Smart jam while recording?
-
I got my son the Spark amp and he really likes it. He'd like to record a song on the included Presonus software using the Smart Jam feature of the app and amp. The problem is, only the guitar sounds are coming thru. The smart jam music is not playing.
I'm a total beginner is this type of tech, so please be patient.
Thanks!!
-
@keegan-chaput To record the smart-jam along with the guitar playing you need to get a cable that runs from the Spark amp's headphone jack to an audio interface that's attached to your computer. Or put a microphone in front of the Spark amp's speaker and plug that mic into the mic-in jack on your computer. It might be possible to run a cable with 1/8" stereo plugs on each end from the headphone jack on the amp into the mic-in jack on your computer but if you try that keep the volume very very low on the Spark until you see what happens in the computer. Then within Presonus software you would select the computer's mic-in jack as the input device for recording.
You can buy a fairly inexpensive 2-channel audio interface that would hook up with the computer via USB, such as the M-Audio M-Track Duo USB Audio Interface which currently is $69USD at sweetwater.com. You would also need to buy a splitter cable which has a 1/8" stereo plug on one end to go into the Spark's headphone jack and two 1/4" mono plugs (left and right) on the other end to plug into the audio interface.
Positive Grid is very deceptive about the ability to record from the amp as an audio interface to your computer -- they never clearly state that only the guitar sound will come through to the computer.
-
@dhbailey Thanks for the great explination! We do have a focusrite interface and I'll give that a try.
The strange thing was that when he started the smart jam, the phone app was acting like it was working... showing the bars and chords moving along but there was no sound (other than the guitar) coming from the amp speaker. If you pull the USB out of the computer, the smart jam would play out of the amp speaker. Plug it back in and the sound cuts out.We'll keep messing with it, but it would be a big bummer if he couldn't record use this feature. He's only 11 so we're not talking about a working musician. But I figure it's way better for him to be using the computer to edit a song than playing a useless video game.
-
@keegan-chaput Using either the USB out or the headphone out on the Spark40 amp cuts off the speakers.