Recording Guitar on a Mac?

[Chef]

Hey,

I'm trying to figure out how I can record my guitar on my mac. From what I have herd about recording live interments for a remix you need a good sound card....seeing that all I have is a Dual-Core Mac book I'm wondering If i should even bother...

Can any one gibe me some suggestions?

[Tensei]

A good soundcard/recording interface isn't necessary, but it makes a LOT of difference in the quality of the tone, especially the sustain. If your mac has a microphone input, theoretically a converter jack should be enough to get you rocking ( you just plug your guitar in, but don't expect anything amazing). Depending on the input I think it's possible to damage it, something to do with the input levels, so I really can't recommend this.

Ideally you'll want an USB or Firewire interface that has a dedicated guitar input, and a DECENT built-in pre-amp. Apart from that you'll probably want a software amp modeller so you can get relatively realistic amp tones.

Of course, you can mic your amp too, but to get a quality recording you'll need stuff like a decent mic and a good pre-amp.

[Rozovian]

I spend a lot of time playing guitar, using the computer as an amp. And I've got a mac, older than yours. The thing is, you might damage the sound card if you run your guitar through an amp before plugging it into the mac. Keep the levels down, or use an amp sim on the computer.

Another thing is to get a mic, and put that in front of your amp and play as you normally do, just recording it from the mic. Watch the levels tho, and make sure you're not getting too much noise from other stuff in your house or wherever you're recording.

If you're recording into garageband, I'd recommend plugging the guitar straight into the computer and edding an amp simulator effect. It lacks some of the features of real amps, and has a slight delay, but worked for me. Still does, tho I'm using Logic nowadays.