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Total newbie

Total newbie

TootToot posted on 29 sept. 2025 #1
TootToot
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Joined: 27 sept. 2025
Hi all.. right, I’m a total newbie. I’ve been learning to play harmonica for a few years and I have made some progress. At home I’ve a 15w amp and a Valeton indie pedal and a shure mic. I play long to backing tracks on my own and I’ve learned a few songs. I’ve played at two open mic sessions but the thought of playing live is terrifying.

Anyway, I’ve stumbled onto this site whilst looking for ideas.

So, not knowing really where to start, I’ve chosen here and I guess the first issue to address is what I would need (software and hardware wise) to record to my ancient Mac or maybe my iPad before I get to the point of sharing any of my ‘creative’ work.

Looking forward to some help. Thanks all.
+4
Shamika posted on 30 sept. 2025 #2
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TootToot wrote:

So, not knowing really where to start, I’ve chosen here and I guess the first issue to address is what I would need (software and hardware wise) to record to my ancient Mac or maybe my iPad before I get to the point of sharing any of my ‘creative’ work.

Looking forward to some help. Thanks all.


Welcome TootToot (great name) I'm not technical but many members here are. All I can do is remind you to check out the "How to" part of wikiloops https://www.wikiloops.com/music-collaboration.php

Have fun :)
+3
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TootToot posted on 30 sept. 2025 #3
TootToot
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Posts: 6
Joined: 27 sept. 2025
Shamika wrote:
TootToot wrote:

So, not knowing really where to start, I’ve chosen here and I guess the first issue to address is what I would need (software and hardware wise) to record to my ancient Mac or maybe my iPad before I get to the point of sharing any of my ‘creative’ work.

Looking forward to some help. Thanks all.


Welcome TootToot (great name) I'm not technical but many members here are. All I can do is remind you to check out the "How to" part of wikiloops https://www.wikiloops.com/music-collaboration.php

Have fun :)


Thai you!
MySounds posted on 30 sept. 2025 #4
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Hey TootToot,
you don`t really need that much to get started. Assuming that you have the mic and the harmonica, what you need is an audio interface which serves as the go between from instrument/mic to your computer and some sort of recording software (DAW). There are (free) test versions available from cubase, presonus etc. To make it easy on yourself, start with a product that is well integrated into the apple world. It`s all fairly easy and quick to set up (we`re talking minutes or hours but certainly not days).

TootToot wrote:
Hi all.. right, I’m a total newbie. I’ve been learning to play harmonica for a few years and I have made some progress. At home I’ve a 15w amp and a Valeton indie pedal and a shure mic. I play long to backing tracks on my own and I’ve learned a few songs. I’ve played at two open mic sessions but the thought of playing live is terrifying.

Anyway, I’ve stumbled onto this site whilst looking for ideas.

So, not knowing really where to start, I’ve chosen here and I guess the first issue to address is what I would need (software and hardware wise) to record to my ancient Mac or maybe my iPad before I get to the point of sharing any of my ‘creative’ work.

Looking forward to some help. Thanks all.

+1
TootToot posted on 30 sept. 2025 #5
TootToot
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Posts: 6
Joined: 27 sept. 2025
Thanks for the comments. I’ll have a look at cubase and presonas and see how I get on!
Bradford posted on 30 sept. 2025 #6
Bradford
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Hey Toot and welcome. I’ve never used Audacity for collaboration but I’m pretty sure some people do. It’s free and the process is simple. You open up the downloaded WL template then add a new track. Arm the added track then record your harp as the template plays unmolested. Eventually you render and export the entire project as an mp3 or wav.
+3
Bradford posted on 30 sept. 2025 #7
Bradford
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[youtube]yzJ2VyYkmaA[/youtube]
+1
FrankieJ posted on 30 sept. 2025 #8
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TootToot wrote:
Hi all.. right, I’m a total newbie. I’ve been learning to play harmonica for a few years and I have made some progress. At home I’ve a 15w amp and a Valeton indie pedal and a shure mic. I play long to backing tracks on my own and I’ve learned a few songs. I’ve played at two open mic sessions but the thought of playing live is terrifying.

Anyway, I’ve stumbled onto this site whilst looking for ideas.

So, not knowing really where to start, I’ve chosen here and I guess the first issue to address is what I would need (software and hardware wise) to record to my ancient Mac or maybe my iPad before I get to the point of sharing any of my ‘creative’ work.

Looking forward to some help. Thanks all.


Welcome to Wikiloops TootToot.

Two links that maybe assist you:

https://www.audacityteam.org/

https://us.focusrite.com/articles/whats-the-best-interface-for-mac/
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Bradford posted on 30 sept. 2025 #9
Bradford
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I have posted direct from my iPad before but only because I was away from my desktop. It’s totally doable.
+1
wjl posted on 2 oct. 2025 #10
wjl
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TootToot wrote:
Thanks for the comments. I’ll have a look at cubase and presonas and see how I get on!


Hey TootToot, and welcome to the loops!

You might have Garageband already, so look for an audio interface and start from there. I don't know much about Macs and iPads, but the already mentioned Focusrite ones are good - I have one myself (on a Linux machine). But as I said, others might know more about Macs & stuff...

... and once you're ready, let's hear you - looking forward to that :)
+2
TootToot posted on 2 oct. 2025 #11
TootToot
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Joined: 27 sept. 2025
Hi all.. thanks very much for your input! Once I’m sorted an have had a play, then I’m looking forward to adding something to the mix!
+3
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