Before recording audio

You can record your voice, an acoustic instrument, or any other sound using your computer’s built-in microphone or a microphone connected to your computer. You record sound from a microphone to an audio track.

Before you start recording audio, do the following:

Connect a microphone to your computer and make sure the microphone is turned on and working.
Connect an electric guitar to your computer and make sure the guitar is working.
Select the audio track you want to record to, or add an audio track. Be sure to set the input source, input volume level, and monitoring for the track.
Set the project bit depth, which is the number of digital bits each sample contains. Recording at a bit depth of 24 bits is recommended for most situations and is the default setting.
Tune any instruments that are connected to your system to ensure that your external instrument recordings are in tune with any software instruments, samples, or existing recordings in your project.

Set the input source for the track

Select the track you want to use, then click the Smart Controls button in the control bar.
Click the Inspector button in the Smart Controls menu bar to open the Smart Control inspector.
In the Recording Settings section, click the Input button to switch between a stereo input channel pair and a mono input channel, then choose the source from the Input pop-up menu.

Adjust the input volume level for the sound source

Select the track you want to use, then click the Smart Controls button in the control bar.
Click the Inspector button in the Smart Controls menu bar to open the Smart Control inspector.
In the Recording Settings section, adjust the Record Level slider.

You can also select the Automatic Level Control checkbox to have the recording level adjusted automatically. It lowers the level to prevent feedback, and raises the level if too low.

Hear your microphone or instrument as you play and record (monitoring)

Do one of the following:

Click the Monitoring button in the track header of the track you want to use.
Select the track you want to use, then click the Monitoring button in the Recording Settings section of the Smart Control inspector.

You can also select the Feedback Protection checkbox to avoid feedback while you play.