JimInMO
73 posts
Jun 26, 2010
10:33 AM
|
I spent 20+ years as a pc/networking tech in a business related environment. Since retiring 4 years ago it's been real low tech around here. Burn out ya know and kinda out of touch with current technology. Don't have any experience with recording. However I would like to get set up for some basic recording. Nothing fancy. YouTube videos, backing/looping tracks and maybe burning demo CD's of my band. I currently have a couple of 5 to 6 year old pc's and a HP notebook. Pentium 4's, onboard video and sound, WinXP. Probably unsuitable for the task. Something like Greg Heumann's All About Harp Mic's post would be handy if anybody feels up to it and would be greatly appreciated.
|
tookatooka
1482 posts
Jun 26, 2010
10:48 AM
|
Hi JimlnMO, just been through the mangle myself regarding recording audio and visual. There is a heck of a lot of info out on the web, it's just a case of sifting through it all to find the gems.
I've learnt a lot but it would take an age to write it all down but if you have any specifics to start with, there's a lot of experienced hands here who will help.
Sounds like your technical setup should be OK and you can always get other bits and pieces cheaply on eBay. You won't need a great deal just a reasonable video camera etc. I use a Kodak Zi8 for YouTubes. It's reasonably priced and the quality of the output is excellent and it's dead easy to use. You won't need all the bells and whistles.
Good luck and get involved. It's enjoyable.
Last Edited by on Jun 26, 2010 10:49 AM
|
Greg Heumann
590 posts
Jun 26, 2010
2:43 PM
|
I ain't no expert - the only thing I can tell you is that if you have a video camera that has AGC (Automatic Gain Control) and you can't override it - you will probably get lousy audio results. First, they can get overloaded at performance levels, though not all do. But as soon as the band gets quiet for a moment it will increase the gain and pick up all the conversation near by. Really annoying.
----------
/Greg
|
nacoran
2280 posts
Jun 26, 2010
9:52 PM
|
I was talking with Isaac on a thread a while back. He was saying you could get pretty good results with older hardware as long as you were running a stripped down OS. I can't find the bookmark, but he was running a version of Linux specifically for music applications.
Personally, I use Audacity for recording. It's free and works pretty well. It crashes a little on my computer, but I think that is more my computer than it. (No one else I've talked to has that problem.) For digital I use Windows Movie Maker, again, because it's free and fairly easy to use (unfortunately I don't have a video camera, just the video feature on my digital camera, so I don't have particularly good starting material). Just because you are recording with a camera doesn't mean you can't record the audio separately and sync it up.
My friend does most of our mix downs. If you can get clean separate tracks you can do a lot with Audacity. I think the industry standard is Pro Tools. Of course the more RAM you have the better. There are specialty sound cards for recording. Apparently pros aren't big fans of the Sound Blaster cards. They seem to be aimed more at gamers. My friend works with the sound card on his laptop and gets really nice results; it just takes him a while. Good headphones are a must if you want to get separate tracks.
Isaac also recommended asio4all.com to get drivers that will let you do effects in real time.
Here are all the harp or recording related software links I have in my bookmarks folder. They may not all be relevant.
http://blog.fixyourmix.com/2010/use-bandcamp-to-release-dynamic-versions-of-your-mixes/
http://www.asio4all.com/
http://www.ronimusic.com/
http://www.kk.org/cooltools/archives/000671.php
http://www.mixedinkey.com/HowTo.aspx
http://www.harpsoft.com/
http://www.kk.org/cooltools/archives/001787.php
http://www.harpingmidi.com/
That's all I have. Don't take my word as gospel on any of this. If Isaac stops by the thread he can probably tell you more. With the free stuff you can at least get an idea of what you want before you start shelling out cash.
----------
Nate
Facebook
|
Diggsblues
379 posts
Jun 27, 2010
4:41 AM
|
I do everything on an Intel dual core Mac.
OS 10.5 and above has what you need built in.
Imovie for youtube editing videos and garage band
for loops and audio recording.You can also process
sound for video add reverb eq. etc. in garage band.
You can use built in cam or external.
----------
How you doin'
Last Edited by on Jun 27, 2010 4:41 AM
|
JimInMO
74 posts
Jun 28, 2010
11:16 AM
|
OK, got a few pointers here.
Tookatoota, the Kodak Zi8 looks to be reasonably priced. Need to research it more and see if it meets Greg's recommendation of non AGC.
Nacoran, I have used Audacity for cleaning up downloaded YouTube audio. Tried recording some harmonica awhile back and got nothing but distortion with a cupped mic. Didn't have the assortment of mics and impedance converters I have now so that's a next rainy day project. Will try direct in, miced amp and amp direct out. Thanks for the links. I did work with UNIX quit a bit about 20 years ago and have loaded up a few flavors of Linux but got quite spoiled with plug & play apps. and never explored them much.
Diggsblues, wish I had invested in a Mac when I had more disposable income but the business world was pretty much PC orientated and thats where my livelihood was.
looking at a small Peavey or Behringer mixer too.
Thanx to all...
|
garry
1 post
Jun 28, 2010
2:11 PM
|
For simple and cheap audio recording, it's hard to beat the Zoom H2. Less then $200 for the H2 and a decent (4G+) memory card. Stick it on a mic stand or a bar table and you're good to go. The 4G memory card gets you 6 hours of uncompressed audio. Plug that into your PC, suck the files into Audacity, and have at it. If you don't like the sound, just plug in better mics than the built in ones, although that's not likely to be an issue for you stated needs.
You can record directly to a PC, but I never saw the value in dragging a computer to a gig, vs. the Zoom, which will fit into a fanny pack or a pocket.
|
