Recording guitar music without expensive equipment
Just as you can digitize, store and modify an image such as a photo or illustration you can also do the same with sound. With the improvements and enhancements in technology music is now different to text and images on a computer.
In recording studios you will usually see microphones, digital mixers, samplers, dynamics processor and other forms of expensive equipment. But to record and manipulate guitar sounds, you'll be surprised at what you can do with a minimum of equipment and expense.
The first thing you will need to consider is your basic equipment: guitar, an amp with another output besides the speaker (headphone or line out), a cable to connect your amp to the microphone or line in jack of your computer, a computer with a decent sound card and sufficient memory and disk space for your files.
You will also need some type of audio software. This is one of the key components to recording your guitar music. There is a wide variety to choose from.
For recording and editing there's Sound Forge from Sonic Foundry, Cool Edit from Syntrillium, and Wavelab from Steinberg.
For mixing audio and sequencing there is Acid Pro from Sonic Foundry, Cubase VST from Steinberg and Sonar from Cakewalk. There are also hundreds of others but these are the more commonly known products.
Assuming you have everything set up and ready, you should first check the recording levels on the computer, then the guitar and amp volume settings too. Then undertake a couple of quick recording tests until you are satisfied with the results. You are now ready to record so start your software and record, then keep re-recording your piece until you feel it is right. When you are happy with your piece be sure to save it before you make any modifications just in case something bad happens!!!
The next step should be to eliminate any hissing noises with your sound editor. After eliminating any noise you are ready to cut and crop the sound just the way you want it to be, just keep in mind if you want a one-shot or a loop. If you want a loop you'll have to practice on where to cut the sound. Any other effects or processes should be applied now. Make sure you save your work again at this stage. So now you have your first piece at this stage, it is time to start the sequencer or mixing software and begin making your song. You will usually have to enter or modify the beats per minute timing to match the timing of your piece. Then you simply insert your piece into place. Once you are finished, edit the sound and insert it into the song mix.
This is basically it. It is not a completely simple process and it does take time, but eventually you should be able to make good songs this way. Just remember that all you need is time, a few pieces of equipment and loads of creativity and experimenting.