Recording your music can get difficult and expensive, as a decent audio interface can set you back a few hundred dollars. If you’re a beginner who just wants to track their progress, or if you want to create some crude demos to show your sick new riffs to your bandmates, you’ll probably think that investing a lot of money in that can be excessive. However, there is no need to worry since you can create decent recordings even without an audio interface.
Here are some ways in which you can record your music without an audio interface:
Want to add vocals? Here’s how to record vocals on BandLab step by step.
Related: how to record guitar without an audio interface, how to record acoustic guitar without a microphone, and best guitar audio interfaces for home recording.
When you’re ready for an interface, here’s how to record electric guitar at home step by step.
- Plug the guitar directly into the computer.
- Plug your amp into the computer.
- Use a USB microphone.
- Make analog recordings.
- Use virtual instruments.
- Use your phone’s microphone.
- Use your laptop’s built-in microphone.
In this article, I’ll explain some simple but effective recording methods without an audio interface. After reading and experimenting, you’ll be able to make quick and simple recordings without spending a lot of money on an audio interface. When you’re done recording, learn how to mix and master a song.
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1. Plug the Guitar Directly Into the Computer
Plugging your guitar into your computer is probably the easiest and the most straightforward way to record your music without an audio interface. You only need a simple adapter, and you’re ready to go.
While this method is quick, easy, and cheap, it does not produce the best results. This will happen because you will be relying on your computer’s built-in sound card, and it’s highly likely that it was not meant for recording music.
Having a sound card that wasn’t meant for recording will mean that the audio quality will not be particularly good. You can try to tweak it and make it a little bit better in your DAW, such as Reaper or Garageband, but you can’t make professional recordings this way.
You could, of course, upgrade your sound card, but you might as well buy an audio interface for that much money. Nevertheless, you’ll be able to create decent recordings to show your ideas to your friends or band members.
Keep in mind that this idea won’t be applicable to all computers. Some cheap laptops won’t pick up any sounds from your guitar, even if your DAW or virtual amp is set up properly. You might be able to mitigate this with an external sound card, but it is not guaranteed.
2. Plug Your Amp Into the Computer
This is a more sophisticated version of the previous option. Plugging your guitar into the amp and then plugging your amp into your computer will give you more control over your sound and may result in better sound quality.
Many modern amps can be connected to a computer via a USB cable, which is the best and easiest way of doing this. While the audio quality you get this way will probably not be the best, it will still be reasonably good and do a decent job.
Alternatively, if there is a line out or a headphone socket on your amp, you can use this to connect your amp to your computer via a cable. This will work, but the audio quality will be far inferior to the one you’ll get with a USB cable.
3. Use a USB Microphone
USB microphones are a great tool for recording sound, and they can be reasonably good for recording guitar (not in a professional setting, though). A USB microphone will typically have an audio interface built in, which will have a positive effect on your sound quality.
They can be particularly good for recording acoustic guitars since they are less loud than electric ones and won’t overpower the microphone. This doesn’t mean that you can’t use them to record an electric guitar, but you’ll have to tinker with the volume and gain settings a little to get the most out of this setup.
The major downside here is that a microphone will also pick up any background noise that will be impossible to remove from the track later. If you’re planning to use this technique, make sure that there is at least some type of makeshift sound treatment in your room, so your riffs don’t mix with the sound of a neighbor’s lawn mower.
Alternatives
Technically speaking, you could use any type of microphone if sound quality is not a big conce