Electric Guitar through an iMic?

M

MacNEO

Dirty Mac Monkey
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...
 
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
 
MacNEO said:
Can I plug in a guitar directy too an iMic, or do you have to use it like a microphone? .
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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 :)
 
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 :)
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Judging by the title of the thread, I'd say it's an electric guitar… ;)
 
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.
 
Ahh, cool. I just need an adapter to fit the iMic. And yes it's an electric, an Eddie Van Halen Wolfgang! :cool: I will use my amp input! Thanx for all the help! I think I may have to try GarageBand!
 
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!
 
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?
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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
 
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!
 
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
 
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.
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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.
 
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
 
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!
 
larry98765 said:
Thanks Karavite. Can anyone else weigh in?
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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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