus it really has no bearing on your musical skills - some people with no gear are fabulous musicians, some with tons of gear can be hacks or great musicians too. In 1989-1993 I had anything and everything for music processing and recording. Today, I have only two electric guitars and a pod, acoustic guitar, banjo, lap steel and an inherited Steinway piano - no booting up required for anything and I am quite happy!


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## bossa nova (Jan 15, 2004)

MacNeo, if I remember correctly there are some effects that you can add. Checking Apples page http://www.apple.com/ilife/garageband/mix.html



> Built-in effects: Compressor, Equalizer, Reverb, Echo, Gate, Treble/Bass Reduction, Distortion, Overdrive, Bitcrusher, Automatic Filter, Chorus, Flanger, Phaser, Tremolo, Auto-Wah, Amp Simulation.
> 
> And thats only the tip of the iceberg. GarageBands Audio Unit support allows you to add hundreds of effects and recording tools.



From the looks of it you can pretty much put the effects you need in the signal path and then mix levels so I think you will have what you need already.


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## MacNEO (Jan 15, 2004)

karavite said:
			
		

> I'm sorry for ewven bringing up the pod! I remember reading somewhere that GB did have pod-like amp processors, but hey, concentrate on your music first and not all this gear stuff - it can drive you insane. I am living proof!  Plus it really has no bearing on your musical skills - some people with no gear are fabulous musicians, some with tons of gear can be hacks or great musicians too. In 1989-1993 I had anything and everything for music processing and recording. Today, I have only two electric guitars and a pod, acoustic guitar, banjo, lap steel and an inherited Steinway piano - no booting up required for anything and I am quite happy!



No, I hear you though. I am pretty much just a hack player. I have a small selection of effects I like for main tone. I bought a Zoom multi-thing and I can't stand it anymore. It sounds just terrible. I have played for quite a few years, but haven't seemed to develop too well, especially when I moved out on my own. I live in an appartment and I can't use my amp at a decent volume, hence wanting something personal size such as a Pod. The whole GarageBand thing looks like a really cheap alternative. I don't like to play if I can't get some decent tones!


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## MacNEO (Jan 15, 2004)

bossa nova said:
			
		

> MacNeo, if I remember correctly there are some effects that you can add. Checking Apples page http://www.apple.com/ilife/garageband/mix.html
> 
> 
> 
> From the looks of it you can pretty much put the effects you need in the signal path and then mix levels so I think you will have what you need already.




Sweeeeeeet! Apple kicks!


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## MacNEO (Jan 15, 2004)

http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore?productLearnMore=T9106LL/A

Seeing this thing I am wondering if I even need an iMic to use a regular adapter to plug my guitar to my iBook? Can I just go direct with a generic Radio-Crack type adapter? Or is this one on the Apple site special in some way?


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## karavite (Jan 15, 2004)

Ah, so your quest for tone might be fulfilled! Great. I can understand your issues with tone - I don't think it ever ends! Though I am not a fan of his song writing (or singing) apparently the guitar player Eric Johnson has passed blindfold tests in being able to tell gold vs brass cable jacks and even different batteries (Duracell vs some other brand) in his effect pedals! Could you imagine how miserable life could be with those kind of ears and no budget to match?!

I hope someone chimes in on the adapter for you - I can't imagine it working direct with a guitar without active electronics and/or some kind of little preamp (in the guitar) or a line out from some kind of amp/mixer/preamp, but I may be wrong.


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## MacNEO (Jan 15, 2004)

karavite said:
			
		

> Ah, so your quest for tone might be fulfilled! Great. I can understand your issues with tone - I don't think it ever ends! Though I am not a fan of his song writing (or singing) apparently the guitar player Eric Johnson has passed blindfold tests in being able to tell gold vs brass cable jacks and even different batteries (Duracell vs some other brand) in his effect pedals! Could you imagine how miserable life could be with those kind of ears and no budget to match?!
> 
> I hope someone chimes in on the adapter for you - I can't imagine it working direct with a guitar without active electronics and/or some kind of little preamp (in the guitar) or a line out from some kind of amp/mixer/preamp, but I may be wrong.



That's crazy man! Eddie Van Halen is apparently really miserable about stuff like that too. He can tell when transistors and what not are changed in his amp.


I am trying an amlitube demo right now directly plugged in and it does not seem to be working. Guess it needs preamp. This cable on Apple's site must have something like that in it...?


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## Arden (Jan 15, 2004)

Arden said:
			
		

> If you're referring to Garage Band, you can plug your guitar directly into a 1/4 to 1/8 inch adaptor.


 *Cough*


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## karavite (Jan 16, 2004)

Really? Okay, cool. (we can't all be expected to read every word in a 2 page thread can we?) I'm interested to see how this would sound with their processing. Should be interesting.


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## MacNEO (Jan 16, 2004)

Arden said:
			
		

> *Cough*



Yeah sorry man, I kind of confused myself, I guess Amplitude is quite different in that aspect. I wasn't sure if there was something special about that Monster Cable thing. If it's just an adapter, it's quite the rip-off. GarageBand is going to be pretty cool if it sounds half decent! (No extra hardware needed!)


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## bossa nova (Jan 17, 2004)

Well...I bought it. Can hardly wait to install it. I am going to force myself to  wait until the morning though.

Arden...You have to forgive us for walking past the door so to speak. (Even after it was pointed out to us!) This is pretty exciting stuff don't you think?

I will try and post something once I get the thing up and running.


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## Arden (Jan 17, 2004)

karavite said:
			
		

> Really? Okay, cool. (we can't all be expected to read every word in a 2 page thread can we?) I'm interested to see how this would sound with their processing. Should be interesting.





			
				MacNEO said:
			
		

> Yeah sorry man, I kind of confused myself, I guess Amplitude is quite different in that aspect. I wasn't sure if there was something special about that Monster Cable thing. If it's just an adapter, it's quite the rip-off. GarageBand is going to be pretty cool if it sounds half decent! (No extra hardware needed!)





			
				bossa nova said:
			
		

> Arden...You have to forgive us for walking past the door so to speak. (Even after it was pointed out to us!) This is pretty exciting stuff don't you think?


Yeah, it's all good, I figured you guys had missed it so I refreshed your memories.


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## boi (Jan 17, 2004)

i just want to say for a guitar, the 1/8 converter is great, but if you use a mic, you'll need a pre-amp.
it's cool seeing people get into music with garageband. i wish we had this stuff when i had a band back in the day. we just used a 4 track tape-recorder and, well, a garage with mattress pads all over the place. 
"when i was your age..." heh.


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## bossa nova (Jan 17, 2004)

boi said:
			
		

> "when i was your age..." heh.


boi...you and I are probably the same age. I remember getting all choked up when the finally came out with the sound on sound feature on 2 tracks. Then the next thing that got me all worked up was the porta studio. I could hardly believe I could play along and bounce conveniently. Then there was the digital medium and now THIS!!!


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## bossa nova (Jan 17, 2004)

Ok so I got up this morning and installed. Or should I say tried to install. Not enough room. So I moved a bunch of stuff. In my haste I didn't bring my power cable for my powerbook and it powered down in the middle of the install. When I tried to install again I couldn't because there were already sound files from garageband installed making the installer think that there wasn't enough space.

I eventually found where it put the sound files and I wasn't happy about it either. They are putting the loops in the "Application Support" folder. I would much prefer to be able to move them to an audio drive and hopefully I can do that but as yet haven't tried.

Since my titanium powerbook doesn't have a dvd drive I booting from my Quicksilver off of my powerbooks drive in firewire mode. It let me install it. I have been able to audition some sounds and so far so good.

One thing I like is that you can double click on sounds in the Loop Browser to hear them. Nice to not have to drag them into the song.

I plan to spend the rest of the day listening to the loops to see what I have to work with. If anyone has any questions let me know I will try and search out the answers.

rOcKiN!!!!


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## bossa nova (Jan 17, 2004)

I figured out that you don't have to double click sounds to play them in the loop bin. You can just lick on the sound wave icon to the left of the loop name. Click on/Click off.

I also found some tips and keyboard shortcut here:
Tips:
http://www.apple.com/ilife/garageband/hottips/
Keyboard shortcuts:
http://www.apple.com/ilife/garageband/hottips/shortcuts.html


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## larry98765 (Jan 20, 2004)

Thanks to everyone on this thread for their help. I bought iLife over the weekend, and I've already recorded two songs -- easier than expected.

I've been impressed by the quality of the PB's built-in mic for recording, and GB's (GarageBand, not the president) ability to smooth out and add fx to what I record, whether it be acoustic guitar or vocals. I still plan on getting a better mic (Shure SM-58, people tell me, is a solid choice, good value) and a midi keyboard, etc. but out of the box, GarageBand is almost insanely great.

I say ALMOST, because hard disk speed can be an issue. I was looking forward to portable recording/editing, but discovered that my 12" PB G4 drive is too slow to keep up. An external FireWire drive did the trick, but this may not be an ideal setup for some.

Another problem is how it always launches with the last project, whether you want it to or not, and it quits when closing the project window, which seems like a violation of Apple's own interface guidelines.


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## Satcomer (Jan 20, 2004)

bossa nova said:
			
		

> Ok so I got up this morning and installed. Or should I say tried to install. Not enough room. So I moved a bunch of stuff. In my haste I didn't bring my power cable for my powerbook and it powered down in the middle of the install. When I tried to install again I couldn't because there were already sound files from garageband installed making the installer think that there wasn't enough space.
> 
> <snip>
> 
> I eventually found where it put the sound files and I wasn't happy about it either. They are putting the loops in the "Application Support" folder. I would much prefer to be able to move them to an audio drive and hopefully I can do that but as yet haven't tried.


This hint on GarageBand libraries might be of some help to you.


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## MacNEO (Jan 23, 2004)

Ok, I bought GarageBand and plugged my guitar in to my iBook, but I am not getting any sound. Any Ideas? I just used an adapter 1/4" to 1/8" to plug in with.


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## MacNEO (Jan 23, 2004)

So from what I can see, there is no proper place to plug my guitar into my iBook. It only has a hole at the side of the LCD for a mic. I would need to plug into an actual mic input if there was one to make my guitar audible (sp?) right? I was trying to use the speaker port and that is wrong. How do I make this work?


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## MacNEO (Jan 24, 2004)

Now I have bought an iMic and this hasn't helped at all. I am getting really mad now....


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## MacNEO (Jan 24, 2004)

Ok, my bad. I had to set the input in prefs in GarageBand for the iMic. GarageBand kicks!


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