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There are basically two types of musical instruments: electric and acoustic. An electric instrument has a built-in interface to output its sound, but an acoustic instrument needs a microphone to record its sound. Electric instruments include electric guitars, keyboards, and electric bass. You can connect an electric instrument directly to the computer's audio-in port, if your computer has one. The computer audio-in port is a 1/8-inch mini input, so you will need an adapter or cable to convert the 1/4-inch phono output from your instrument to the 1/8-inch audio line-in port (mini input) on the computer. To record an acoustic instrument or vocals, you can connect a microphone to your computer through the audio-in port, which is located on the back of the computer. The new G5 computers also include Optical digital audio-in/out ports for higher-end audio recording equipment.
You can also connect an audio interface to your computer, and then connect your microphone or instruments to the audio interface. There is a wide range of audio interfaces and compatible formats, including USB, FireWire, PCI, and PC cards. With the addition of an audio interface, GarageBand 2 allows you to record up to 8 Real Instrument tracks and 1 Software Instrument track simultaneously. So you can record one instrument at a time, or the whole band at once. If you want to record more than one instrument or microphone at a time, you can also connect an audio mixer or console to your computer. You'll see an example of multitrack recording in Lesson 9. For this lesson, I'm using the EDIROL PCR-A30 Audio Interface/MIDI Keyboard Controller. This interface is both a MIDI controller and an audio interface.
Make sure any audio interface is compatible with Mac OS X 10.2.6 or later, and that the format used by the interface is supported by your computer. Also, always follow the manufacturer's instructions, and be sure you install the correct driver on your computer. Another exciting development in the world of digital music recording is the new iGuitar.USB by Brian Moore Guitars. The iGuitar is the first guitar to offer on-board, Class Compliant USB audio to streamline the guitar to computer connection eliminating the need for an external audio interface. In other words, you can use a standard USB cable to hook the iGuitar to the computer and record Real Instrument guitar parts into GarageBand without any other equipment. More Info You can find more information about GarageBand accessories at www.apple.com/ilife/garageband/accessories.html. You can find out more information about the iGuitar at http://www.brianmooreguitars.com. Setting Preferences for the Audio-In PortIf you plan to record through the audio-in port on your computer, you will need to set the System Preferences accordingly. The System Preferences are located under the Apple menu (blue apple) in the upper-left corner of the computer screen. Let's change the preferences to record through your audio-in port. If your computer doesn't have an audio-in port, you won't be able to make the changes, but you'll know how to do it if you ever use GarageBand on a Mac with audio-in.
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