How to Connect Guitar to a Computer (4 Best Methods)

in this straight to-the-point video I'll go through the four best ways you can connect your guitar to your computer I'll explain each method and help you decide which one is best for you once you connect your guitar to your computer check out my other videos on how to record guitar before we look at the different options there's one option you'll sometimes hear that I don't recommend you consider at all most computers have a line in and microphone input jacks like these while you can technically buy an adapter to connect it gets hard cable or a microphone to these jacks I don't recommend it it might seem like an easy option but you'll end up with poor quality audio these jacks weren't designed to take a guitar input and won't sound anywhere as good as the other options I'll cover in this video okay so let's go through the methods I do recommend the first method is what I recommend to most guitarists with this method you use a device called an audio interface to connect your guitar to your computer audio interfaces can come in all shapes and sizes to suit different needs some interfaces like the iRig HD 2 that I use are designed for a single instrument while others like the very popular focusrite scarlett are designed to handle one or more instruments at the same time the right type of audio interface for you depends on what instruments you play and what you might want to record check out the guide in the description to learn about each type of audio interface and find the one that's right for you once you have an audio interface connecting your guitar to your computer is easy first you plug the audio interface into a USB port on your computer your audio interface will come with a suitable cable or if you want a longer one you can easily find one in stores or eBay just make sure that the type of cable matches the type of connector jack on your audio interface then if you're using an electric guitar or an electro-acoustic guitar simply connect your guitar to one of the input jacks on your interface using a standard guitar cable if you want to record an acoustic guitar you can connect any microphone you want to a suitable audio interface that offers mic input it's as simple as that connect your audio interface to the computer via USB then connect your guitar to or your interface with a standard guitar cable once your guitar is connected you can load any programs such as AmpliTube or bias effects or load any recording program you want check out my other videos on how to record with a digital audio workstation to learn more about this a big advantage with this method is that you can either connect it as heart directly to your computer or you can connect any of your pedals as well if you want to use your guitar pedals as well simply connect it guitar to your pedals as usual then instead of connecting guitar pedals to your guitar amp you can make the last petal to the audio interface now can you use your pedals in your recordings as you like for most guitarists I highly recommend this option in the guide on my website are going to more detail on audio interfaces so check it out to learn more the second method of connecting your guitar to your computer is to use a multi effects pedal most multi effects pedals today have a USB output that you can use to connect it to your computer if you already have a multi effects pedal check out the back to save it has a USB jack if it does it might mean it can be used to connect your guitar to your computer for recording some older pedals may only use USB for firmware updates but most of the time if you see a USB output it means you can use that pedal for recording with this method to connect your guitar to your computer you would first connect your guitar to your multi effects pedal as normal then find a suitable USB cable and connect it from the pedal to your computer most of the pedals I've seen use a type B connector which is the big blocky one so to connect your multi effects pedal to your computer you'll need a type B to type a cable or a type B to type C cable if your computer uses USB see every multi effects pedal is different so you'll need to check your pedals manual or the pedals website to find out if there are any settings you need a change to enable the USB output for example if you wanted to use a line 6 HX stomp the manual says you need to first download the HX stomp driver for Windows or Mac once the driver is installed and you load your program you can choose from a number of different inputs as shown here I won't go into detail on this here because every pedal is different the key point with this option is that if you already have a multi effects pedal or you're thinking about getting one you might be able to use it to connect your guitar to your computer check out the details on the specific pedal to learn more this option suits guitarists who already have a compatible multi effects pedal if you don't already have one unless you want a multiplex pedal you may prefer getting an audio interface the third option that might suit some guitarists is to use your amps USB output many newer amps now include a USB output so if you have recently bought one check out the back to see if there is a USB jack if it has one you can probably use it to connect your guitar to your computer in the same way as a multi effects pedal connects to a computer via USB if your amp does have a USB jack you simply need to buy a suitable cable plug your guitar in and you should be good to go just like multi effects pedals check the amps manual to find out if you need to install any drivers first or if there are any settings you need to enable if your amp doesn't offer a USB jack but you really want to record your guitar amp the best option is to use an audio interface and record your amp with a microphone if your amp doesn't have a USB jack I wouldn't suggest looking for one that does it's a lot cheaper and easier to just buy an audio interface and record either directly or use a microphone in front of your amp the last optional cover is the user USB microphone for most guitarists I don't recommend this option because you'll be better off with an audio interface but this option may suit somebody wanting something quick and easy to use for example if you only play acoustic guitar and you just want a simple way to record your guitar then a USB microphone is as simple as it gets all you need to do is plug it into your computer via USB and you're good to go most of them can even be plugged into your smartphone or tablet for recording anywhere you want an audio interface will give you more flexibility such as recording multiple microphones at once but if you're just looking for a simple option it doesn't get much easier than a USB microphone you could even use a USB microphone to record your amp but if you do want to mic up your amp I recommend getting an audio interface so you can find a more suitable microphone to help you decide which option is best for you first look at what you already have if you already have a multi effects pedal or an amp that has an USB output try using that before you go buy something else if you don't already have something that offers USB output ask yourself what you want to record if you want the most flexibility so you can record multiple instruments at once all you want to be able to choose between microphone or direct input get an audio interface if you want something simple that works easily with computers or smartphones you can either buy a compact interface we can buy a USB microphone check out the guide in the description for more details as well as to look at whether he should record direct or mic up your guitar amp once you connect your guitar to your computer check out my other videos to learn how to record guitar using different programs if you found this straight-to-the-point video helpful please let me know in the comments so I know if I should create more videos like this

Channel: Aaron Matthies

Views: 362,630

Rating: 4.934464 out of 5

Keywords: guitar lesson, guitar, guitar teacher, learn guitar, recording, record guitar, audio interface

Id: v4-KBxMRKdE

Length: 7min 14sec (434 seconds)

Published: Fri Jun 05 2020