complete neophyte as to what to use my guitar with to record

[parker1963]

Hello i am 46 and a little .....well not sauvey when it comes to this new style of recording.I use a Roland BR1200 to record but a friend told me abour this place.I purchased 32 drum tracks for instant drummer but have no idea how to plug my guitar into my note book or even how the whole thing works as far as this new recording style goes......HELP>

What do i buy that will interface with this whole program and let me record my guitar and bass tracks along with drums.

(Not retarded...just born in the early 60's)

Park

[scott]

Have a read of the setup info and see if that helps -> http://www.sonomawireworks.com/guide/index.php/RiffWorks#Getting_Started

If you check out the recommended hardware list, you'll see what interfaces work well. Personally, I use the Line 6 TonePort UX2 and have no complaints whatsoever. It will give you the link you need between the instrument and the software as well as providing some excellent amp models for guitar, bass, keys, vocals etc.

If you have any more questions, don't be afraid to ask. This is a superb community and very friendly.

Oh ... and btw ... the "new guy" rules dictate that you buy the beer!

[tmotech]

I use line6 Guitar Port. I think pretty much all of the Line6 gear works. M-Audio has some devices that work, IK Multimedia is another good one from what I understand.

The device you are looking for is going to be either USB (most common) or FireWire (not standard on most laptops/desktops until recently)

Only because it's the only equipment I've used with it and because RWS originally was married with Line6 gear, thats what I would go with, but only my opinion. When you make your decision, check the MAXIMUM RECORDING BIT RATE of the product. Line6 Guitar Port interface supports 32bit recording. Some others only support 24bit and some only 16bit. The lower the bits, the lower the quality of your end product.

You are going to invest a minimum of $100 to get an input device if you don't already own one, but it is WELL WORTH IT my friend! If I had this software back in the day when I was young and playing in bands, there's no telling where it would have lead. What we used to spend big bucks on in the studio is now at my fingertips by investing the same amount as the cost of one brief recording session in a studio.

good luck!

-chris

[robert1969]

I'll second tmotech's Line6 recommendation.

The Line6 Guitar Port, which is what I'm using myself, is as about as "no brainer" as you can get. All it is is a box with a big chicken head volume dial on it. Just plug your guitar into and connect it to yr. PC via a USB cable.

Of course you'll then be spending the next couple of months dialing in yr guitar tone!

[pooterpatty]

I'll add another +1 for Line 6 interfaces. They are, in my experience, the easiest to set up, most stable, and most compatible interfaces with a variety of software, not just Riffworks.

Personally I use a Line 6 tonePort UX1, which has 1 instrument input, 1 mic input, and 2 extra line inputs, so plenty of flexibility if I wanted to mic an acoustic guitar and record it.

[Wedgebill]

And another +1 here, I use Toneport UX2 which is much the same a Pooters UX1 but has more inputs including 2 XLR with 48 volt Phantom power for powering up condenser mics

[kwjolin]

I use a Line 6 UX1, and POD X3 Live, both work awesome. Can't go wrong with Line 6 and Riffworks!

[parker1963]

Hey Thanks guys for all the replies....looks like line 6 is the winner.i will check further into what software us availible.

Thanks for taking time to help me out all of you!,

Parker

[kwjolin]

Hey Thanks guys for all the replies....looks like line 6 is the winner.i will check further into what software us availible.

Thanks for taking time to help me out all of you!,

Parker

Any of the mentioned Line 6 products come with Gear Box and Pod Farm Amp Modeling software. They come with awesome tones from POD 2.0 and are upgradeable to all the models that come with the POD X3. Pretty sweet!!

Good luck!

[parker1963]

Hey Thanks guys for all the replies....looks like line 6 is the winner.i will check further into what software us availible.

Thanks for taking time to help me out all of you!,

Parker

Any of the mentioned Line 6 products come with Gear Box and Pod Farm Amp Modeling software. They come with awesome tones from POD 2.0 and are upgradeable to all the models that come with the POD X3. Pretty sweet!!

Good luck!

So i went online to look at the POD UX2 and it looks like what i need....but how do i mix this in with my Riffworks program will it recognize it and automatically and allow me to start using my drum programs and record guitar and bass,vocals?.
This is the part i don't understand.

http://line6.com/podstudioux2/

Park

[scott]

It should be almost plug and play. The UX2 comes with the amp modelling software (PODFarm) and the necessary drivers via a neat little Line 6 app called "Line 6 Monkey". It checks for updates etc. and keeps everything sweet.

You literally plug the UX2 in to your computer via a USB cable, it recognises new hardware and installs drivers etc.
You install PODFarm and start it up, plug your instrument in to the front of the UX2 and away it goes. PODFarm needs to know which inputs to look for from the UX2 but these are simple drop-down menus/lists to choose from.
You may need to initially choose the UX2 as the preferred ASIO device for RiffWorks but after that it's really simple.
I have the UX2 and it's brilliant. I think you've made a good choice.

[Stymie]

One thing worth mentioning. To hear your guitars and stuff without using Riffworks you will have to plug the line out from the line6 into your sound card line in. I had that problem until someone here told me the fix. If you need cables it's cheaper on shipping to get them when you order the line6 device instead of ordering them seperately.

[parker1963]

EXCELLENT!!!! Stymie and Scott Thanks a whole bunch you guys for your time and effort.
Hey i belong to a website called GuitarBlast .com good bunch of guys there if you ever want to come check it out and maybe do a collab with really friendly guys your more than welcome.
My name is the same on that site as well.

Thanks again fellows your good dudes!

[beauzeau]

I use both the podxt live (for guitar) and the toneport ux1 (for bass and vox). Though the toneport alone will give you all you need. Once you've got the toneport installed, along with line 6 gearbox, when you start riffworks, you'll want to click on "audio setup" in the bottom right hand corner. There, you should see where you can choose which asio device you want to use.

As Stymie said above, you might need to get a bit creative with the headphone out on your toneport. And sometimes, audio cards in computers have asio drivers that don't agree with sonomas. If that's the case, you simply go grab the all4one asio driver that you'll see mention of around here, and that should fix it.

I've heard of people using a simple line-in to their soundcard from their guitar or effect setup, but then you're putting the work on your soundcard, and any time I've ever tried to turn off hardware monitoring, I've run into lag problems. The line 6 devices get past all this because they have pro quality soundcards basically built-in, which handle all the audio processing, so your soundcard doesn't have to.

I too was clueless on computer recording when I got back into music in 96 after having been out of it for a while. I felt the same way you do now. But the great thing is, once you're past all the setup stuff, you're gonna be creating songs as fast as you can think them up. I haven't had much time to record anything lately, but when I do sit down to create something, it rarely takes me more than a couple hours to do so. That's from conception to riffcasting. Since it's loop based, I can run the same take on the same part of a song 15 times if I need to, in order to get a really good take. This sure beats the hell out of punching in/out with traditional analog!

Anyway, WELCOME!

[TerryR]

Keep in mind that the Pod Farm upgrade for any Line 6 device is available for $34.95 until August 31.