We're back with another edition of Ask TUAW! This time around we've got questions about recording audio, troubleshooting wireless issues, the best place to go for web hosting and more.

As always, your questions and suggestions are welcome. Questions for next week should be left in the comments. When asking a question please include which machine you're running and which version of Mac OS X (we'll assume you're running Leopard on an Intel Mac if you don't specify). And now, on to the questions!

Petre asks:

I just bought a new guitar and I'm thinking about using it to record some of my songs with my new iMac. Any recommendations for a good method of connecting a guitar so I can record?

Fortunately, you're in luck, in that the Mac is made for people trying to do just what you want to do. There are several options to accomplish this and it really just depends on how good you want the audio to sound and what your budget is. To get the best possible quality, you're going to need a few items.

First, you're going to need some recording software. Fortunately, that's already on your iMac as you can use Apple's GarageBand for all your entry-level recording needs. Second, you'll need some sort of digital audio interface that connects your guitar's output to a USB or Firewire interface on your iMac. Some good ones to take a look at include the M-Audio MobilePre, the M-Audio Firewire Solo or the Line 6 Tone Port series. Then, all you need to do is plug your guitar into the converter and the converter into your Mac and you're good to go. Of course, you'll want to be sure and update the driver to the latest version and read the manual to get the most out of your converter.

If you're not as concerned about audio quality, you can also use a converter cable, such as the Monster iStudio Link, to connect your guitar directly to the mic input on your iMac. That will allow you to record directly into your Mac but won't give you the best possible audio quality or level of customization you could get from a digital converter.

Apple has added new "Learn to Play" lessons to the latest version of GarageBand, including two lessons by Sting and the first one by Sarah McLachlan. Gordon Sumner (a.k.a. Sting, so named by his friends when he wore a shirt with black and yellow stripes) will teach you how to play "Message in a Bottle" and "Fragile" (in my humble opinion, one of the lesser-known but more amazing Sting songs), and Sarah McLachlan, who really likes ice cream, will teach you how to play her "Angel." I miss Sarah McLachlan -- it's hard to believe we had someone that was even more bland than Norah Jones.

But excuse my musical snobbery -- all three lessons are now available in the GarageBand Lesson Store for the low low price of $4.99. And lest you think I am anti-McLachlan in any way, think again: I too owned a copy of Surfacing. If you wanted to hang out with girls in my high school, you pretty much had to have a copy around at any given time. That, and Crash. Ah, how young we were.

Good news for those of us who still have PowerPC-powered Macs lying around: while the new Garageband Learn to Play feature isn't actually designed to work with the old machines (part of Apple's switch to the new Intel chips), it apparently still does. If you've got iLife installed on your old Mac and double-click on the Learn to Play files themselves (hidden in /Library/Application Support/GarageBand/Learn To Play/), Mac.Blorge says that they'll work just fine. Unfortunately, you won't be able to buy new lessons from the store (people are still testing -- there may be a workaround here eventually), but if you want to play the ones you've got, they should work, even if playback isn't perfect.

Additionally, if you want to try to do a little hex editing, you may be able to get iMovie '09 playing on a PowerPC Mac as well. That one's just dodging the PowerPC check, though, so there's a good chance that some things won't work right on the old machine. Either that, or Apple is just trying to build in random requirements to get us to upgrade. Conspiracy hats, anyone?

At any rate, this isn't unexpected -- we're two years past the official switch, and of course at some point Apple had to move on with their new software. For the moment, you might get things working with a few tweaks, but eventually you'll have to look at replacing that old G4 if you want to run the shiny stuff.

As Apple continues a march toward all Intel-based computers, those hanging on to perfectly good G5 and G4 computers are left to watch features slowly bleed off.

In the recently released iLife '09 package, iPhoto has left some owners of older Macs wondering where their slide show transitions have gone.

Apple has now released a support document detailing what is missing:

The number of slideshow themes available in iPhoto '09 depends on your Mac's processor and, in some cases, available vRAM:

• Intel-based Mac computers, PowerPC G5 with more than 64MB of vRAM: All iPhoto '09 slideshow themes are available.
• PowerPC G5 with less than 64MB of vRAM: Only Classic, Ken Burns, Scrapbook, Sliding Panels are available.
• PowerPC G4: Classic and Ken Burns are available.

Apple has also changed the minimum specs on Garageband '09, noting that one of the apps most desired features is Intel only: GarageBand Learn to Play requires an Intel-based Mac with a dual-core processor or better.

It is also rumored that the next version of OS X, Snow Leopard will completely drop support for PowerPC processors. Last year, iMovie dropped PowerPC support, so it looks like the handwriting is on the wall. Apple's push to get consumers and businesses to change to the newer Intel platform will get less and less subtle as time goes on.

Apple issued a press release first thing this morning, noting that iLife '09, announced at Macworld, is shipping tomorrow for $79.

We covered iLife '09's major features, including face detection and geotagging for iPhoto, guitar and piano lessons for GarageBand, and another re-imagining of iMovie.

If you purchased a new Mac on or after January 6, you can upgrade to iLife '09 for $10. iLife is also available in a family pack: five licenses for $99. A box set that includes iLife, iWork, and Mac OS X is $169, and individual music lessons are available separately for $5 each.

iLife '09 requires Mac OS X 10.5.6 or later. It's available for purchase (among many locations) in the Apple Store online, at Apple retail stores, and Amazon.com.

Thanks to everyone who sent this in!

A few months ago, I started recording a podcast with some friends. At that time, our process was to gather everyone into one Skype call and record the session with WireTap Studio. That worked reasonably well, but there were a few problems.

The quality of the end result was dependent on everyone's Skype connection. Throw in a bad rainstorm, a large download or an iffy wi-fi connection and quality suffered. The other issue was people talking over each other. Even the most disciplined podcasters do it occasionally. Since the raw audio was a single track, editing the overtalking out of the final show was difficult, if not impossible.

A few episodes into it, we read Dan Benjamin's tips on recording a podcast with participants in multiple locations. He and John Gruber use a time-tested method called a "double-ender" when recording The Talk Show. As they talk via Skype, John and Dan record their own audio locally, and those two files are edited together as separate tracks. We've adopted a similar method using GarageBand, and it's been working wonderfully. Read on for details on our setup.

I don't know that I've heard of the National Day of Listening before, but I like the idea a lot -- right around the holidays, StoryCorps and NPR sponsor a day when you're meant to sit down with loved ones and pick up some of that oral history that has served the human race so well so far. And the folks at Toasty Code are doing their part to get these recordings done by offering their TapeDeck audio recording software for 20% off all this week -- just follow the instructions on their website, and you too can pick up any oral history your folks can dish out along with the turkey and cranberries.

Of course you can do that with any software, from GarageBand (came free with your Mac) to Audacity (free to anyone). And it doesn't need to be only audio -- I'm taking a new Flip MinoHD home for the holidays with me to get some shots of my folks in my childhood home (they're currently trying to sell it off). But the Day of Listening is a great idea no matter what you use -- in these days of high definition, 1080p television, multichannel speaker setups, ubiquitous computing, and the 24/7 flow of text across blogs, Tumblrs and Twitter, it's easy to forget the value of actually sitting down and talking to someone. This week, as you're home with family, try it out.

Here's a fun tip from Mac | Life that describes how to use the Rock Band drum controller with GarageBand.

In fact, they describe two set-ups; one cheap and one less so. The cheap setup requires GarageBand, the Rock Band USB drum kit and either the GamePad Companion, JunXion (trial) or the Xbox 360 Controller Driver if you've got the Xbox kit.

The pricier rig requires a paid version of JunXion ($95). After some simple configuration, you'll have a fully functional electronic drum kit with virtually no lag. Very cool indeed.

If you set this up, let us know how it goes.

While most VoIP devices are made for Skype, IPEVO has made a version of its TR-10 conference phone with the Mac in mind: It can be used with both iChat and GarageBand.

For iChat conversations, the device can be used either as a speakerphone or traditional handset with full-duplex audio and echo cancellation. The buttons on the front of the device can be programmed to start iChat or record calls.

For GarageBand, the TR-10 can be used as an audio input device to record podcasts. The device only works with a Mac.

IPEVO sells the TR-10 for $79.90 in its online store.

[Via Engadget.]

Love them or not, you've got to admit that Radiohead are challenging the record business. After initially releasing their current album In Rainbows with a "pay-what-you-will" pricing policy, their entire catalog was finally added to the iTunes Store.

Shortly thereafter, they released all five tracks (or "stems" as they call them) of their song "Nude" in iTunes, encouraging fans to create their own remixes. This week, they've done the same thing with the song "Reckoner" [iTunes link]. The six-track, DRM-free album costs $0.99US. Tracks cannot be purchased individually.

If you purchase the stems within the first two weeks of availability, you'll receive an access code to a full GarageBand version of the song. When you're done, you can upload your masterpiece here.

This isn't the first we've seen an artist do this. Trent Reznor has released GarageBand versions of Nine Inch Nails songs, as has Burger King. Yes, Burger King.

You know those movie trailers that begin with the narrator intoning the familiar words "In a world...."? Beau Weaver, a Hollywood narrator and diehard TUAW reader who does a lot of those trailers, was asked by his friends to create an iPhone ringtone that played on the same phrase. He did, and he'd like to share it with TUAW readers for free.

Just pop over to Beau's website at http://www.spokenword.com/ringtone/, listen to the ringtone, and if you like it, follow our TUAW tutorial on how to create an iPhone ringtone from an MP3 with GarageBand. To download the MP3 for slicing and dicing in GarageBand, just Control-click the link and select Save Link As.

Thanks for the fun freebie, Beau!

iToner is Ambrosia's application that makes it easy to put free ringtones on your iPhone. Because really -- paying for ringtones is ridiculous.

It works without hacks or tricks. Simply drop any MP3, AAC, WAVE, or AIFF audio file onto the application's window and boom! You're done.

Ambrosia released version 1.0.8 this week, which offers compatibility with the iPhone 2.0 software. Other changes include

• Support for iTunes 7.7
• Japanese localizaton

A single license will cost you $15US and requires Mac OS X 10.4.10 or later. Of course, you can always make your own rigntones for free with GarageBand.

[Via Ars Technica]

An earlier post about PocketMac Ringtone Studio for iPhone reminded me of how I put together ringtones for my iPhone. I just fire up GarageBand and iTunes, do a little quick magic, and out come the ringtones I want.

This doesn't work with protected files such as those you've purchased from the iTunes Store -- hell, Apple wants you to spend $0.99 for the tune and another $0.99 to turn it into a ringtone. The method described here works very well turning those CD snippets that you've ripped into iTunes into ringtones. Follow along after the break for the step-by-step.

Today Apple posted the schedule for Apple Camp. Apple Camp is held at Apple retail stores for kids 8-12 to go learn about creative things like: making presentations with Keynote, taking and managing photos with iPhoto, creating music with GarageBand, and making movies with iMovie.

Each sessions lasts about 3 hours and is available at all Apple retail locations. Kids attending will receive a DVD or CD with their creations on it, field guide, t-shirt, and will be able to get other giveaways. Best of all, Apple Camp is free though registration is required.

Kids under 13 must have a parent/guardian present; otherwise, you'll have to bring an Apple permission slip (PDF link). You can now register on Apple's Camp registration website.

A couple of years ago, Trent Reznor released fully editable GarageBand versions of a few Nine Inch Nails songs. Others have followed suit (like Burger King), and now Radiohead joins their number.

They've made all five tracks (or "stems") of the song "Nude" available in iTunes for $0.99 each [iTunes link]. The tracks are in DRM-free iTunes Plus format, so you can pretty much manipulate them however you'd like.

Purchase all five before the end of this week and receive an access code for the full GarageBand file. Once you've finished your remix, you can upload it here. It definitely sounds like fun, especially for Radiohead fans (like me).