my 2024 goal is to learn to record using protools

I would take that lesson any day. Doing my own audio recordings gets frustrating and detracts from the musical piece I set out to capture. Video recordings add another layer of frustration (for me).

I use:

• MacBook Pro with Audacity as my DAW for recording and editing/mixing.
• A 6-channel mixer with USB into the MacBook.
• For video (if it’s necessary): my Nikon D3400 DSLR with a 128GB Flash card.
• Drum machine for the rhythm portion.
• Shotcut to trim and edit the video, and to remove the audio track, replacing it with the Audacity track.

None of this comes easy.

Any formal lesson would be greatly appreciated!

@devin I know this is late to the game, but…

Garage Band works great for basic recordings.

For what it’s worth (great song, by the way), I agree that Garage Band does have good built-in drum and other instrumental effects. For my amateurish recording of my own audio, especially Bluegrass (because of the repetitive parts), I use a looping pedal. I can import the loops I create on to my MacBookPro, via USB.

I also use a mixer with a dedicated Guitar channel, connected via USB-C, for easier recording directly on to my MacBook. The guitar  input channel has a fairly good EQ/DSP channel controls and gain adjustments. I rarely use plugins, lest I compromise the electronics of my Taylor acoustic.

I use Audacity as my DAW of choice.

The whole process of recording with the goal of making a song puts you in a different state of mind when you're playing and there's something about it that elevates your playing when you do it regularly.

Amen to that, emphasis on regularly. Recording oneself, audio or video (especially video) is a most humbling experience. It forces me to play more cleanly at our weekly jams.

Yes, I agree. I can go many different places for recording/mastering lessons. I come here for guitar lessons. I think if you are going to do this you should do it on a different platform. There are many people here waiting for more lessons--harder lessons. Things are getting a bit dusty (a tumbleweed drifts lazily by)

@jasmo777 As someone who has no interest in fancy recording equipment, I too was frustrated when I saw that Devin was dedicating time and energy to this topic instead of creating more lesson content for the site.  Having only been on CGO for a little over a year, I have many lessons that I deem to be challenging to conquer, but if you have already learned the difficult ones and are waiting for even harder ones, then I can possibly see how the recent crop of lessons might not been all that inspiring.

@jambongris Just so everyone is clear, this was just a post to see if there's any interest in recording. I have a huge passion for this topic at the moment and was just curious if people were interested. However, the main focus of this site is always going to be guitar lessons 100%, and more challenging lessons are currently in the works. The direction of the site isn't changing and plenty more guitar lessons are on the way.

@devin Awesome Devin!  For me personally, there are more than enough challenging lessons to keep me going for some time to come and the more I learn and memorize, the more time I need to devote to polishing and retaining these learned pieces in addition to adding new songs to my repertoire. So basically, I have no complaints and look forward to the tackling the next song on my growing list of favourites.

Definitely, yes!  I've been writing songs and working them up with a guitarist as a duo (me vocal; both of us on guitar).  Lately have been researching how to record/produce and would love to learn from you, Devin -- you break things down so clearly.

@marlabeck Awesome, thanks for the feedback! I'm excited to add some content on this... probably will be still focusing 95% on guitar lessons, but a video here and there about recording might get posted fairly soon. Thank Marla!

@devin that's great.  the lessons are what I'm really here for!

re: recording, I guess my immediate question might be, how to make a good audio & video recording to share on YouTube.  

Thanks again!

....specifically, how to mic the guitars and voice!  Thank you. 

I am! I bought a MIDI last fall to help me get some of the songs out of my head and record other parts I don't have proper instruments for. I'm working on Garage Band, but I'd be happy to learn about whatever gear and processes you typically use.