Recording myself playing guitar, what to use ?

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Complete newbie to this so please bear with me.
As the title suggests I want to do some basic recording of myself playing guitar, partly to have a reference to judge my own progress (only been playing 6 months) & partly to compare pickup swaps as I am upgrading the pups in some guitars.
I am just looking for a simple, easy to use, fairly cheap set up to do the above basics.
I have seen the Behringer U-PHORIA UMC202HD USB Audio Interface advertised for around £55, would that be suitable, is it easy to use ?
If so what would I need to go with the unit in terms of any extra hardware, cables etc ?
I take it that I would need some sort of software package also ?
All suggestions welcome.
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Comments

  • LegionreturnsLegionreturns Frets: 7965
    Get yourself the Focusrite Scarlet Solo. It's pretty much the cheapest, useable AI on the market, and popular for a reason. It'll also come with a DAW licence. 

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  • octatonicoctatonic Frets: 33725
    Avoid the Behringer.
    Focusrite entry level interfaces are fine though.

    For progress recordings just use your phone and record using the video function.
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  • soma1975soma1975 Frets: 6627
    I just bought a presonus iTwo for £100 and it came with a licence for Presonus Studio One 4, which is £85 on its own... 
    My Trade Feedback Thread is here

    Been uploading old tracks I recorded ages ago and hopefully some new noodles here.
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  • blobbblobb Frets: 2914
    Agree with @octatonic, video yourself.
    Feelin' Reelin' & Squeelin'
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  • flying_pieflying_pie Frets: 1806
    Another option would be a multi FX with built in interface. They are good options because you can use the unit to listen through with headphones (or monitor speakers for some units) and there is no latency. A lot have built in metronomes which are useful for checking how well you are paying in time.

    There are loads to choose from but a second hand Boss GT 001 (around £100) is a good choice because it can record guitar but also has a mic input with phantom power so you could mic up an acoustic or cabinet if you wanted too.

    Reaper is a good choice for software to go with it - it comes with an indefinite free trial period but is worth paying because it's really cheap for a full DAW. There are loads of instruction videos for it online 
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  • thermionicthermionic Frets: 9498
    edited June 2018
    Focusrite do packages with an audio interface, a basic condenser mike, cable and closed-back headphones for a very reasonable price (and often with ££ off if you buy direct from their website). All you'd need then is microphone stand. I have an iPad Dock version and it's pretty good and rather useful even when my main setup is Logic on an iMac.
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  • baldybaldy Frets: 195
    Thanks everyone for the advice.
    What are the reasons for avoiding the Behringer ?
    Just wondering as I can get a used  U-PHORIA UMC202HD for £30 but if it is unsuitable then obviously I wont get it.
    I already have a multi FX (Zoom G3XN) so don"t really need another at the moment.
    I see a Focusrite Scarlett Solo 2nd gen with Ableton Live lite for £80 in the Focusrite ebay store, would this be the correct model to get ?

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  • BigLicks67BigLicks67 Frets: 766
    What kind of computer are you using? A Mac has a sound card and you can plug direct into it and into garage band.
    Regards, sound interfaces M-Audio have a lot devices that can be picked up for good prices used.
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  • baldybaldy Frets: 195
    I am using a Toshiba laptop running Windows 10.
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  • JAYJOJAYJO Frets: 1526
    i bought a cheap M audio interface and downloaded reaper works great. Then bought the steinberg ur22. Im planning on using Reaper for a while so it was worth upgrading the interface. If you have been playing for 6 months then maybe getting into Reaper could be a bit too time consuming and you may slow your progress down, i dont know how much time you have.. Best idea for now i would say would be that of octatonic.
    But having said that Reaper is Ace and you just might click with it .
    Sooo, I would say Have a look at Reaper on Youtube and see if its for you. 
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  • BazzBassBazzBass Frets: 1
    Focusrite has DNA going back to Rupert Neve and Abbey Rd.

    Behringer copies other companies' products.that's why they are cheaper, no R&D costs :)

    If you can only afford Behringer then get it, but if you can afford the next level up, go for that. Focusrite is great value gear, I started on a 2i2 Gen I , currently using an 18i20 Gen II and love it. 8 mic pres :)
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  • duotoneduotone Frets: 971
    soma1975 said:
    I just bought a presonus iTwo for £100 and it came with a licence for Presonus Studio One 4, which is £85 on its own... 
    I bought my iTwo over a year ago and it came with Studio One 3. The trouble with it, was that it wouldn’t allow me to use external/Waves PlugIns.  So I moved to Reaper which did.
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  • 57Deluxe57Deluxe Frets: 7329
    edited August 2018
    There is a lot of sense to consider the Behringer U-Phoria UMC22 or even the Behringer U-Phoria UM2 USB Audio Interfaces -  the UM2 sounded good enough when Chris Vinnicombe  used one recently to record a Lazy J10... and they have phantom power for ribbon mics etc built-in...







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