Hi all, a simple question if I may? I would like reverb in my headphones when recording, BUT not have the reverb on the track please?
I know about adding reverb AFTER recording. It’s hell playing bone dry in the phones, I can do it, but not as much fun?
Thanks
Ray
Audacity can’t do that. Audacity doesn’t apply effects in real-time so you can’t record with reverb either (unless the reverb is coming from your guitar amplifier, etc.).
Most [u]DAWs[/u] can do it.
BTW - It’s pretty common to stick a microphone in front of the guitar cabinet and/or play/listen through the amplifier while using a splitter to record direct.
If you are direct recording you should have an audio interface with a guitar/instrument input. The mic input on a soundcard is the wrong impedance and it will change the tone. Then, most people use an “amp sim” (a software plug-in) to simulate the sound of an amp & cabinet because that’s part of the electric guitar sound.
What’s an audio interface? Can I record directly into a Tascam DR40 Linear PCM recorder through the input jack? I’ve done it and applied effects afterward, but am I risking damage to the machine? Do I need an “interface?”
Thanks Jebbers, was afraid about that 
What’s an audio interface?
An [u]audio interface[/u] is a essentially a “better soundcard”. They usually come with “proper” (low impedance balanced) microphone inputs that work with stage/studio microphones and they sometimes have instrument/guitar inputs (very-high impedance, unbalanced).
There are also multi-channel interfaces so you can record many microphones/inputs simultaneously and mix later in software. (That’s not normally done with Audacity.)
Can I record directly into a Tascam DR40 Linear PCM recorder through the input jack? I’ve done it
I guess you’ve done it. 
There are some advantages to using a stand-alone recorder. Guitar? The Tascam has proper XLR mic inputs (if you want to use external mics) and line-inputs, but it doesn’t have an instrument input so you’ll have the wrong impedance and that will affect your guitar tone. (If it sounds OK, you’re fine.)
The DR40 has XLR inputs for microphones, and it has 1/4" TRS (Jack) inputs. It’s a combination input, a two-in-one deal. Then there’s a switch for selecting Line, Mic or Mic + phantom power. I plugged in an electric guitar with TRS output and input and set it for Line. I recorded a very tiny signal this way, but when I put the track into Audacity and amplified it, it was fine. I’d still like to know how to add effects, but I wonder if I’m off-topic? Should I be using an interface? I don’t think so, because my biggest concern would be my recorder blowing up and the weak signal seems to be the best way to go. Should I start another topic?
… because my biggest concern would be my recorder blowing up and the weak signal seems to be the best way to go.
You’re not going to hurt it.
A guitar can usually put-out almost “line level” voltage when strummed hard with it’s volume-control turned-up. However, the pickup is (relatively) high impedance and a normal guitar amplifier (or instrument input on an interface/preamp) is 1 meghom or more. Line inputs are typically 10K to 100K. The lower impedance “drags down” the voltage and in combination with the pickup’s inductance you get rolled-off high frequencies (less treble).
An active effects pedal will have high impedance on the input and lower output impedance so these impedance issues will go-away with almost any pedal and you might end-up with just a slightly-weak signal into a line-input. The same goes if you have a guitar with an active pickup (powered with a battery)
I’d still like to know how to add effects
With Audacity you can only apply effects after recording.
Have you considered a guitar amplifier with reverb? There are some small guitar amps with USB ports for computer recording, and some with headphone jacks if you want to “play silently”. (Or you can use a headphone-output into a line-input.)
Or, you could get a reverb pedal. There are mixers with built-in effects, but you’d need one with guitar inputs (or you can use a DI box into a mic input). You can also get a mixer with a USB port so it doubles as an audio interface.* There are also rack mount effect boxes, but most of them are for line-level signals. Or there are a few higher-end audio interfaces with built-in effects.
A DAW or [u]VST host[/u] can be used with VST plug-ins in real-time, but any time you’re going-through the computer you’ll get latency (delay) and sometimes it’s tricky getting the latency down to an acceptable (or unnoticeable) amount.
Latency can also be an issue with audio interfaces (if you’re “monitoring” yourself during recording). There are interfaces with zero-latency hardware monitoring (where the monitoring signal doesn’t go through the computer) and IMO that’s a feature worth getting.
I plugged in an electric guitar with TRS output and input and set it for Line.
A guitar is actually TS (2 conductors) but it’s compatible with the 3-conductor TRS inputs (except for the impedance).
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- The main difference between a USB mixer and a multi-channel interface is that most mixers give you a stereo-mix from the USB poert whereas a multi-channel interface allows mult-track recording. And of course the mixer works as an analog mixer and it has more controls, etc.