Good quality music recording direct to your iPhone with minimal gear.

If you release your work week stress by playing guitar and songwriting then the following might unlock some new possibilities for you that you may not have previously realized.

I've been a guitar player/songwriter for years, and I'm always searching for simple ways to record reasonably good quality sound with the least amount of gear possible. I've always been interested in simplifying the equipment needed to get a good sound -- for a live gig, or at home when I'm recording music.

These days, the technology is such that it's much easier to get quality sound without a lot of gear. This has been good news over the years for my personal less-is-more-gear-philosophy. The tech gets better and smaller.

I love that I can record guitar and vocals direct to my iPhone Voice Memo app and get a nice little recording with little more than a small amplifier and my iPhone.

I know this doesn't sound like a big deal, and maybe I'm late to the party, but I get excited when something like this works and makes it super simple to very quickly plug in to capture a song idea without having to set up several pieces of equipment just to record something that sounds good when I listen later. By that time, I may have lost my creative momentum. My opinion is that creativity is best captured fresh; at the moment inspiration strikes.

The great thing is, the recording set up I'll explain is simple, and you likely already have what you need to make it work.

I've used a Fender Passport Mini amp (https://amzn.to/4dfr86R), which has two inputs for an instrument (guitar) and a microphone (vocals). This amp has a USB output jack. Plugging my guitar and mic into the amp and dialing in the amp for the sound I want, I can then use the amp's USB output to plug directly into my iPhone and record.

However, you will want an iPhone camera pack adapter (https://amzn.to/3zqmZ26). The USB output cable from the amp will go into the USB port on the iPhone camera pack adapter. The other end of the adapter has an iPhone Lightning jack (male), which plugs directly into your iPhone. If you're like me, you have all sorts of various iPhone adapters lying around; accumulated over the years. It is necessary to use this camera pack adapter to achieve the outcome we're after. There's something in the way the adapter works with the iPhone to capture the signal.

So, here's the summary of the set up:
-Guitar and mic plugged into the amp
-USB cable from the amp's USB output jack to the iPhone camera pack adapter
-The adapter's iPhone Lightning cable plugs directly into your iPhone
-Open the iPhone Voice Memo app, start a new recording, play your song, stop the recording, and listen. That's it.

Now, have fun. Record your next masterpiece.

Here are other amps that I own or have used that are great and have a USB output jack.
-Fender Acoustic Junior amp: https://amzn.to/4dfr86R
-Boss Katana amp: https://amzn.to/4gBfqWO

(links are affiliate links)

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Here's an audio clip of the sound quality direct from my Fender Acoustic Junior amp into my iPhone Voice Memo app. No tweaking of the sound other than how my amp was dialed in.