I would really like to play with others but most people who ask me to jam with them aren't really that committed to jamming, or don't have the time that often and I'd like to do something on a regular basis. In that situation it ends up being left to me to write as much as possible so when we do get together we have something to work on. I find that tough. I'd prefer to jam stuff out rather than have to work on an idea as much as possible on my own first. I often get a good idea of a verse, intro, or chorus... some kind of hook... but then I get stuck and 24 hrs later I'll probably hate it what i was working on. haha. That is basically the cycle. Right now I have a couple of friends who are very talented that want to work with me but again... its the same thing. I really don't want to let this project drift away though. In any case I wish I just didn't have the hang up. I feel like I've probably built my own psychological barriers to writing music now.
It would be good to get a nice recording setup. I have a good rig for when/if i do play, but for recording the last thing I was using was the line out on my Hotplate into my macbook, running a cab sim. I had some latency issues at times. Not the best tone, but I don't mind that for rough ideas I can add some basic drums to. I was running garageband. I'm not really across recording software.
I was recently thinking of getting something like a Pod HD500X. I can use that into the front of my amps for fun, but it also seems like an easy way of getting sound into my macbook and recorded. the line out + cab sim is ok but it seems clunky, although that rig is Amp > Hotplate line out > guitar cable with large to small jack adapter > very basic audio I/O USB breakout > macbook pro with garageband. There is probably a bit of A to D conversion and adding of the cab sim that gives me a slow response.
