Our most recent question that was generalizable enough to benefit the entire community is a very fundamental hurdle that nearly everyone runs into: how to use an audio interface. Being a musician usually involves learning an instrument and some music theory, of course.
But rarely do we anticipate needing to learn our way around computers to enhance our hobby. And that's what happens when you decide to start recording your own songs or covers.
I remember having to deal with this my first time ever recording around 18 years ago. This question comes from a real life guitarist friend who finally bought his first interface and couldn't figure out what was happening when he'd press record. I'll explain what was happening and how I solved it, which includes the general tutorial on setting up your audio interface.
How To Use An Audio Interface
QUESTION:
I just bought the best audio interface I could afford. When I record on it, my tracks sound real distant and have a lot of noise in them. I'm using the same Shure SM57 and cables I've used tons of times to record elsewhere so I know nothing is wrong with them.
Can you help? Koi
ANSWER:
The next night, my brother and I ran over to Koi's home and I started investigating while they set up the guitar, amp, mic, and stand just as it was before when the bad signal was coming through. I confirmed the mic was receiving the signal, passing it through the interface and on to Logic Pro X, where we then recorded it.
How to Set Up Your Audio Interface to Record Audio Updated: Feb 14, 2021 • Q & A
Our most recent question that was generalizable enough to benefit the entire community is a very fundamental hurdle that nearly everyone runs into: how to use an audio interface. Being a musician usually involves learning an instrument and some music theory, of course.
But rarely do we anticipate needing to learn our way around computers to enhance our hobby. And that's what happens when you decide to start recording your own songs or covers.
I remember having to deal with this my first time ever recording around 18 years ago. This question comes from a real life guitarist friend who finally bought his first interface and couldn't figure out what was happening when he'd press record. I'll explain what was happening and how I solved it, which includes the general tutorial on setting up your audio interface.
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How To Use An Audio Interface
QUESTION:
I just bought the best audio interface I could afford. When I record on it, my tracks sound real distant and have a lot of noise in them. I'm using the same Shure SM57 and cables I've used tons of times to record elsewhere so I know nothing is wrong with them.
Can you help? Koi
ANSWER:
The next night, my brother and I ran over to Koi's home and I started investigating while they set up the guitar, amp, mic, and stand just as it was before when the bad signal was coming through. I confirmed the mic was receiving the signal, passing it through the interface and on to Logic Pro X, where we then recorded it.
And just as described, it sounded horrible. There was a lot of reverb, noise, and some distortion when the amplitude was increased. Why was this happening?
A common tabletop form-factor for an audio interface.
I checked everything, but missed one detail even though we deliberately looked at it in the settings. We started to blame it on the headphones going bad, so we switched headphones and the problem was still there, but that was what revealed the problem.
As I was talking out loud I realized that we weren't recording through the mic that was being used to close mike the amplifier at all. We were recording through the laptop's microphone! I could hear myself loud and clear but barely hear the guitar.
HOW TO SETUP YOUR AUDIO INTERFACE
I'll state the obvious just for the sake of anyone reading who doesn't realize the basics of cabling. Your interface will be packaged with a power cable or power adaptor which obviously has to be plugged into the wall or your power conditioner before you can even turn the thing on.
It will also come with (these days) one of three options for cables to connect to your computer, depending on which type you purchased. You'll either have a firewire cable, thunderbolt cable, or a USB cable, either of which has to be plugged in before your interface can communicate with the computer.
CHOOSE YOUR AUDIO INTERFACE IN YOUR OPERATING SYSTEM
The next step is to find your audio settings for your operating system at large.
On Windows, if I recall correctly, you'll find these settings by navigating to the Start menu > Control Panel > Hardware & Sound > Sound, and then you'll work within the Playback and the Recording tabs. It will look something like this:
Windows Sound Settings
On a Mac you will venture to the top left of your menu bar to click the Apple > System Preferences > Sound, and then work within the Output and Input tabs. It will look like this:
Mac sound settings
As you can see, I have the Focusrite Saffire Pro 40 set up as my output device. This routes all of the sound out of the firewire cable and to the interface and then out of the master stereo outputs through the XLR cables to my Adam Audio A7 studio monitors.
It's how I listen to music, watch movies, play YouTube videos, etc. I never change this output setting, but I do switch the input device back and forth between my webcam (for phone calls and video conference calls) and my interface (for recording).
You will want to set memorize how to navigate to these settings because you may also have to change your input and output devices frequently, especially if you use a laptop that you take with you on the go. You will need to select your audio interface in these two tabs when you get ready to record.
You may ask "but what if I want to listen through headphones?" You can choose your headphones as an output if that exists, or it may automatically show and be chosen once you plug them in like my computer does. Alternatively, you can choose your interface as the output and use the headphone jack on it just like you would with external monitors.