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Joined:
May 2003
Posts: 4
Location: California | Hello folks!
I guess this will be my first post.
I started playing the guitar with an old Applause AE-36 about one-and-a-half months ago. It's not an Ovation but I'm happy to have been able to afford it because I love the projection and frequency response that the Lyramold Roundback generates.
Anyway, a few friends have wanted to review my progress and they suggested that I record some of my practice tunes to MP3 files and email these to them. I could take the simple route and just go from audio-tape to MP3 recording via line-in, but I wanted to see if it might be possible to just record directly to the PC. I just don't know if it's possible with the stuff that I have.
Here's all I have to work with:
1. An Applause AE-36
2. An old Toshiba Tecra 700CT laptop, 166MHz Pentium with just 32MB of RAM, 507MB of free space and a SoundBlaster-compatible chip (ES688) built into the motherboard
Is it even possible to wire my AE-36 directly into the line-in/microphone jack and record with AM-radio quality? If possible, what gear and software (preferrably freeware) would I need? I'm not cutting any CDs or trying to audition. This is all just so some friends can assess my work and make suggestions.
Creative solutions welcomed.
Thanks in advance! |
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Joined:
May 2002
Posts: 3005
Location: Las Cruces, NM | Hans
Welcome, and you ask a good question, my son and grandson are just now getting deeply into digital recording and from what little I know I would suggest looking into a digital recorder, the Toshiba probably won't cut it for recording, as music generates large files. Digital recorders are not real expensive and there is a lot of support on the internet.
My 2 cents, step in there and emote you digital maniacs. |
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Joined:
February 2002
Posts: 5750
Location: Scotland | If recording quality is not vital you could a cheap basic computer mike & record to your laptop using one of several recording programs, some of which are available as free downloads, then convert the .wav files to an MP3 via soundforge, wavelab or several other programs. You could also make up a lead to plug your guitar directly to the soundcard, but I'm guessing your guitar does not have a pre-amp so there would be an impedance mismatch and the sound wouldn't be great. If you want to try this take a standard stereo 3.5mm to stereo 3.5mm cable, then either put a 3.5mm stereo to 6.35mm mono adaptor on the guitar end, or cut off one of the mini-jacks and solder a 6.35mm mono jack with both hots commoned to the tip. |
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Joined:
May 2003
Posts: 4
Location: California | Originally posted by Paul Templeman:
You could also make up a lead to plug your guitar directly to the soundcard, but I'm guessing your guitar does not have a pre-amp so there would be an impedance mismatch and the sound wouldn't be great.
Thanks for the response Paul! That does raise the question, "Does the AE-36 have a pre-amp?". It has volume and tone controls but I don't have the manual and specs for this Applause. |
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Joined:
February 2002
Posts: 5750
Location: Scotland | If the guitar has a battery it has a pre-amp, if not it doesn't. |
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Joined:
February 2003
Posts: 299
Location: Netherlands | If recording quality is not vital and you have a cassette deck, i'd record on tape and if wanted, connect the tapedeck to my computer. It's easy to burn a .wav or .mp3 using nero, audiograbber or cd-creator etc. that way.
it saves you the hassle of calibrating your soundcard etc. Another advantage is that your harddisk probably is not fast enough for realtime recording (for good quality you need at least 7200 RPM HD and a fast soundcard, to avoid latency problems (=hearing yourself via the computer just seconds after you played, quite annoying).
hope this helps,
martin |
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Joined:
May 2003
Posts: 4
Location: California | Thanks Martin! I may just go with the semi-low-tech route. I tried hooking-up my AE-36 to the mic port of my laptop and got a weak signal. |
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Recording to an MP3 file with an Applause AE-36?
