When i have plugged my guitar in, and choose a distortion amp in the library, there is always a horrible high pitched crackling/buzzing, and its all i can hear really, any suggestions?
Logic Pro X, Mac OS X (10.7.5)
Does not make any difference what buffer size it is, its like a feedback sound.
Sounds like an input is up too high, or something is up with your amp settings causing it to overdrive too much and feedback, maybe?!
Don't suppose you can get an audio file uploaded to listen to it? Or failing that take a screenshot of your recorded guitar waveform?
When you record, do the recorded waveforms look like they're maxing out (Clipping)?
Well, start with checking your audio options and raise the buffer size, if this is too small it's giving your mac no room to breath and process the sound.
If that sorts it out then change the level so you get the fastest processing time (Smaller buffer) without affecting the sound.
Ok, so is there any chance that you have a mic picking up the noise and causing feedback? Or you are going through a mixer or audio interface where the gain could be up too high?
Is your clean guitar signal ok? i.e. cables not playing up?
Does it go away if you touch the strings with your hands? (I.e. could be a grounding issue?)
Clean guitar is fine, and yeah the sound goes away if i leave it for a while not touching the strings, and then when i touch them it comes back, its only on distortion amps
Here is a link to what it sounds like
https://soundcloud.com/shaun-holderness/horrible-noise-test
as i dont know how to take screenshots on a macbook xD
What type of audio interface?
What type of guitar, single coil or humbucking pickups?
When you have a high gain amp working, the preamp volume needed to produce the gain requires that -everything- in the signal path to be noise free. The higher the distortion level the more this is true.
The noise sounds like one of the below or a combination.
Too much treble, bad guitar wiring and/or inexpensive pickups, bad/cheap guitar cable, interface noise, USB noise, amplified computer background noise.
Is the noise less if the computer is running on battery power?
All i have done is get a USB to guitar jack cable off amazon and just plug it in.
And the guitar im using is a Les Paul Custom Silerburst, i could'nt tell you more than that about it.
It is the same when on battery power
I really have no idea whats causing it, a friend of mine has the same problem we have the same set up.
when i lay my hand on the strings it stop, and is it only make the noise when im recording and the strings are active, and only on distorted amps
AND i noticed that when im just generally on my laptop the USB cable light is still, and when im in logic pro it flashes in time with the horrible noise, could be connected?
Ah mate, listening to it that sounds like really poor interference that is being amplified by the amp simulators.
Have you a link to the cable you bought (Amazon/eBay etc.) to get an idea on what you're actually using?
Have you the budget to get a better audio interface? Need to get it sorted as it sounds like you can play well and don't want to hold youself back using crap like that! ... no offence!
For reference, When you hold the strings your body is being used as ground and that's why it stops some of the buzzing, the gate plugin will then push that into silence. This is a problem that most people have when first recording guitar. I got so annoyed with mine i pulled the guitar apart and re-lined it with shielding tape, and re-wired the pickups, it's incredibly silent now.
If you've got single coil pickups then hum is very hard to get away from - Never owned a single coil guitar though!
What kind of mac are you using? Don't suppose you have one that already has a line-in source?
Sholderness wrote:
when i lay my hand on the strings it stop, and is it only make the noise when im recording and the strings are active, and only on distorted amps
It's related to grounding, which USB/Guitar interface is it. Does it have a built in cable, or do you use your own cable.
I only got my MacBook Pro with retina display a week ago so it's the latest one, and I didn't realise I needed an interface so I just bought this
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B0051H8YBY/ref=mp_s_a_1_6?qid=1379759770&sr=8-6& pi=AC_SX110_SY165
I am returning it and getting my money back, does anyone have a suggestion to what interface to buy?
Oh that cable looks cheap! Yeah, if you can return it that's a bonus if you get money back.
What kind of money did you want to spend on a new interface? If you want half decent quality then you'd be looking at £100 price range min, but there are cheaper options available. But i would rather go secondhand on a better interface, than new on a cheaper one.
Post back with a rough budget and i'm sure someone can help your decision.
If you want the cheapest option out there which will give you an acceptable sound and a bit of flexibility then i would go for this:
They're a great company for audio/dj products and the B Stock is as new and you save yourself a few quid in the process (Get full warranty too). And super fast delivery.
Logic Pro x - Distortion crackling when recording guitar
