Korean Job Discussion Forums

JFuller317 · Joined: 10 Oct 2008

I'm a guitarist/pianist who is interested in recording music on the computer. Ideally I'd like to take some of the simple riffs and chord progressions I have and turn them into full-fledged songs.

The only hardware I have right now is an electric guitar, a few effects pedals and my laptop, which is a 2 year old HP system. I know that the sound card isn't very good, so I would probably need an external sound card of some kind.

I need a way to record the guitar and a way to add backing tracks (bass, drums, other effects). I don't know what programs to use for this, or what kind of equipment I would need. I'd probably want a midi keyboard at some point, right? I'm really new to this whole thing.

Underwaterbob · Joined: 08 Jan 2005 Location: In Cognito

There are lots of options for lots of different budgets. You can get a surprisingly decent sound from just plugging your guitar into your computer through some effects pedals regardless of how crappy your sound card is. An external sound card might not make much of a difference unless you buy a really nice one.

For recording, the cheapest software you'll find is free! Audacity is getting better all the time and has just about everything you need to make a decent recording.

If you want to pay for software, it runs the gamut from $50 for some basic multi-track recording program that isn't much better than Audacity, right up to multiple-thousands-of-dollars Protools setups that include a bunch of proprietary hardware. Some popular mid-range choices are Steinberg's Cubase and Ableton's Live.

See your options here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_multitrack_recording_software

Underwaterbob · Joined: 08 Jan 2005 Location: In Cognito

Backing tracks are a whole other story. It depends on how you want to go. I program in Csound, which is entirely free. It's quite capable of making professional sounding backing tracks, but isn't for everyone, especially if you don't know anything about computer programming.

Fruityloops, Reason and Acid are all great for making beats and basslines. They're geared more towards electronic music, less towards recording and aren't particularly cheap.

I know Cubase and Ableton both have a midi-sequencer that you can use to make your own backing tracks, if you don't mind using midi sounds.

Underwaterbob · Joined: 08 Jan 2005 Location: In Cognito

When you're mixing, you want a decent set of headphones with a nice flat response. Of course you can always go the route of mixing on the crappiest speakers you can find, the reasoning being that if you can make the mix sound good coming out of 2" computer speakers, then it's bound to sound good on better equipment. You'll still want the headphones for more subtle nuances though.

JFuller317 · Joined: 10 Oct 2008

Where can I get the guitar cable to computer audio input adaptor? Also, which of these programs would allow me to record directly from the guitar?

JFuller317 · Joined: 10 Oct 2008

Oh, and of course, one of the questions I should have asked is: where can I get this hardware in Korea?

Underwaterbob · Joined: 08 Jan 2005 Location: In Cognito

The signal from your guitar (or from your pedals from your guitar) is just a plain ol' analog audio signal. You can plug it into your mic input on your laptop (or line input if you've got one). The only thing you need is a 1/4 female to 1/8 male adapter for the end of your regular cable. You can get them in Yongsan for sure. They might be common enough that you could find them in E-mart or Lottemart even.

Underwaterbob · Joined: 08 Jan 2005 Location: In Cognito

What I do lately is plug the headphone jack from my multi-effects pedal straight into the line-in on my computer which only requires an 1/8 inch to 1/8 inch cord that you can definitely get anywhere.

JFuller317 · Joined: 10 Oct 2008

And I could use Audacity to lay down a guitar track?

Since I don't have a bass, I was wondering if these programs would allow me to simply record another guitar part and then drop it down an octave and add some reverb and whatnot to make it sound more like a bass. Do you think that is a possibility?

Moldy Rutabaga · Joined: 01 Jul 2003 Location: Ansan, Korea

I agree with Underwater Bob's recommendations here. Your sound card in your HP may be adequate already. If you prefer something better, or a sound card box which could sit on your desk and allow you to plug things in more conveniently, there is a big two-floor musical instrument complex on the end of Insadong in Seoul.

For many years I didn't have a bass and I just used my electric, dropping the pitch by an octave. It works fine although it may be a little thin; you can add some EQ to fatten it. Usually chords sound awful, but it can be fun if you play it like an electric and then have musician friends ask you how you made a bass do that!

Programs like Audacity are fine. I use Adobe Audition. Really, these programs are not terribly different from each other. Most rely on little effect plug-ins which you can buy or download as freeware or shareware which will give you different guitar effects (flange, chorus, wah-wah, and others a stomp box can't do). There is a learning curve to these programs but it can be done.

lifeinkorea · Joined: 24 Jan 2009 Location: somewhere in China

I use a Digitech Rp 350 http://www.digitechjapan.jp/products/RP350/RP350large.jpg

You can hook it up to your computer with a USB cable.

Youtube it and look into it. If it is something you want, I might be willing to get rid of it, as I am losing interest and have other things to pursue. It's always nice to have around, but I am not doing anything with it.

I think Audacity is a good program too. However, I don't think you will like it when it comes to editing. In which case, I suggest CoolEdit Pro.