Recording guitar piano and vocals

Gear & Tools Talk 💻 Hardware, Software & Recording
1

So just starting out on this recording part, I am doing a course at TAFE which uses Ableton, and as a student can get a discount, so might get it.

I have an audiobox go pronus interface. It has 1 mic input at the back that is specifically for mic’s, then one input for guitar/other.

If I wanted to have my guitar piano and mic hooked up, I would need something else that had an additional input right?

Also, is it fine to record guitar and vocal/ piano vocal into the same unit?

2

Are you looking to record them all at the same time, or one at a time?

With the interface you have, you can record 2 things at a time: 1 instrument and 1 microphone.

So, if you wanted to record guitar, piano and mic at the same time, you could record them all into one track using the mic, or into two tracks separating the mic’ed instruments on one track, and a DI’ed instrument into the other track.

But I wouldn’t, generally, recommend combine the recording instruments onto a single track this way, as you will no longer have the ability to mix them.

If you want to record 3 instruments simultaneously (counting the mic as an instrument) you will need an audio interface with at least 3 inputs.

If you want to record them separately and mix them, you can do this as much as you want, with as many tracks as your DAW version supports and your PC can handle. In some cases this is, effectively, unlimited.

As to how you do this depend on what instruments you have. For instance, for the guitar you might have:

  • A guitar with no pickup that you record using a mic
  • A guitar with a pickup that you record DI into the audio interface
  • A guitar with a pickup and an amp that you record with a mic
  • A guitar with a pickup and an amp that you record DI from a line out on the amp
  • A guitar with a pickup and an amp with USB that you record directly to the PC

For piano, if it’s an electronic piano, you may be able to DI this into the audio interface or, potentially, connect it via a MIDI connection (typically over USB) and record the MIDI, and use a virtual instrument on the DAW.

You will, however, need to physically swap the interfaces over depending on what you are recording. If you don’t want to do this then, again, you’ll need a new audio interface with more inputs.

Cheers,

Keith

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3

Thanks for such a detailed reply.

All of that makes sense, and yeah I guess if I ever did it would be only recording vocals and either guitar or piano together.

My only issue that I noticed today was that the microphone picked up the guitar through that channel, it could just be that I don’t know what I am doing yet, so at least now I know whats going on, I’ll look more into the production side of things.

thank you

Bret

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4

Depending on the sensitivity of the mic, it will pick up any nearby sound.

That is why, in professional recording studios they often have sound-proof isolation booths that individual performers can be in.

In cases where a singer is playing a guitar, it’s common to use a relatively low-sensitivity directional mic to minimise the amount how much acoustic sound gets to the mic, but there will always be some.

Cheers,

Keith

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5

I only record with my phone these days, but I’ve found I can vary the relative volumes of voice and guitar by putting my phone on a cheap camera tripod, and experimenting with the height and direction it’s pointing.

But - as you say above - you can’t really change the balance after it’s recorded this way.

6

Yes. You’d need three inputs on the interface to record them all separately at the same time.
Then again, ya can’t play a piano and play a guitar at the same time, so, imho, your 2 input interface will do just fine.
Just record the three tracks at different times. You’ll be able to hear your previous parts back on the DAW. Just play along with what you already recorded.

This would work, if ya can play piano and guitar at the same time. Since ya can’t, you’ll just end up with one track of guitar, and one track of vocal/piano (which can be recorded on 2 tracks with your 2 input audio interface). For max control of the recording, I’d record the piano on one track, the vocal on the other. Then the guitar on the third track. You’ll end up with three tracks all controllable from the DAW.

Majik has ya covered as to how ya can record ea. instrument.
I mostly mic my amp, but sometimes record direct in to the interface. Line out is an option for a amp if ya got it. Myself, I don’t use line out as not all my amps have that feature.
Same with my acoustic/elec. guitar. Sometimes mic’ed, sometimes direct into the interface.

You should be able to get away with your three tracks you need with a 2 input interface. In the past, I had one song I did that had 11 tracks, all done with a 2 input interface. Just did the tracks one at a time.

Have fun with your recordings.

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