How can I record voice and instruments (like guitar/piano) on my Macbook Pro?

Hi, I got a macbook pro 13.3 inch this year for the main reason of using it for songwriting and music in general. Unfortunately, I have no idea what hardware to use or buy. My built-in mic is no use because i wanna record things such as electric guitar, and piano. I know the Line 6 POD is good for recording guitar, but does a similar thing exist for instruments (including voice) in general? Should I use a pre-amp such as Behringer? Yes i know, i'm a complete amateur in music hardware. Any help is appreciated

I think a bunch of people use these, but I would wait for the real pros to chime in:

M-AUDIO - USB Audio Interfaces

Another option. Apogee Duet FireWire Audio Interface - Apple Store (U.S.)

SDK94 said:

Hi, I got a macbook pro 13.3 inch this year for the main reason of using it for songwriting and music in general. Unfortunately, I have no idea what hardware to use or buy. My built-in mic is no use because i wanna record things such as electric guitar, and piano. I know the Line 6 POD is good for recording guitar, but does a similar thing exist for instruments (including voice) in general? Should I use a pre-amp such as Behringer? Yes i know, i'm a complete amateur in music hardware. Any help is appreciated

Click to expand...

Hi there,

Well did you manage to do your recording? I am on the point of getting myself a MACBOOK Pro 13 inch too but I'm worried about the speed of the internal hard drive (5400 RPM) compared to 7,200 RPM for IMAC or MAC Pro!! I believe that with that speed of Hard drive, I will have some problems with bigger projects of 30 tracks for ex....But I want to know what the users here think about this!!

Neel1 said:

Hi there,

Well did you manage to do your recording? I am on the point of getting myself a MACBOOK Pro 13 inch too but I'm worried about the speed of the internal hard drive (5400 RPM) compared to 7,200 RPM for IMAC or MAC Pro!! I believe that with that speed of Hard drive, I will have some problems with bigger projects of 30 tracks for ex....But I want to know what the users here think about this!!

Click to expand...

You should always save your audio/video projects to an external (IMO... Firewire) HD rather than the internal system HD.

The main question is how much do you want to end up spending. Comparatively the M-Audio interfaces are the cheaper option and allow you to get up and running quickly since they are compatible with pretty much every recording software. If you're looking for a more professional approach then you can look into the firewire interfaces like those offered from Avid and Apogee. You will be paying more, but you'll get higher quality recordings. Have a look on their websites to see which models best fit what you need.(inputs, outputs). Also check out different recording software for the other side of the deal. Programs like Cubase, Pro Tools, Logic are the most common. Again it depends on how much you want to spend. Make sure you have an external harddrive(firewire if possible) never do it on your built in HD.

Hope this helps

IF you want to make good quality recordings for a good price. Pick up an M-Audio FireWire Solo.. I just picked one up brand new for $60 CDN (it was used, but it was as if it was just opened to be looked at).

It has 6 ins, 4 outs, is a FireWire interface, so it can be bus-powered and offers higher quality audio (24-bit/96kHz)

I'm running this into Mixcraft 5 (very similar to GB)/Ableton Live Lite 4, and I couldn't be happier... Well, I could be once I get a new Mac, but the Dell Studio's holding up very nicely, to be honest.

Check out my blog and you can hear a sample of what kind of audio it produces. That's just my Danelectro DC Reissue, straight into the instrument input, going directly into Mixcraft 5, no effects/amp/cab sims either.