String instruments with a pickup

For electric guitar, electric bass, and similar instruments, the basic path is from the pickup into the instrument input on the audio interface. The jack is different from a mic on a horn. The cable is the same for guitar and bass.

Connect

1. Run a cable from the instrument to the jack labeled INSTRUMENT or Hi-Z (do not force it into the round mic jack)
2. If the pickup needs a battery, put one in
3. Plug the headphones into the audio interface’s output
4. In Feelism, pick that input

Going through an amp and then a mic adds room sound and delay. If Feelism is going to read your pitch, a cable into the audio interface is the steadier start.

Level

Play a string and watch the In number at the top of the screen. It should move. If the sound is badly distorted, pitch reading gets messy. If you put an amp simulator in front, check that the sound entering Feelism is not extremely distorted.

Hear yourself

The first setting is Self-mix on (it returns the live cable sound. It does not add a sampled string sound). If the delay bothers you, turn it off and use the interface’s instant return, or the amp’s own monitor. Details are in Self-mix and delay.

Watch the response

1. Press Play on a practice tune
2. Play chords or single notes
3. Check that the In number moves with your playing

Bass uses the same connection, but low notes are slower to read. Feelism is set up for wind first, so bass can be a case of “you hear yourself, but the response feels dull.” If the low end of the return rattles, you can turn on Low cut in Mix (it starts off).

Skip these

• Forcing an instrument cable into the mic input
• Miking a loud amp in the room at the same time (the band gets into the mic too)
• Turning both Self-mix and the amp’s live sound up loud, so you hear yourself twice