I began following Justin Guitar’s Beginner’s course a few months ago and I’m nearing the end of Grade One. I’m quite interested in recording my guitar playing with a backing track. I want to start small but also leave room to expand if I enjoy it. I’ve done some research to build up some knowledge to come up with a beginner setup. Here is the setup I am thinking of assembling:
Using an iPad with USB-C and an adapter to connect it to an external monitor, I plan to use GarageBand on it and connect an audio interface for the guitar. Controlling GarageBand will still be done on an iPhone/iPad, but the external monitor allows for a clearer view. I haven’t found many details about this setup except for one or two YouTube videos. Additionally, I don’t have an amp that I can directly connect to the audio interface, so I’ll have to rely entirely on GarageBand.
The reason I want to use GarageBand is that someone mentioned it’s a gateway to Logic Pro, which I think would be beneficial since Justin’s production course is based on that. Do you think this is a good setup for a beginner? Please share your experiences with setting up your first guitar recording.
My 1st recordings were via a iphone. Straight away. If I wanted back tracks I’d just turn on the stereo and try and blend the vol. of my guitar and the stereo to be about the same when recorded via the telephone.
While I’m still a beginner at recording. I have moved fwd. some from just the iphone.
Now for sound I record via a audio interface. I mix it in waveform12 which is the DAW I use. Mostly because it’s free + it works.
I plug mic’s into the audio interface for the vocals.
I plug my guitar into the audio interface directly or stick a mic in ft of my amp or acoustic guitar to get the guitar to the DAW.
For the video I finally got a webcam.
Then I take the webcam video to DaVinci Resolve for movie making.
In DaVinci, you can mix the audio from the DAW with the movie from the webcam.
imho,
recording ‘me’ is quite challenging and quite time consuming.
Lastly, if I want to record myself w/ a backtrack. I’ll either just record it live with a mic into my audio interface. Or. I’ve taken a backtrack, like from youtube, used a converter to change the .mov or .mp4 to convert to mp3. Then I can insert it into the daw directly. Then the back track is in the daw and I can play around with it to my little hearts desire.
Good luck.
This recording thing make me crazy trying to figure out what I need to do to make it work.
I wish you much luck.
I’ve had several times I’ve had to have someone show me how to accomplish what I’m wanting to do. This help has come from forums like Justin Guitar. + I used to frequent another site and someone there was very helpful in getting me started with recording.
A bit of help from others is most welcome and appreciated in my case.
Good luck.
Good luck in your guitar learning adventure too. It’s a lot of fun, but a lot of work.
imho, for recording, just start with the iphone…
Hi @Prasm, I have a MacBook. I plug my guitar in my AI, the AI into the Mac, and I run Garageband. I import the original song (backing track) in Garageband so as to combine the track with my playing. For listening, I use either the speakers of the Mac or wired headphones connected either to the AI (just the guitar) or the Mac (guitar + backing track).
I’m still very much a beginner at this recording thing, but this setup works for me and was actually very easy to get going.
I have very little to add to this but I’ll share the little I know.
I have a 12.9 inch iPad Pro (usb-c) and have successfully got it working Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 interface and GarageBand but unfortunately that’s about as much as I can say.
I’ve never connected my iPad to an external monitor (even though I do have one) and can’t confirm whether an iPad will run an audio interface and external monitor at the same time (maybe you’ve seen this done). I’m a long way from my playing being good enough to warrant spending time mixing it in GarageBand! Good luck with your setup
Thanks for the reply. I saw a video of this on youtube where he connected the AI and an external monitor vis USBC hub. I am long way from mixing as well but i like to use a backing track and get some experience recording the guitar.