Hi ...on a lot of the YouTube clips the video shows a sax player at home with headphones on, and the audio the sax as well as a backing track.
Can anyone explain how this is done at home? What basic sort of equipment/software is needed and what's the process to integrate so cleanly with the backing track? What's with the headphones? I have GarageBand but need someone to explain how to use it for this. I'm not too interested in the video side of things - just would like to be able to capture a clean sound clip with a playalong.
Thanks in advance.
Hi Rob!
I think I can help you get an overview of what you are asking.
How it's done
Well, as you are using GarageBand the getting started process is really simple.
You just open a new project and drag an drop your backtrack to the field below the existing tracks.
That will create a new track with the backtrack on it. (Most likely stereo)
If you bought it from iTunes you can drag it straight from there over to GarageBand.
You record you sax on a separate track to be able to do mixing and post production.
The headphones will make it possible for you to hear the backtrack, while recording your sax.
You want to use headphones and not speakers, so that you get a clean saxophone signal.
That's the basics to it.
You can also mix your recording mic into what you hear in your headphones by turning on the monitor option.
Pay attention to your recording level (not volume knob) and make sure you do not hit the reds.
That will make your recording distort.
Regarding the mic, you can get an alright USB mic pretty cheap or you could buy a external sound card which plug into your computer. You'd then plug in your mic using an XLR cable into the sound card.
If you use your iPad I do believe there is an hardware tat goes with "guitar rig" that you old use.
I hope that helps.
Play On!
//Greger
P.S
Here's a link to one of my videos where I'm using In-ears, which basically is earbuds designed for musicians. You cannot really see them, but they sound great! Also, I placed the mic just out of frame, above the shot. I use an AKG 414 mic, which works really well. Now, the video is educational and that's why I didn't want the mic in the picture. When I do "real" recordings however, I would place the mic differently. If you check out my YouTube Channel you'll find both kinds there.
Anyway, here's that link:
http://youtu.be/0XlRx4Hpw6A