Recording with Afinar · Mac guide
How to record guitar
with music on Mac.
To record guitar over a backing track on Mac, choose the app playing the music and your guitar input in Afinar. Use a microphone for acoustic guitar or an audio interface for electric guitar. Afinar records your playing and the track together so you can listen back and adjust the balance.
For acoustic guitar, you can start with your Mac’s built-in microphone and headphones. No audio interface or external microphone is needed. Open your song in any app, choose that app in Afinar, press Record, and start the song. When you’re done, stop the take and listen back.
What you need
For an acoustic instrument, all you need is Afinar, a Mac with Apple silicon running macOS 26 or later, its built-in microphone, and headphones. Wired headphones let you hear the music while the microphone picks up your instrument.
For electric guitar, connect through an audio interface’s instrument input. You can also use an external microphone for an acoustic guitar, or connect its pickup through an interface if it has one.
Make your first take
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Open your song.
Play it in the app you already use: a browser, a music app, a video player, or a lesson app.
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Choose the song’s app and your input.
Click Afinar’s icon in the menu bar. In the Song row, choose the app your song plays in. In the You row, choose your Mac’s microphone or your audio interface, then play a few notes and watch the meter move. The first time, your Mac asks for the microphone and for System Audio Recording.
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Pick a tone.
Start from one of the guitar tones, or play through your own NAM capture of a complete rig, the amp and speaker together, including A2 files. Explore tones →
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Press Record, then start the song.
The take starts with the song’s first sound, so there’s no rush. Play your part, then press Stop in the menu bar, or ⌃⌥⌘R from any app. The end of the song doesn’t stop the take for you.
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Listen for one thing to work on.
Open the take from the card that appears, or from your takes. Set the balance between you and the song, trim the start or end, and listen for an entrance, a chord change, or a phrase you want to play again.
Listen back to your playing.
Every take keeps the tone you played through and the app the song came from. Set the balance to hear your part clearly.
Try the same take in another tone to hear it differently. Your playing stays exactly as you played it.
Can I record music from another app?
Yes. Choose the app your song plays in, and Afinar records the song from it along with your guitar. When you record, Afinar keeps the music you played along with inside your take, so you can hear yourself with it later. It stays on your Mac. Afinar doesn’t download songs.
Can I share my take?
Yes. Share or save your part on its own, or your part with the song. Afinar asks you first to make sure you’re allowed to use the music. See sharing and saving.
Start with a song you love.
Make a take, hear what’s coming together, and choose what to try next. The same approach works with bass, voice, keys, and other instruments through an audio interface or microphone.