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Recording The Guitar to a Computer
by: Brian Murphy


You want to record your guitar, make your own riffs, music, etc. You want to plug my guitar into my computer? How to connect the guitar to the computer the right and best way? What software? Which audio interface? What about my favorites guitar effects? What computer? Where to start? It can be overwhelming.

The recording guitarist's computer setup should be something like this:

* Guitar (*GTR with 13 pin connection recommended) * Microphone for recording Acoustic guitar, vocals etc. * Quality guitar cable * Audio Interface-Firewire (recommended) or USB * Guitar/midi interface * USB/Firewire cables * Computer (Mac recommended or PC) * Extra external/internal Hard Drive (recommended) * Audio recording/sequencer software * Plug-ins: effects- reverb, compressor, delay, chorus, etc o Dedicated guitar effects/amp simulation o Sampler/synths (for 13 pin guitarists or guitarist who can play keyboards) * Quality cables to speakers * Powered Speakers * Headphones (so you do not disturb the wife an kids at those late weekend sessions).

Some recording setups:

-Setting up your whole live rig and putting a microphone in front of the your cabinet, playing at loud volumes so you get the amp to sound right, push the speaker enough, putting your speaker in a closet, using a blanket to damping volume, etc. -You could use a load on you speaker and record direct.

-Use a preamp that is compensated for direct recording as the front end. You can plug this into outboard effects or add plug-ins

-You could record from your pedal board or any outboard multi-effects you might own. You probably end up with a direct type sound. Some multi-effects have amp simulation that might take the edge off the direct sound.

With any of these scenarios you are committing yourself to the recorded track. If you record with effects, you can't change it later. You would have to re-record! And if you do not re-record on the same day or you have to come back and have to set up the rig again, hopefully the knobs setting were written down, place the speaker in the same place etc, etc.... If you get into the recording other instruments or mixing the song and you want to change the guitar sound, tone, effects, etc, -- you have to re-record!

With a guitar with a 13 pin connection, either internally or a pickup installed on the body, you get 100% use of your software. You can record your guitar sound and get access to any software synths or samplers that come with the software or as a plug-in add-on.

With a software computer base system, you can change almost everything after you have recorded--amps, effects, mics, mic placement and more. You do this with plug-ins. You can save all your presets, sounds, etc. You could have multi-guitar tracks with different settings all from recording one track. The flexibility is there! Yes, there are purists out there- "software can't sound like tubes". Well, the software is getting pretty close!!!!

There is a lot of software out there. You do not have to spend a lot of money AND it is always improving. You buy a box. (i.e.hard disk recorders, and others mentioned above), you have bought a box. You usually can't upgrade without buying a new box.

People use computers every day at work or home- Microsoft Office (Word, Excel Power Point, etc) Email, Internet. Use it to record your guitar and music!!

Hopefully, this helps and you can check out more at http://www.guitarhelper.net
by www.articlecity.com




Music for Nothing and Your Tracks for Free


Around the globe, the record industry has gone on the offensive and who can blame them? Faced with numerous peer-to-peer networks and bit torrent clients, it has never been easier for individuals to obtain music for free.

Having given birth to the term “illegal downloading”, the record industry claims the activity seriously threatens the development of music and artists. But does this argument have any validity or is it a clever corporate spin?

Whilst the record industry have not published any factual information to support this claim, there is certainly information to show that, those “illegally downloading” music actually spend, on average, some 27% more on music than those who exclusively confine their activity to the ‘legal’ download sites and pay for every track in advance.

Recent research by the UK software house, Remlap Software, themselves a publisher of a music download application, suggests that, “illegal” downloaders are anything but the thieves the record industry labels them as.

The term ‘illegal download’ is in itself an interesting phrase. While most people would define ‘illegal’ as an activity which is outlawed under Criminal Law, the Oxford Dictionary merely states, ‘contrary to law’. The difference between public perception of the definition and the officially recognised version may only be a subtle, but it is powerful enough for the record industry to exploit.

Certainly they would have you believe that, ‘illegal’ downloading of music is ‘theft’. In doing this, the record industry further re-enforces the public perception that such activities are in contrary to CRIMINAL law; with all the serious consequences such an offence implies. The truth of the matter is, there is no criminal offence in either the EU or USA of downloading music without paying for it.

At best, the record industry could claim that, ‘illegal downloads’ are in violation of Civil Law, but even this would be spurious. Indeed if such a legal prospect were a reality, every YouTube visitor who has watched (and in doing so, downloaded) a video which violates someone’s copyright could be prosecuted. And so the whole notion of ‘illegal downloads’ is a total nonsense.

In desperation, the record industry has scraped the bottom of the barrel, several times and now resorts to suing its own customers. But to date they have not been able to prosecute one case of ‘illegal downloading’. In every case they have sued on the allegation that the defendant has ‘distributed’ music in violation of copyright. They have been able to do this, because the whole basis of peer-to-peer networks is that each user shares their music collection with the rest of the network. It is the act of ‘sharing’ or distribution which is the offence, not what they have downloaded.

Their eternal effort to force the world to only use pay-for music download sites, the record industry has already ‘persuaded’ a number of universities and ISP’s to turn-off Bit Torrent and Peer-to-Peer traffic. So could this be the end of downloading music for free?

In response to this situation UK software developers, Remlap Software considered that there were probably more mp3 files sitting on web servers, than there are on all the peer-to-peer networks put together…and they were right.

Their freeware application Clickster gives access to over 25 million individual tracks; all found on Internet web servers and available for download. With no ‘sharing’ of the end-users own mp3 collection, Clickster is being hailed as the first legal mp3 downloader.

One of the great things about Clickster is that, because mp3’s are being downloaded from a web-server and not from some guy on a dial-up connection 6000 miles away, the download speeds are much quicker. With an integral media player, tracks can be previewed/played without having to first download the file.

With Clickster clearly navigating around the latest attempts of the record industry to stamp out what they call ‘illegal downloading’, the future remains bright. And to paraphrase the Eighties rock-band, Dire Straits…’get your music for nothing and your tracks for free’.


Further information:

Clickster – Remlap Software (http://www.remlapsoftware.com)
by www.articlecity.com