The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
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  1. #1

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    I am looking to be able to record some reasonable-quality video and audio for my own purposes of self-improvement and possibly to share with family and friends. Not for commercial purposes.

    I recently got an iRig HD2 mic, which overall seems sturdy and of reasonable quality for recording using an iPhone, iPad or laptop. One thing that I can't quite figure out is how to monitor the recording as it's occurring--this does not seem possible when using the camera video program on the iPhone. Has anyone used this mic? Any hints on how to do this? I have searched the internet and watched many YouTube videos, without a specific answer.

    Also, what program do folks use for recording? The built-in camera app seems like the easiest way to record video, though the lack of monitoring bugs me. For audio, there is Garage Band and AmpiTube (which do seem to allow simultaneous monitoring with headphones or bluetooth. Any other inexpensive options for music recording?

    I did peruse the recent posts on video and audio recording. I am not interested in external devices, just an iPhone or iPad and a USB mic like the iRig. And not terribly interested in Windows software, just Mac (though I do have a Windows laptop with Audacity and also have a MacBook Air).

    Thanks for the advice.

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  3. #2

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    I have sometimes recorded stuff on my ipad into garageband, I was able to monitor it from the ipad headphone output as I recall. There was a slight latency but not enough to bother me. I was using a Line6 Pod gadget which contains amp sims etc. and lets me record guitar direct into the lightning port on my ipad (it’s quite an old ipad!).

    I haven’t really done video into the ipad much though. I think I found a way to record audio into the camera app from the Line6 Pod with simultaneous video from the ipad camera, I don’t think I tried to monitor it though.

    There was a thread about it, I’ll have a look for it.

    I don’t have an iphone, so can’t comment on that.

  4. #3

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    I use voice memo and just put the phone in my pocket. No extra stuff. It sounds clearer than Swing To Bop. The iPhone is an amazingly sophisticated device.

  5. #4

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    Ok I found the thread:

    iPad Air 4?

    So what I found was that if I plug my guitar into the Line6 Pod, then feed that into the ipad lightning port, then run the ipad video camera, the guitar direct sound is recorded to the video. The video camera ignores the onboard ipad mic while this is happening. So you get a pretty good direct recording, nicely in sync with the ipad video. The downside was that the Line6 software is also ignored, the amp sims etc. do not get recorded into the video, only the direct guitar signal.

    So I think you should be able to record your irig mic into a video on the Ipad. Still not sure about monitoring though. I was able to get a headphone output ok, but that may have been because I was also running garageband in the background, and feeding the Line6 Pod into that.

    If you are trying to record over a backing, or do multitrack recording, you may need to do something more complicated.

  6. #5

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    Silly question, but why do you need to monitor the recording? If you are playing the guitar into a mic, which feeds into the iphone/ipad, presumably you can hear what you’re playing anyway.

    I doubt you need to worry about recording levels too much, the camera app will probably do a decent job of that automatically (mine did).

    If you need monitoring in order to deal with more complex requirements (e.g. multitrack recording), I don’t think the ‘straight into the camera’ method is going to work anyway. You’ll need to marry up audio and video subsequently I would have thought.

    If you just want to do audio, I don’t think you can beat garageband, given that it’s free and already installed, has virtual instruments, multitracking, effects, etc.
    Last edited by grahambop; 01-10-2023 at 04:32 PM.

  7. #6

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    Quote Originally Posted by grahambop
    Silly question, but why do you need to monitor the recording? If you are playing the guitar into a mic, which feeds into the iphone/ipad, presumably you can hear what you’re playing anyway.

    I doubt you need to worry about recording levels too much, the camera app will probably do a decent job of that automatically (mine did).

    If you need monitoring in order to deal with more complex requirements (e.g. multitrack recording), I don’t think the ‘straight into the camera’ method is going to work anyway. You’ll need to marry up audio and video subsequently I would have thought.

    If you just want to do audio, I don’t think you can beat garageband, given that it’s free and already installed.
    I should clarify that the iRig is plugged into the lightning port and takes over the audio function from the iPhone. The mic does have a 1/8" headphone jack for monitoring, but with camera video recording it will not playback simultaneously. I found this out when I started recording video with the mic, and got no sound out through the headphone jack while recording, only with playback.

    Now this is not the case with GarageBand or AmpliTube, which do allow monitoring while recording. But for video I'm at a loss.

    The main reason for monitoring while playing is to see how it sounds as it's being recorded. Maybe not so important with a solo guitar, but if I am recording a small group--would be nice to be able to monitor it via bluetooth earbuds for instance. Also monitor levels, mic placement, etc. without having to unplug the mic to listen to the playback.

    If one if doing something more interactive, a podcast or interview for instance, then obviously one would want to be able to monitor.

  8. #7

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    Ah ok. In that case, try running Garageband in the background at the same time, and monitor the signal through that. I was able to get a headphone output that way.

    The ‘garageband’ sound will not be captured in the video, but at least you might get some idea of what’s coming from the mic.

  9. #8

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    Looks like the only way to monitor the mic directly is to use some kind of splitter cable as described here, or some kind of external interface.


  10. #9

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    Quote Originally Posted by grahambop
    Looks like the only way to monitor the mic directly is to use some kind of splitter cable as described here, or some kind of external interface.

    That’s interesting. Would be somewhat challenging with micro USB, Lightning and 1/8” stereo connections.

    I did find out that one can run a program in the background that will continually monitor the mic input through headphones connected to the mic. iRig includes a number of free downloads, including Mic Room, which will do that. Just run that program, voila. Mic always on with output to headphones. Seems to be a reasonable solution.

    I have not figured out a way to send the signal to Bluetooth headphone, which I would prefer, but maybe there’s a workaround for that as well.

    This is a very decent mic btw—the iRig Mic HD2. The acoustic sound of the guitars comes through very well. I got mine lightly used (pristine in fact) on Reverb for $50. The seller was a guy from La Crosse, WI, home of Dave’s Guitars and where I used to live.

  11. #10

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    I know you didn't ask for this but maybe of interest...

    Once you are set up it's really easy to record from an apple computer or a pc. Both of these softwares used run on both operating systems. I always have a guitar plugged in ready to go, it takes maybe 15 seconds for me to be up and running.

    If anyone is interested, I'll show the details of how to set this up. There's a plugin from Reaper called ReaStream that enables the output of Reaper audio to input into the OBS software. ReaStream is free and works on other DAWS also for this purpose.


  12. #11

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    Quote Originally Posted by fep
    I know you didn't ask for this but maybe of interest...

    Once you are set up it's really easy to record from an apple computer or a pc. Both of these softwares used run on both operating systems. I always have a guitar plugged in ready to go, it takes maybe 15 seconds for me to be up and running.

    If anyone is interested, I'll show the details of how to set this up. There's a plugin from Reaper called ReaStream that enables the output of Reaper audio to input into the OBS software. ReaStream is free and works on other DAWS also for this purpose.

    Hey thanks for posting!

    I am interested in a simple solution using my iPhone or possibly an iPad, but I do have a MacBook Air that I could use for more elaborate recording.

    A couple of years ago I was really interested in composing and recording, to the extent I got a USB keyboard for keys and synth effects and a bass, but that interest waned. I think I decided that learning studio recording was kind of like learning to play a new instrument, and it got to be too time-consuming.

    Who knows, though, I might get into it again? I still have all the stuff.

    My son is a very good keyboardist, as well as drummer. He set up a small studio in his apartment. When I was there last, he had me lay down some rhythm tracks on guitar. Very rudimentary, I might add, not too jazzy--he's more into chill and EDM music these days. He had some flooding in his apartment and had to move everything else into that room. Don't know if he's back on track with the recording.