[mattmarshall]

hey there

I'm been fooling around with recording my guitar on my old Powerbook (pismo), and have run into some trouble. When I first started, everything went great -- recording in both sides -- then all of a sudden it stopped being able to record in stereo.

When I record, it only comes through the left speaker on playback. I have tried this with another program -- AudioIn -- with the same exact result. I tried a different guitar and a total different setup, and got the same result.

I tried recording with the built-in mic, to check, and it records in stereo. It just seems to be my line-in.

Anyone know what to do about this?

thanks thanks

- matt

[demograph68]

When you record it, does it convert to one sided stereo? Could you convert to mono? Does the sound suppose to sound different in each speaker?

[mattmarshall]

I can record in Mono in Garageband, and it will come out both speakers. I'm not sure how the pickup records, though. When I could record in stereo, it was definitely a better, fuller sound, and I'd like to be able to do it that way again.

- matt

[PacHead]

Could it be that there is a hardware problem with your actual sound input on your Pismo ? A loose connection ?

You said it worked fine before and recorded in stereo and now you only get one side.

I have a pismo, and my sound input/output also got busted. I had used it alot, so I assume it was just wear and tear. I haven't fixed it yet, since it would be ridiculously expensive for the prices that Apple wants to replace the sound card.

I will be getting a PCMCIA card soon which will be cheaper and better than replacing the sound card or output/input jacks on the pismo.

You should determine if your problem is a software one or a hardware one.

[mattmarshall]

How would I figure out if it's hardware or software?

I've only used the input like three times in the 4-5 years I've had the computer. I'd be very disappointed if it was broken.

How much does the PC card cost?

- matt

[PacHead]

You know, I just realized something, when reading your first post over again.

If you are recording your guitar, the output is only a single channel, mono. A guitar is typically not stereo, unless you are also going through some extra stereo FX unit etc. before going into your pismo.

Having the same exact identical signal on both the left and right channel takes double as much disk space, and does not make a difference upon the sound.

It sounds like your garageband is doing exactly what it should do in this situation.

I don't want to claim that you are mistaken, but I find it hard to believe that the sound was actually wider or better sounding when recording before, because your guitar is mono afterall, unless you were going through some external units, as I stated before. Could it just be your perception ? A double mono signal is not stereo, and you will find that the two sides are identical if one inverts the phase of one of the sides 180 degrees, and they will cancel each other out.

Can you not just pan the left signal in the program you use to the center ?

This does sound like a software issue or perhaps user error in my opinion.

It sounds like you are only hearing the left side when recording, perhaps because you are attempting to record in stereo and there is no rightside signal being fed to the program, thus leaving the right side silent, and leaving you to only hear the left signal.

Can you not set the preferences in the program you use to just record from input 1(L), as opposed to 1 & 2 (L & R) ? The same would apply to vocals. Unless one is recording vocals using a stereo mic, recording 2 channels (l&r) of a mono signal is a waste of disk space, and has zero bearing upon the sound.

If you want to see if your stereo inputs still work fine, just hook up a CD player and record a tune from a CD into your pismo in stereo. If it plays back fine in stereo, then there is no problem with your inputs.

[mattmarshall]

Hey PacHead....I appreciate your help.

I guess you are right. I hooked my ipod up to the input, and recorded an mp3 of a song, and the recording came out in stereo. So, the computer is fine. And, I am just recording straight from my guitar, not through any extra unit.

So, this definitely appears to be "user error" (or, "user lack of knowledge.")

I felt certain that when I first did some recordings I recorded in "stereo" and it sounded better/fuller, but perhaps I was mistaken somehow. (Or was doing something else different, I don't know.)

I guess Audio In is doing the same thing as GarageBand.

Thank you very much for your time. I really appreciate it.

- matt

[PacHead]

Originally posted by mattmarshall:
Hey PacHead....I appreciate your help.

I guess you are right. I hooked my ipod up to the input, and recorded an mp3 of a song, and the recording came out in stereo. So, the computer is fine. And, I am just recording straight from my guitar, not through any extra unit.

So, this definitely appears to be "user error" (or, "user lack of knowledge.")

I felt certain that when I first did some recordings I recorded in "stereo" and it sounded better/fuller, but perhaps I was mistaken somehow. (Or was doing something else different, I don't know.)

I guess Audio In is doing the same thing as GarageBand.

Thank you very much for your time. I really appreciate it.

- matt

Yeah, no problem.

If you want a tip as to how to get a "WIDE" guitar sound that many people utiliize on professional CD's, it's quite simple.

Just record your guitar part twice - Then pan one to the left and one to the right - You'll hear this technique on plenty of Cd's. Of course this assumes that one is a decent player, and you are able to play the same part relatively tight.

[mattmarshall]

Interesting.

Could you just duplicate the single recording (copy paste, you know), and then pan one to the left and one to the right? Wouldn't this be the "tightest" way?

Where do you learn this stuff? It all sounds interesting. Any books you can recommend?

- matt

[PacHead]

Originally posted by mattmarshall:
Interesting.

Could you just duplicate the single recording (copy paste, you know), and then pan one to the left and one to the right? Wouldn't this be the "tightest" way?

Where do you learn this stuff? It all sounds interesting. Any books you can recommend?

- matt

No, if you duplicate the single recording and copy/paste it you will end up with 2 identical tracks. Part of the reason that playing the same part twice makes it wider sounding is because, even though it may be played tightly, there will always be small variations in tone, sound, level, timing etc., thus helping to make the two sides different enough.

As for where I learned it, I'm mostly self-taught, and I do this for a living. I don't really know of any books to recommend, though there are certainly tons of them out there on this subject. There's also plenty of info on the net about techniques etc. A quick google on mixing techniques/recording techniques will surely give you plenty of hits. There is plenty to learn though, if you really want to get good at it, including micing techniques, Eq, Compression, Limiting, recording, mixing, phase, frequencies etc.

And if you want to go really crazy like certain people do, then you need to not only play the same part over twice, but perhaps even 20 times each or even more than that. This is how people get all those huge sounds you hear on like some "def leppard" records and many other things, that sound larger than life. The same goes with background vocals, this is a common technique.

[Spheric Harlot]

Originally posted by PacHead:
Yeah, no problem.

If you want a tip as to how to get a "WIDE" guitar sound that many people utiliize on professional CD's, it's quite simple.

Just record your guitar part twice - Then pan one to the left and one to the right - You'll hear this technique on plenty of Cd's. Of course this assumes that one is a decent player, and you are able to play the same part relatively tight.

Actually, other methods, depending on how clean you want it to sound (also applicable to vocals):

duplicate the signal, pan them left and right, and apply a very slight chorus to *one* of them.

duplicate the signal, pan them left and right, and shift one of them by a few samples for a semi-chorusing/comb-filter effect.

neither of these are as organic as simply playing the track over (and over and over) again, which is the way rock records get those really "fat" guitars.

-s*

[PacHead]

Originally posted by Spheric Harlot:
Actually, other methods, depending on how clean you want it to sound (also applicable to vocals):

duplicate the signal, pan them left and right, and apply a very slight chorus to *one* of them.

duplicate the signal, pan them left and right, and shift one of them by a few samples for a semi-chorusing/comb-filter effect.

neither of these are as organic as simply playing the track over (and over and over) again, which is the way rock records get those really "fat" guitars.

-s*

Yes, that technique is known as ADT (automatic double tracking) I believe, a time shifting/pitch shifting technique which is sometimes used. As you also state, it is not as organic, and I vastly prefer to use the "play it over" method, however ADT is helpful if one is mixing a mono source, and there is no opportunity to "play it over". This is a personal preference of course, and various people utilize both techniques on the same song. Sometimes In the old days. tape machines were utilized to achieve ADT. Some Beatles stuff is a good example of this, though ADT does not always have to be panned left/right, as most of the Beatles stuff was not.

[Spheric Harlot]

Originally posted by PacHead:
ADT does not always have to be panned left/right, as most of the Beatles stuff was not.

I didn't know it had a name.

I only mentioned the hard panning because you were talking about "WIDE" sound.

cheers,

-s*