Recording question

[Smizack]

Does anyone know how to record a guitar on computer. I have the software, Acid pro and Sound forge, but if I use a microphone to record the guitar parts, it's fuzzy from the amp noise.
Has anyone done this before?
Thanks.

[flaming gerbil]

there's quite a few possibilities. listen to the recording and make sure the noise you are hearing is your amp noise. if so try the noise gate feature on sound forge. i'm using version 5.0 but i think it's on 4.5 and above. think of a noise gate as that a "gate". it only opens when you tell it to. when it's shut nothing gets through, when it opens everything gets through including the noise. but the idea is your guitar is louder than the noise. so play with the "threshhold" setting. this sets the sensitivity of the gate. when you cross the threshold the gate opens. so what happens is that everything is completely quiet (the amp noise is shut out) then you play and the gate opens and what your playing is usually louder than the amp noise, and when your done playing the gate shuts off. the only way to set the gate is by the ear, so listen and make sure it opens and closes at the right time (not clipping any notes) there can also be many factors beside amp noise, for example bad cables. try monster cable or whirlwind cables. poor input levels: make sure your levels are as close to "0" without going over zero. soundcards without breakout boxes can be very bad, the inside of the computer generates a lot of noise and can be picked up rather easily. the power supplied by your house can be "dirty". you need a power conditioner for this. bad microphones can be the case. computer microphes suck. get at least a "shure" sm-57 or 58. (about 75-120$) balanced connections eliminate radio frequency interference and help with hum rejection. most consumer sound cards don't have balanced connections. also try playing with the equalizer in sound forge and cut frequencies above 10,000 khz. al ot of hiss and buzz is in this range and most of the guitar tone is not, so you can safely cut these frequencies without effecting the sound of your guitar. play with it a little. again make sure those levels are hot without passing 0! good luck.

[Smizack]

Thanks for the info, I didn't think about the Sound forge gate. I use SF 5.0 also. I'm using a Sm57 to mike it with. I'm sure it's amp noise, If I talk into it while recording, it's fine. The only problem is while miking a guitar.

I'm gonna bring my whole rig home and try it. I have a gate in with my rack FX. That might cut it down enough.