Recording your own playing and practicing has a lot of advantages.
Listening to your music from another perspective often helps you notice things you don't hear while you are playing.
Are you in tune, how is your tempo, and how's the tone quality? If you are practicing melodies or lead lines, you can record and play back a simple chord progression and then work on soloing over it.
Perhaps you have learned a few easy guitar songs and want to record them for your own listening pleasure, or to share with friends.
With the technology available today, making great sounding recordings at home is quite easy and affordable.
When first starting out though, it can be kind overwhelming.
There's a lot of home recording gear out there, and a lot of options to consider.
Do you want to work with a computer or get a standalone unit? What kind of mics do you want to buy, or do you want to "go direct"? How many instruments will you be recording at once, and how many inputs do you need? These are all important questions to consider before you go out spending your hard earned money.
In this article we will look at the main heart of a recording setup - the interface.
Recording interfaces come in two main flavors, those that are "standalone" and those that connect to a computer.
There are pros and cons to each type, as we will see.
Standalone recording interfaces usually contain everything needed to make a basic recording.
They record to either an internal hard drive or some sort of flash memory card that comes with the unit.
They will usually have at least two inputs for plugging in microphones or instruments with a pickup.
The bigger table-top units like the Foxtex MR16HD and the Zoom HD8CD come with built in cd drives, so you can go from starting a recording to burning a finished cd all with the same box.
On units where there is no cd burner you can transfer your finished projects to a computer via USB or Firewire and then burn the completed tracks to a cd.
With technology getting better, many of these recording interfaces are becoming smaller and smaller.
Units like the Zoom H4 and the Edirol R09HR are small enough to fit in your pocket.
They have built in mics configured to record in stereo, and data is stored on a removable SD memory card.
On the Zoom H4 you can even add external microphones if you are not satisfied with the built-in internal mic.
Units like these are great if you want something portable, and they are ideal for quick and simple recording.
Just point it at your guitar, hit record, and play.
No mics to hook up or anything.
Once you have a recording you like, transfer the files of the memory card to your computer and burn to a cd.
Quick and easy.
There are a few downsides to these standalone recording units.
The quality of the preamps and effects can sometimes be less than optimal.
Sometimes, they don't even have effects at all.
And they aren't made for editing in any significant way.
You can change file names, but you can't usually cut the tracks into smaller pieces or do any fades or mixing the way a computer program will allow.
And the cheaper units will often only have one or two inputs, so if you need to record more instruments at once be sure to read the specs before you buy.
The nice thing about these standalone units is the short learning curve.
A lot of them operate a lot like a tape deck, so you can be up and recording right out of the box, no software to install, learn, and troubleshoot.
Most of them are also dead quiet, so unlike a computer you don't have to worry about hard drive and fan noise being picked up by the microphone.
Being portable, the smaller battery operated units are the obvious choice for field or workshop recording.
Using them is certainly much easier than lugging a computer and bunch of mics around.
Computer interfaces connect up to a computer via Firewire or USB.
Their job is to convert the signal from your instrument or microphone from analog to digital and then to store it on the computer's hard drive.
They usually include at least two mic inputs with preamps, and most units will have more inputs than that.
A USB connection is only capable of transferring two channels of audio, so if you are looking at a unit that has more than two inputs it will need to connect with a firewire cable.
Make sure your computer has a firewire input before buying one of these.
The preamps and converters on computer interfaces will often be of higher quality than those on the standalone units, so if audio quality is your top priority, you'll probably need to go with a computer setup.
They are also more expandable, being able to accommodate additional external converters and preamps should you decide to add instruments and other musicians to your project later on.
Some computer interfaces are powered solely by firewire, making them a good portable high-quality solution when combined with a laptop.
They suck up laptop battery power quickly, so make sure you are all charged up before you go to the park for a session! In my opinion the biggest advantage of recording with a computer interface is the editing stage.
Being able to see all the tracks on the computer screen and edit the waveforms just makes everything so much easier to see and work with.
It's amazing how easy it is to create one great track by piecing together parts from multiple takes once you get the hang of it.
It's quite a change from the old days of splicing tape together.
There are, of course, some downsides to using a computer interface.
The cost is often higher, and learning to use the software can take a while.
Compatibility issues are also much more common and challenging.
There are just lots more connections and settings that have to be set properly, and this can be daunting for someone who just wants to push a button and get started.
Thankfully most modern computers are easily powerful enough for running recording systems, but be sure to double check the specs of the interface and software you are thinking about buying.
Some are made for Windows or Mac only.
Recording your music can be one of the most beneficial growth tools for a musician, and thankfully, today's technology makes that easier than ever.
Shop smart, and think about what features you want and need before making a purchase.