Setting it all up - part one!

So, you have your computer, some multitrack software, your mic (or mics), a mixing desk: and you and your acoustic guitar (I hope!). Now what?

First things first - where to put this gear? This might seem daft, but you need a proper space to work. You don't need a studio or some pre-designed area, but you do need a quiet and responsive space. Don't set up next to noisy electrical gear, and keep the windows shut. Basically, somewhere you feel happy to work in, and where there is a nice warm acoustic. Rooms with a lot of echo (like after you decorate, but before the furniture goes in) ain't great. Too much bounce. A carpet on the floor and a couch in the room do a lot to help even out the acoustic!

Plug the mic into its lead, plug the lead into a channel on the desk. For dynamic mics, this is going to be a regular jack input (like on an amp). For condenser mics, the 3 pin input. Obviously, the leads required are different - but both are easily available.

To connect the desk to the computer you need a lead which connects two left and right RCA jacks to one 3.5mm stereo input. (RCA jacks are like those for audio on a TV or video). Plug this into the line-in on a PC (not the mic socket). For a Mac, turn down the gain on the external mic input settings, and use the mic socket (this effectively turns it into a line-in).

Run a line out (using the same type of RCA to 3.5mm lead) from the PC/Mac (not from the headphone jack - this will give you delay and possibly feedback) to the desk. Some desks will have a headphone line in, and a monitoring facility - if not, run the line out into a stereo channel (marked L/R as opposed to a number or mono) and turn the knob marked 'aux' to pre-fader listening. Keep the volume on this to zero, and turn any channel you use to record with to pre-fader as well. Plug your headphones into the aux socket. This way you can hear what you already played, but not record it onto the next track as well as the new recording. Sometimes, you only get sound in one ear, but this is not really a problem. Many players prefer this (myself included) as you still get some 'real' sound!

(One thing I nearly forgot make sure you have a mic stand for your microphone - a few extra quid on a good one with a boom facility is preferable. Smaller stands, like those for mic-ing up an amp, are also handy if you intend to record guitar and voice all at once)

Plug everything in first, then switch on your computer, then your desk. Keep the levels at zero until you are ready to set the sound up on the computer.