Help with GarageBand - guitar level is too low vs backing track

Gear & Tools Talk šŸ’» Hardware, Software & Recording
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I could use some help with GarageBand. Iā€™m recording myself with my iPhone but would also like to use GarageBand. Iā€™ve successfully imported the backing track and have recorded my solo on a separate track, but my recordings are way to quiet, even when I turn the volume to the max; I can barely hear it. The volume on the imported backing track is fine. My guitar is connected to my MacBook Pro through my Boss Katana MKII.

I appreciate any suggestions.

Ray

2

I have experimented with Garage Band using my Positive grid Spark 2.
I connect the Spark2 to my Mac through the USB on the back of the Spark2.

I have been able to adjust the volume level only by adjusting the track volume within the Garage Band project.
There is a music volume level on the Spark2 but not sure it it adjusts the volume level out of the USB on the back. I could experiment with it but not sure it would help you with your Katana unless it also has a comparable adjustment.
I used to have a Katana and I donā€™t think it had an adjustment for the output volume at the USB. However, as I recall it had two volume levels I havenā€™t really thought about it before but my guess is that every Mac model is slightly different and signal levels might vary. That means you might only be able to control volume level at the Garage Band interface.
I also pulled this off the web: It looks like the Boss Tone Studio might allow you to adjust the level. If you havenā€™ used the Tone Studio, it is worth trying. There are an amazing number of features you can integrate into your Katana.

Open BOSS Tone Studio with your Katana MKII connected, navigate to the SYSTEM menu > go to and select the USB SETTING tab. Adjust the MIX LEVEL, EFFECT OUT LEVEL or DRY OUT LEVEL, to boost and modify the KATANA MKII USB audio output.Mar 22, 2024

Hope this helps,
Brian

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Hi Brian
Thanks for the suggestions; I will give these a try and see if something works. I just recently downloaded Tone Studio and it does look like it has an amazing amount of features. In fact, Iā€™m hoping Iā€™ll find a good blues tone in there.
Thanks for the help,
Ray

4

Ray,
I am real curious if you have had noise issues with the Katana. That was the first amplifier I bought so really didnā€™t know what to expect. I was drawn to it because it also had an acoustic channel for my acoustic guitar in addition to all the modeling features through the Tone Studio.
Unfortunately, all my energy was spent on trying to reduce or eliminate the buzz or hiss from the amplifier when the gain and volume were turned up. Again, I didnā€™t have other amps to compare to so I was basically flying blind. Some online reviews said that is the way all hi gain amplifiers work, others said there was something wrong with it. I was always just trying to play clean tones but because I was interested in fingerpicking, I needed to increase the volume level to hear it well. When I would do that, the noise was always there. Actually, the one feature on the Katana that is used a lot in Tone Studio was the Noise Gate. Unfortunately, I had to always connect to the Tone Studio to turn it on/off and then Noise Gates werenā€™t really a solution with fingerpicking because the tones tend to drop out too quickly.

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Brian
This is also my first amp other than the Yamaha modeling amp. Mostly I tend to play clean and at not too high a volume and hissing wasnā€™t an issue. Lately Iā€™ve been adding gain and volume and there is a definite hissing sound. My impression is that is a common problem with amps but I also donā€™t have anything to compare.
It is a little frustrating because I am constantly turning the amp off anytime Iā€™m taking a break from playing because the noise is irritating.
It would be nice to know if this issue is a Boss Katana issue.

6

No itā€™s not. Pretty much every amp will hiss a bit when turned up.

Especially at higher gain settings.

Especially if you leave it plugged into the guitar, and donā€™t turn down the guitar volume.

Especially, especially if your guitar has single-coil pickups.

Or if you unplug the guitar but leave the cable connected to the amp.

Try unplugging the cable from the amp, by pulling the plug out by about 1 cm which should minimise hiss.

A constant buzz is often a different issue, especially if you have an amp like the Katana connected to a laptop via USB.

By the way, if you want to use the noise gate, you can save a patch with it enabled which means you donā€™t need to use BTS to select it every time.

Cheers,

Keith

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All amps have noise. This is simply the physics of the way things work.

Iā€™ll talk about thermal and EMI/RFI noise, not the other stuff. White noise is like what you hear on an old analog TV that has no signal, or an AM radio that is off the channel. EMI/RFI is the sound of high frequency clicks and chirps that usually comes from computing equipment.

There are things that can compound the noise you hear. Iā€™ll list the major ones I can think of before I have my morning teaā€¦

  • lots of gain (and I mean ā€œamplificationā€, not distortion). When you increase the level of a signal, you include the natural noise that exists as well. One way to reduce this is the keep your guitar volume pretty high, and try to keep signal level amplification at the beginning of the chain.
  • Use of distortion pedals in front of an already distorted amp setup. This is just an implementation of the ā€˜too much gainā€™ problem above. Verify you need the amp to be also distorting and if not, then turn down the ā€œgainā€ a bit or select a lower amplification option.
  • Some amp models try to maintain the performance of the original amp. This original amp may have been fairly noisy (poor noise control during design or lots of gain). This can work out ok on stage, but be annoying for home practice.
  • leave the guitar plugged in, or unplug the cable from the amp. A loose cable end is simply an antenna and will generate hum and sometimes hiss.
  • If your noise is repeating clicks or chirps, try moving your guitar away from any computing device. Video cables can be noisy (my single coil guitar picks up my video when I play a game). You can combat this by urning down the gain on the guitar when it is not in use, and not being close to the computer when you are playing guitar. Sometimes moving the distance of your hand spread out is enough.
  • use a noise gate at the input of the chain. This will detect the signal level and cut off its output, cleaning up the early noise source (the guitar). This may help a lot when you want to leave the amp on and not hear too much noise.

On the recording side, you may need to balance out the input level. A good example for me is that I have a cable with USB at one side. This USB comes up at full gain and I need to reduce that to about 30% of full or the noise is way too much. This is something I needed to figure out by just moving the controls and seeing what was the highest noise source. I recommend you go into each item in your signal chain and see what levels you can reduce to clean up the noise. You may be able to exchange signal level at that place for another and keep the sound you want but without the hiss.

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@roskin22, this is probably a stupid question, but you never know: have you selected your Katana as input in garage band?

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Itā€™s a really good question. Itā€™s possible the recording is the Macā€™s built-in microphone. It wouldnā€™t be the first time people have been caught out by this.

Also, the Katanaā€™s have 2 separate recording channels equating to ā€œwetā€ (with preamp and FX) and ā€œdryā€ just the sound of the guitar, unprocessed). On Windows these are labelled as ā€œPrimaryā€ and Secondary" but on Linux and (I think) Mac they just appear as 4 channels and some applications will assume itā€™s a 4-channel surround setup.

For proper use, the first 2 channels should be connected as the left and right inputs.to a stereo track in the DAW. You can also create a second stereo track and connect channels 3 and 4 to record the dry signal if you like.

Equally, if you use the Katana for output (this only works with headphones) channels 1&2 should be used in most cases. Channels 3&4 will apply preamp and FX settings.

For most uses, you will record the wet on channels 1&2 and playback dry (no additional FX processing) on channels 1&2.

Using channels 3&4 to record and playback can be used for ā€œre-ampingā€ type of setups, but thatā€™s more advanced usage that you probably donā€™t want to get into

Cheers,

Keith

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No dumb questions! Yes, I did check this and I have selected Katana, but there are 2 options. A 1-2 option and a 3-4 option. I think I now understand (partially) those 2 options from the next response by Keith.
Thanks

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Keith
Thanks for this explanation as I was trying to understand the difference on 1-2 versus 3-4 on the inputs. I also just discovered the need for headphones for output on the Katana.

I still seem to have the issue of a quiet playback, but I just saved a recording and replayed it on the computer. I was able to increase the volume on the playback at least somewhat higher than playing it back through garage band.

I think I can live with this while I keep working on the quiet recording issue. Or Iā€™ll just get permission from my wife to crank my amp up to maximum volume!

Thanks
Ray

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I donā€™t know Garageband, but some DAWs have an input level adjustment.

Also, as indicated before by @rileyman itā€™s possible to increase the USB output level on BTS.

Additionally, after recording, itā€™s normally possible to boost the level of an individual track in various ways in the DAW.

Whilst recording, it may also be possible to boost the level with a plugin.

Lots of options; choose the best for your workflow.

Cheers,

Keith

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Thanks Keith, appreciate all the help.

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