The MacBook Pro is Apple’s flagship when it comes to performance and elegance in the laptop market. But despite the high-end hardware, sometimes you will need it for small things like audio recordings. Listening to a speech that you are practicing, recording a university course that is too dense with information or your favorite online radio show are just a few instances. There are several ways to successfully record audio on MacBook Pro and we will go through some of the most reliable ones.
Simple Ways for Recording Audio with MacBook Pro
1. QuickTime
There are three ways to get hi-res audio out of your Mac: 1). The composition, the quality of the musicianship, the groove (or the tempo in classical pieces), the production, the mix, and the. The Mac Pro is a monster of a production machine. I was a Windows user years ago because of financial limitations and because it felt really great to piece together your own machine. Imazing 2 9 12. I made the switch to Mac when I discovered Core Audio and native aggregate device chaining (back when that mattered) and haven’t turned back ever since.
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QuickTime is well known for its video and music playback capabilities. But most of Mac users don’t know it also provides some additional features like audio recording. Since it is the pre-install software on MacBook Pro, you can begin the recording task directly. For your reference, here are the steps to follow:
Open the QuickTime Player which you can find in the “Applications” menu.
Pull down the “File” menu and choose “New Audio Recording”.
Click the red icon to begin the audio recording, then you will see the duration and size of recorded audio.
Press the same button to stop your recording.
Click “File” and then “Save”, giving a name to the new audio file.
That’s all it takes to record sound on MacBook Pro using QuickTime. However, you should keep in mind that there is an obvious disadvantage with this method. Bear in mind that QuickTime will only record voice from the default microphone. In case you want to record audio from soundcard, things will get a bit more complicated. You will need to install and configure Soundflower to record audio from other channels. In this case, if you want more flexibility, just check the methods below.
2. Apowersoft Audio Recorder for Mac
For the one who needs a more comprehensive audio recorder for MacBook Pro, Apowersoft Audio Recorder for Mac may be exactly what you need. This neat program is really easy to use and has a great variety when it comes to audio recording. It allows you to record online audio or radio streams from any website. It automatically identifies the songs from your recordings, along with the album and artist. What’s more, it can even detect and remove the silent sections from your recordings. The software makes updates frequently and highly compatible with the latest Mac OS X El Capitan.
Download the software by clicking the above button and install it on your desktop.
First select the “Audio source” (microphone for voice, system sound for streaming music, in-game sound, radio shows, or both).
Play the audio on Mac or speak through mic, hit the “Record” button to start recording.
If at any point you need to take a break, hit the “Pause/resume” button.
Once you are finished, just press “Stop”, then the audio will be saved to “Library”.
Except record audio manually, this application allows you to make audio recording on MacBook Pro automatically when you are not around. With the built-in task scheduler, all you have to do is name the task and set the proper time intervals in which you want to record. Then, it will start to record audio at set time. Besides, you can convert files to a wide variety of formats and even do basic editing on your files with the inlaid “Audio Editor”.
3. Piezo
If you don’t need too many options and just want to record audio on MacBook Pro in a smart way, Piezo is the way to go. This little app allows you to jump right in, without having to worry too much about technical aspects. Featuring a simple design and a really intuitive interface, Piezo is great for very simple recordings.
After installing the app, launch it and select the audio source. There are lots of sources that you can choose such as: iTunes, Skype, Chrome, Spotify, microphone and etc.
Click the gear icon and choose an output directory.
Press the red record button to begin recording, and play the audio you wish to save.
Later, press the record button again to end recording.
Give a name to the recorded file.
That’s about it, this is as easy as you it can get. However, Piezo is designed for basic recordings, so there are quite a few limitations. You have a couple of quality settings, but the highest one can only record at 256 Kbps, which may not be enough for your expectations. You are also limited to the MP3 format, which means that you will need a converter to get a different format.
Conclusion
As you could see, recording audio is an easy task, but you may spend some time in choosing a helpful audio recorder for MacBook Pro. QuickTime is great for casual users, as it is free and accessible. Piezo is outstanding for people who want to get things done quickly and don’t need the highest quality in their recordings. However, if you intend to create quality content on a regular basis, Apowersoft Audio Recorder is your best choice.
Music-making does not require renting studios to record your tracks—all you need is your home laptop to apply the desired effects to polish tracks. But before this, learn which Apple computers are the best ones to record music.
Musicians prefer Macs, and for several reasons—high-quality music production is one of them. In this article, we’ll cover the main aspects you should consider when choosing the best Mac for music production and give our recommendations on important models specs.
In a nutshell, we believe the top three of the best Macs for music production 2020 are:
27-inch 5K iMac—the best choice for music production
16-inch MacBook Pro—the best portable laptop
Mac mini—the best budget Mac
Read further to find out why these models are the best computers for creating music!
What’s Best for Musicians—Mac or PC?
Choosing between macOS and a Windows platform depends mostly on your computer preferences and your collaborators. With the fast development of technology, the PC is right behind Mac. However, it's easier to get started making music on a Mac than on a PC. We’ll tell you why.
The PC standard audio drivers won’t be suitable for creating music professionally. Windows users would need to install ASIO drivers for the sound card alongside other music hardware they’d like to use, for example, MIDI controllers. Windows does not provide native music software—that’s why installing extra music software is essential.
On a Mac, on the contrary, fewer steps are required. You can plug in music hardware and then open GarageBand—the pre-installed app on iOS and macOS in DAW (digital audio workstation). It lets you have your music studio for recording, editing, composing, and experimenting with audio-tracks. We’ll tell you more about GarageBand in this article.
Recommended system requirements
The Mac’s system requirements depend on which type of music software you’d be using and the complexity of your music-making processes. The next step is to check the program’s official system requirements you will run. This will help you determine the minimum required specs your Mac should have.
For music production, a Mac should have at least a 2.2Ghz i7 quad-core processor. The process determines how fast your music projects would run (and usually they are huge). Start at least with 16GB of RAM. Having less than 16 GB of RAM means using fewer instrument voices. Also, your speed will decrease.
Let’s talk about storage. The amount of disk space depends on the size of the audio files you’ll be working on. As a rule, professional software can use hundreds of GBs. So, for starters, Macs coming with basic 256GB SSDs may be enough. Still, you can plan to add some external storage for your Mac in the future.
Video cards have always been important for playing games and video editing. And for audio software as well. Choose a video card wisely— check which one is required by the audio software you need and if you’ll have to connect any displays.
The Best Macs for Music Production
Here is our list of the best Macs for music-making:
27-inch 5K iMac—the best choice for music production
The new 2019 hardware makes the 27-inch 5K iMac our top pick for your home studio. You can customize its RAM up to 64GB. The advanced processor lets you use all the features of pro audio editing apps. The size of the Retina display is an obvious benefit. Besides, it comes with four USB 3 ports alongside with two Thunderbolt 3/USB Type C ports.
16-inch MacBook Pro—the best portable laptop
If you go on tours—the 16-inch MacBook Pro is just right for you! The basic configuration makes it powerful enough. Using the Touch Bar is useful when you record tracks and change the settings at once. Only 4.3 pounds (2.0 kg) of weight, MacBook Pro has a major advantage for musicians who are always on the road.
Mac mini—the best budget Mac
Why is the Mac mini also on the list of the best Macs for music-making? Mac mini had an update in March 2020, bringing in a 256GB SSD. Besides, it is a good choice if you’re on a budget. What’s great about the Mac mini is a small size, an extra audio-in port. In addition to this, you can customize it with a much more powerful processor and more RAM. But be ready to buy a keyboard, a mouse, a display to go with your Mac mini model.
Things to Consider Before Buying a Mac for Music Production
Consider these two factors when deciding on the best computer for music:
Portability
Among the first things to consider when determining which Mac to choose is to think over whether you need a desktop computer or a laptop. A laptop is the best choice for musicians who move a lot for work.
Connections
Using many additional instruments, such as monitors, headphones, USB instruments, and other audio interfaces, is essential. That’s why a limited number of USB ports might become an issue. Do check and compare the Connections sections when reviewing Mac specifications.
Mac Music Software
Macbook Pro Audio Issue
Here are our 2020 picks for the best apps for music-making on a Mac:
If you’ve just started producing music, GarageBand has Smart Instruments helping you create a guitar, drum, synth, and orchestral parts without knowing how to play these instruments. GarageBand version 10.3 is full of surprises. New sound effects and instrument sounds and 1000 electronic and urban loops at your disposal are just the beginning. The Artist Lessons are finally free for those craving to learn songs taught by famous artists.
Logic Pro X is called GarageBand's 'companion' and is, in fact, Apple's professional audio software. If you're an electronic musician and want to experiment with sound, you might opt for Logic Pro X. The great news is that you can get a 90-day free trial. However, you’ll need to run macOS 10.14.6 (macOS Mojave) or later. Moreover, this app is rather resource-consuming, so the best MacBook for Logic Pro X is either a 13-inch MacBook Pro or a 16-inch model.
Ableton Live 10 makes your DJ experience smooth. Being a DAW it offers empowered MIDI sequencing hardware and software. With this app working on MIDI controllers is hustle-free now.
PreSonus Studio One 4 Prime is for you if you’re still deciding whether you’re just at the beginning of your music-making career. It is free! A perfect app to start creating music with. Being a full-scale digital studio, it offers the Artist and Pro editions and an improved drum editor to make your instrument editing workflow easier.
Cakewalk SONAR Mac Prototype is another free app used to be available on Windows only. However, now it can be installed on a Mac too.
Macbook Pro For Audio Production
How to Prepare your Mac for Music Recording?
Recording music does sound like a high-load process for your Mac. Full storage, apps responding longer than usual, or a spinning wheel on your screen may slow you down. So how to get back to productive work?
For starters, it's always a good idea to clean RAM. The rule applies—the more memory available, the faster your Mac should run. Memory Cleaner feature in MacKeeper frees up RAM with just a few clicks and lets you know which apps may be eating up memory without you even knowing it.
Another thing that may hamper music recording is the lack of free space. Music-making requires some extra gigabytes at hand, so you can use such MacKeeper tools as Safe Cleanup and Duplicates Finder to scan your Mac for old copies of files, caches, or apps leftovers and safely remove them.
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We hope our guide helped you choose the proper computer for music-making. Now go and grab your instrument or mic, plug it into your new Mac, and get rockin’!