I recently got a Yamaha thr II 30 Watt and am loving it, itās a big step up from my Fender Mustang Micro.
Iād like to use the built in audio interface to record both my playing and the backing track I am playing to so I can post some videos for feedback, but unfortunately the built in interface only records your actual guitar playing and none of the audio being streamed to it.
I can see how this is a good feature for more serious recording, but for just simple tracking of my progress it is a hassle since the backing track is a key part of spotting issues with my timing.
Does anyone know of a way to record both my playing and the backing track at once without having to invest too much money?
One solution I found is getting an audio interface, plugging the fender mustang micro in it without my guitar being plugged in and stream the backing track to it, plug my amplifier (with guitar) in the interface as well, and plug my headphones in the interface to hear the mix of both. This does feel needlessly complicated and requires me to get an audio interface so I see it as a last resort only for the time being.
I could just use my Fender Mustang Micro for the videos I post on here since that does record the backing track and audio at once, but it would be a shame to not use my main amplifier on most of the videos I post on here.
You would load the backing track into a track on the DAW and use to this play back via the THR whilst you record into a new track on the DAW using the THR as input
This, of course, requires you to have a local copy of the backing track. It will not work with streaming services.
Hi Gertjan, Iām not a tecnical expert at all, but I have a Blackstar ID Core 20 V3 which provides the same feature of recording directly from an inbuilt audio interface. As far as I know, this requires a TRRS audio connection, not a TRS. This is mentioned in the Blackstar Manual. I only had a TRS audio cable as I tried it once, so it only recorded the guitar. The TRRS should work in both directions ( send backing track from your device to the amp and record BT+ guitar from your amp back at the same device). The TRRS cinch has 3 instead of 2 black rings. I didnāt try it yet, but maybe itās something to try out? What says your manual?
I considered this, but it almost felt like cheating since you can āhideā some timing issues like starting the song too soon with this approach. Seems like it is the best solution without investing in an interface though so I will probably use this method for now.
Hi Gertjan,
I love my THR II, but yes, it is annoying that you thereās no audio output facility apart from the guitar
My ārecordingsā fall in two categories- sharing/documenting where I am, in which case the quality of the recording is less important and recording my guitar/THR/singing combo with a mobile phone or webcam/mic is fine for my purposes.
If I am doing a family & friends collaboration, I will be feeding all the individual stems into my DAW (Reaper) anyway, where ācheatingā is the whole point
Looking forward to hearing your first contributions with Santaās new Tele, whichever way you choose to share
Yes, you can adjust the relative positions of the tracks by āslidingā the backing track relative to the recorded track, but if your timing is poor, itās not going to hide that. If, for instance, you start the song too soon and then catch up, that mistake isnāt going to be something you can easily correct without some extensive editing.
If you feel that is ācheatingā then, the answer is simple: donāt edit it.
Two reasons for that:
Itās to prevent easy copying of music from streaming services
Itās generally not what people actually want when they are recording the guitar. Itās more normal (and generally useful) to have the guitar track isolated from any backing track as you can then adjust the relative levels (and, potentially, edit out any mistakes).
And you can achieve the same thing (assuming you have a local copy of the backing track) without needing to record the aux/bluetooth input, so it would be kind of redundant.
Arguably, thereās a streaming use-case, but even here there are fairly simple solutions.
That sounds less likely as anyone can download/copy anything directly on their PC anyway
I agree that if youāre playing to a backing track there are really easy workarounds.
In my case, I run my Trio+ into the aux port of my THR. If Iām doing a project/collaboration, it would save time and effort if I could just record directly from the THR into my DAW, rather than having to reconnect the Trio+ via a male to male headphone jack into the mic port on my pc and reselect audio sources in Reaper.
Itās no big deal, but it seems like it would have been an easy feature to incorporate?
Still think the THR and Trio provide lots of smiles for your buck
Yes, but you either have to do it illegally, or pay for it in addition to any streaming subscription you might have.
And I would say that the vast majority of people these days donāt know how to do it. Presenting them with a trivially easy way to do this might attract the ire of the Mob big record labels.
Thatās a valid use-case, but probably too much of an edge case for them to consider.
Since we are all talking about the Yamaha thr, Iām currently using amp sims from Neural DSP. And I am wondering wether buying the yamaha thr would be an upgrade for low volume playing. What do you think?
I think both approaches are valid, and software-only can be very convenient for recording, but usually I prefer playing through a physical amp instead of through software-only amp sims. Itās a subjective thing, so your mileage may vary.
Itās mainly different to be honest. I went the amp route cause I donāt want to be tied to a computer when playing guitar.
All I can say is that the THR does get REALLY quiet. If you want to, even the acoustic ringing of your electric guitar strings is louder. (not practical for playing but it shows how quiet it can get)
