Connecting guitar to Garageband

Hi,

I have looked through the posts for an answer but I can't find one!

I am trying to run my electro-acoustic through garage band. I have the right cable and a pocketpod all plugged in. I can't select anything but an integral microphone input.

Is there a vital piece of kit I'm missing or is there some setting I need to change?

Thanks!

What version of GarageBand are you using? 1, 2, 3, 4? From iLife '04, '05, '06, or '08?

I'm using ilife 08 and the latest updated version of garageband. I'm not sure if my pocketpod is the right thing for the job. What could I use instead?

Thanks

Try this-
After opening,
>Add new track, real instrument (not software instrument)
>click "garageband" in the top left corner, and hit prefernces, then audio/MIDI tab. There should be a couple pull-down menus for "Input" and "Output" Make sure the Input is on "built-in input", NOT "internal microphone".

Also a word of advice- only have the output of the guitar about HALF way up on the pre-amp. Sometimes it distorts the signal a little bit.

Hope that helped!

Yeah, do that and it's best for when you're in the track's settings to let GarageBand determine the input level as well. Plugging the guitar or amp mic right into your computer also works. But make sure the track's settings show that the input device you want to use. Get to this by double-clicking on the track's icon.

My Garage Band 08 version 4.1.2 came bundled on my hard drive when I bought my I Mac last year but is lacking all the drum patches in Apple Loops. I see them there but they are gray/inactive. What to do to get them active?

When you initially start a "New Song" it asks you for key, tempo, time signature etc... Most of the apple loops for drums are in 4-4 timing, and a few in 3-4 / 6-8. They only reason i can think of for your problem is that you're in a different time signature. To check, just click Track>Show Master Track, it should come up at the bottom of your screen. Highlight the track and under "details" in the bottom right corner should show all the settings for your song.
I hope that helped you out. Let me know,

-Jmurr