How to plug guitar into computer?

R

ragestormz

New member
I heard of this free program called audacity. It allows a guitarist to jam with himself on the computer. But the problem is how do i connect my guitar to the computer?

Can anyone tell me what cables or equipment do I need?
And how much do they cost roughly?

Thanks
 
are u using an electric or classical/acoustic guitar?

if you're using an electric guitar, you could get a guitar cable and a 1/4" to 1/8" adaptor.

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plug it to the line in if there is, otherwise to mic in of your soundcard. Whichever sounds better will do. Check that the volume from your line-in/mic-in is not muted.

if there's no plug in from your guitar, you could use a microphone that goes to the computer.

or alternatively you can always jam without plugging to your computer. Just use a guitar amp and play along with your computer speaker sounds. :)

You don't really need to plug in to jam unless you wish to process the guitar sound in some way (add computer effects, record, etc).

Hmm, experienced guitar + com users, care to correct/add on to this? Would help a lot... this seems like good sticky material here. :)

*it's 1/8" not 3/32". That's what been mind-boggling me.
 
Abt The Cable

Hi ...

thats some pretty neat info, considering that ive got Audacity myself and its juz lying in my comp!

wat i wanna ask is where do i get that cable and how much does it cost?

could ya sms me at 98581246 plz cos i seldom come in here and im at class now!

thanx a bunch dude!
 
Where can i get the cable? and how much does it cost?

Is the mic in input the same as the one my speakers of my computer is connected to? (i.e the green one)

Using this setup and maybe another program such as Ableton Live Lite can i now do a recording?

Thanks
 
I think if you wanna run your guitar through your computer like directly, it might be best for you to run it through an Interface via firewire or usb first before it goes to the computer's sound card.

But it's an expensive option, a more viable approach would be using a relatively good computer mic, plug into the red socket on your sound card. The capturing the sound via your amp, experiment with various positions for the best sound.

Hope this helps.
 
You can get the adaptor off electronic shops. Look around closely. :wink:

if come to worst, print a copy of the picture and bring it around to electronic shops.
 
WOuld plugging my electric guitar in using the cable thor666 recommended possibly damage my sound card? Because i heard that if u plugged in your electric guitar to speakers like those from ur T.v set of hi-fi you might damage the speakers
 
langren - i've also heard of that, and I'm no expert to comment on that! :oops: The soundcard I'm using is cheap anyway and I haven't spoilt the card after recording for so long.

For those plugging in to Line in, it seems you'll need a pre-amp if the volume turns out to be too soft.

Link from Cakewalk forums

Possibly the same for mics, as I find:

Q&A off Shure website

(which is annoying. if i had to get a preamp, why don't I just get a proper offline recording device? :roll: )

ok, like i hinted, need more professional people who've recorded more than me to add to this thread.
 
eh... err...

i thought u can't plug in electric directly to line-in nor mic-in?

what i do it, plug in my guitar to my amp, then connect the line-out from my amp to the com's line-in...

or alternatively, use a DI box like Behringer GDI-21
 
you could. the volume is very soft and thin though.

i have a Direct out from my amp at home but my line in jack's spoilt. and the sound's still horrible without a preamp.
 
The adapter can be found at most sound shops... Just bought one myself. Hehe like what thor666 said, unless u want to process stuff, then use the computer... plugged into the computer itself without any program will just result in a clean tone...
 
get a small behringer 4 channel mixer. only $100. Can use that to interface guitar with the soundcard. Much more flexible also. Next time can also plug microphones in if you feel like it.
 
how abt creating distortion? able to use analog pedals or digital multi fx works better?

i remember playing plugging my ds-2 in & it sounded quite ok.. yest i tried again and the distortion was quite weak..
 
MadWereWolfBoy said:
where can this mixer be found? Luther's don't seem to carry them :(

<edit>

btw, is it this u were refering to? :

http://www.behringer.com/MX400/index.cfm?lang=ENG
Click to expand...

No No... I'm referring to this...

http://www.behringer.com/UB802/index.cfm?lang=ENG

Its definitely good enough for home recordings. Also you get alot of flexibility in mixing sounds in and out of the computer. And it saves you a lot of headaches by avoiding USB/Firewire interfaces which cost 2 - 3 times more. You can even bring it along for your gigs if you need a handy mixer around. Highly recommended for every home studio/amateur musician. And the best thing is its so cheap... think theres a shop in Sim Lim on the second floor selling lots of behringer stuff.. forget the name liao.. just go there and look around- sure can find. Think its only about $100 now. :wink: :wink:
 
it is possible plug directly into the soundcard without damaging the sound card. the only risk there is, is when you use overdrive/distortion. make sure you lower the volume level on the pedal appropriately or else u might risk damaging the sound card.

you can also plug your guitar into your karaoke system and play it on your TV, if you like. just plug in your guitar cable to the microphone jack. it will be alright cos guitar line level is pretty low. if there's distortion, simply reduce the volume on the effects or the guitar side.
 
when i have my zoom 606, i used to plug it in to my com directly and i usually set the master volume of the 606 below 10, where the max is 40. Now that i sold it, and i got a digitech bad monkey, i still plug it into the computer. THe digitech bad monekly have this mixer output(some cabinet modelling output) which i connect to the computer. So i dont really need an amp.. at least for now.

i've been pluggin into my soundcard (line In) for quite sometime, and my sound card doesnt sound like its damaged.
 
For a few extra bucks you could get something like the Line 6 guitar port which will blow away an adapter plugged into a sound card with a few pedals patched in for (bloody awful) distortion.

The amp models in the guitar port are almost the same as the PodXT for a third of the price. My favourite is the HiWatt model at full gain with some delay, reverb and a touch of compression..instant Dave Gilmour....cant be beat at the price!
 
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