Any tips for setting up an Amp in GarageBand?
I've been using Garage Band a lot for the harmonica, to practice and to record me for LOA performance tests. For LOA 1, Walk With Me song, I was ok with the standard microphone, but yesterday I was recording some versions of Temperature for LOA 2 and the recording just sounded flat and not what I actually hear when I'm playing. So I started to play with the build-in guitar amps and found out that I could have a better tone with them, but I'm completely lost because there are 19 models of Amp, there are a lot of configurations for each one and I can mess up with the equalization if I want.
My question is: do you have any tips for setting up a good configuration for the harmonica?
I'm recording in my bedroom using a bullet microphone (Superlux D112) that is plugged in directly in my macbook through a device named iRig (it's an adaptor to plug a guitar on the PC, it works pretty well). So I'm basically cupping the mic with my hands and playing directly to it, the "amp" is the build-in amp from Garage Band.
I will watch the videos you suggested.
Okay, gotcha. Experimenting with the amp modeling options and EQ will be the way to go then. Also, Professor John Shirley uses an iRig and gets some great sounds out of it. He has some lessons on the site...
Using a Smartphone to Emulate an Amp for Live Performance
https://www.bluesharmonica.com/using_smartphone_emulate_amp_live_perform...
BlueDadi Harmonica Recording Software
https://www.bluesharmonica.com/bluedadi_harmonica_recording_software
Hello tandeitnik. Let's focus on how you're recording first.
What mic are you using?
Are you playing through your amp, and micing your amp, or acoustic?
How far away is the sound source (you to the mic, or your amp to the mic)?
What room are you in (bedroom with soft surfaces, or hallway with reflective surfaces)?
In regards to the amp models. I don't use that program, so I don't have any set favorites to throw at you. Have fun trying all of them and choose the one you like the most.
Then experiment with the setting of that model.
Finally, experiment with the EQ settings.
P.S., Watch my recording series on the site, specifically Recording Study 3, where I show you how I record at my school. Also check out the amp trials and you'll see me at the computer moving the EQ around to get a good EQ setting for each amp (you'll see a trend of how I EQ most setups).