True to Apple’s nature, they’ve made switching between the functions easy to do. Simply go to the Sound pane in System Preferences and change it from the dropdown box:

Simple, but annoying. The other day I had my electric guitar and wanted to amp it through my friend’s MacBook Pro 13″ but I ran into this problem: if I plugged my guitar directly in using the audio port as Line-In I couldn’t connect his laptop to a sound system–meaning I was forced to use the Mac’s built-in speakers to hear my guitar. Lame! Obviously this could have been remedied by using an external audio interface, but that’s still inconvenient.

Sigh.

It’s really a simple process that can be done very cheaply–most of the time. If you want to plug straight into your Mac instead of any kinds of external devices such as a Digidesign M-box 2 (which I use) you don’t really need a whole lot. Assuming you’ve got instrument cable for your guitar, you really only need one other part: an adapter.

Note: This article assumes you have an electric guitar, an acoustic-electric guitar, or at the very least a pickup for your acoustic guitar.

This article is specifically written towards Macs, which seem to have very nice sound cards built into them–even the MacBook line. The MacBooks and Mac Pros all have Line In ports which you can plug an 1/8″ connector into to pipe sound in.

Note: The new 13-inch MacBook Pro has a combined audio in/out port. I’m guessing this has to do with trying to cram so much into such a small laptop. In System Preferences you can switch between these functionalities and use it as a Line In port for your guitar. The downside to this is, if you’re using external speakers or headphones to monitor your recording…you simply can’t.

Getting the adapter

The main hurdle you have now is that instrument cable as used to connect guitar to an amplifier has 1/4″ connectors on the ends. You’ll need an adapter to convert that 1/4″ to 1/8″ so you can plug it into your Mac’s Line In port. You can find these wherever you normally look for electronic/audio components–RadioShack for me. The adapter looks something like this:

I got mine at RadioShack for $2.69. Not bad, huh? Note that this adapter is a mono adapter. You could get a stereo adapter if you wanted, but as most instrument cable is mono so you would have a wasted channel.

Volume

Now’s where things get a little variable. I have a Stratocaster which has Seymour Duncan pickups in it, which provide a very strong signal. With this setup, I can go to System Preferences>Sound, select Line In as my audio in port, and then go to GarageBand, Audacity, or whatever recording program I want and record perfectly fine that way. I don’t have to turn my volume knob all the way up in order to get a good signal for recording. However, depending on your guitar you may have a really low signal or a really hot one.

If your signal is fine, then you’re done! You’ve got a basic but functional way to record your guitar into your computer. From there you can amplify the signal using software amplifiers (such as Guitar Rig or the amps built into GarageBand). Or, if you have another instrument cable you can run your audio out from your “real” amplifier into your Mac but be careful about how hot your signal is coming into your Mac–too loud can damage things.

If your signal’s not fine

In the case that your signal is so low you can barely hear it, even with the guitar’s volume knob and the volume setting in System Preferences dialed all the way up, you may need to invest in a pre-amplifier to boost your signal.

In my previous article I suggested Griffin’s iMic, which will work, but if you’re going to be setting up a personal home studio-type environment you may want to splurge and get an M-box from Digidesign or something like a PreSonus Audiobox USB. These are more than pre-amps: they are audio interfaces. Consider them a seperate, dedicated sound card for your Mac. These types of things are handy for when you need to minimize your latency by “outsourcing” the processing of your guitar signal.

A note about latency

If you notice that there seems to be a delay between when you strike a note and when you hear it come through your computer you may need to get an audio interface like mentioned before in order to free up some of your system resources. Varying factors like amount of RAM, processor usage/speed (don’t be ripping DVDs with HandBrake while trying to record something), and even hard drive speed in some applications can cause your recording to lag behind. Although you can adjust this lag in your recording afterwards, it can be annoying when trying to record tracks to a drum beat and you’re always off a few milliseconds.

Overview

Hopefully, things have gone well for you. As I said, in most cases with Macs you should be fine with just the adapter. Please note that going straight through the sound card in your Mac is not the best way to do this ‘professionally’ but for simple home projects and song demos this is definitely an effective and much cheaper way to try things out without spending hundreds in pro equipment.

Feedback

Have fun jamming and please leave your comments below if you have questions and if this article has helped you in any way.

What is a studio monitor speaker?

Studio monitor speakers are different from your average computer speakers. If you’ve even thought about getting into audio/music recording I’m sure you’ve heard of equalization or “EQ”. Typically, computer speakers are built to take the audio signal being put into them and equalize the sound, typically emphasizing certain sound frequency ranges to get a “good” sound. While for the average computer user, this sounds alright to to them, it can be a nightmare when you’re trying to work with sound. The problem arises when you’re trying to finalize everything and are ready to release your work. With your speakers “auto-equalizing” your sound what you hear isn’t exactly what your audio sounds like. You may find that on someone else’s speakers it sounds awful. This is most likely because you adjusted everything to sound good on your system, but with your speakers modifying the sound themselves, your ears are really deceived.

That’s where studio monitors come in. Studio monitor speakers, as a class, are designed to offer the sound completely flat. Because of this, what you hear is actually what is, and sounds as close to what the sound actually sounded like when it was recorded. You can then modify the sound in your program of choice and rest assured that what you hear is what everyone else will hear (assuming their own EQ settings don’t screw it up).

Because they’re designed for you to monitor audio you’re working with in order to get it perfect, you can expect a wide frequency range and the ability to handle very high quality audio signals.

A recommendation

I’ve been using a pretty cheap but high quality (for my purposes) set of Behringer MS40 studio monitors. Behringer is a pretty well-known company in the audio industry as they produce all sorts of products, including MIDI sequencers, microphones, and studio monitors. We’ll focus on the latter for right now, but it is possible to combine their various products into an affordable, more than decent quality home studio.

You can find them pretty cheaply online. Unlike most studio monitors, they are actually sold in a set and include a built-in amplifier–meaning you don’t necessarily plug them into a big amplifier stack. You should check Google for prices. Typically they range between $100-200, which is dirt cheap for the quality these speakers can give you if setup right.

Let me be clear: these aren’t the absolute best sounding studio monitor speakers you can buy, but they are most definitely one of the best sounding studio monitor speakers you can buy for under $200.

Setup is pretty easy. These are active speakers, meaning they must be powered by the provided power supply. It accepts two types of input: analog and digital, two at the the time. This means it can mix together sound from either two analog inputs, or one analog and one digital. For you being a beginner you’ll probably be using the analog RCA inputs (the red and white cables you plug things into your TV with, most likely) or the 1/8″ (3.5 mm) input, which is similar to what you’re used to with normal speaker signal wire and things like consumer earphones. You’ll need to purchase a cable for whichever one you choose.

A note about connecting straight from your computer or iPod: you’re probably going to notice some extra fuzz or hum in your sound. Generally these devices do not output as high of quality audio as these speakers are capable of producing. Because of this, you’re probably going to want to connect them from an external device. I’m using a small, affordable mixer which I’ll post about sometime soon. However, if you’ve no need for such a setup but still want high quality sound you might look into USB-powered external sound processors. These devices connect to your computer via USB and are essentially an extra, dedicated sound card.

There are a number of ways you can go here. If you’d like to further build your studio using professional, industry-standard Pro Tools software/equipment you have reached a crossroads. In order to use Pro Tools you need some form of Digidesign (the company who makes Pro Tools) interface–which just happens to do exactly what we need here. I am using an M-box 2 Pro, which allows me to use Pro Tools on my workstation, but also serves as this needed dedicated, external sound card. Unfortunately this carries a large pricetag. If you’re not ready to go the Pro Tools route (yet) you might consider the PreSonus Audiobox USB, which Paul Stamatiou mentions on his studio monitor speakers article. Either of these options also includes MIDI capability, which will come in handy in your home studio, no doubt. I’ll post more about using MIDI in the future.

Overview

There you have it. Studio monitor speakers are just one piece to the home studio puzzle but they’re a pretty big piece. Not only do they help you refine your sound while you’re recording your work, but they make almost anything else sound great. They’re a great place to start on a home studio or even just to enrich your everyday audio experience.

Feedback

This is the first in my series of home studio articles. Any kind of feedback would be greatly appreciated.