Advice recording during live solo show

[Mischief]

Howdy,
I would like to get better recordings during my live gigs.

Sample below.




I used my iPhone 6 with just the phone mic but my phone is in a waterproof case and it colors the sound.

I would like to keep things as simple as possible but ultimately am looking for good return on effort.

At my disposal I have a Scarlett 18i8 and my TC helicon play acoustic pedal pedal.

The TC pedal I can capture one track of combined VOX and guitar. I mostly have used the pedal as a DI with EQ / Tuner for the guitar and Vox reverb.

Would it be worth the hassle to set up the Scarlett and record multitrack?

If I did this it means I'd have to set up the Scarlett, split the; Mic, guitar, stomp box
plus likely add a room mic.

I know I would need a proper splitter for the mic but do I need that for the guitar and stomp box (the stomp
I build can be either line or mic level)?

But now that's an interface, 4 extra cables and a way to split 4 sources.

Although I would then be able to post edit the audio to clean up and balance the sound.

This is mostly to improve the quality of my you tube videos. I'd like to think I'm getting a little better each time I play out (I'm still a noob).

The last show I did I used my iPhone 6+ but again but in its waterproof case. I thought some annoying to me frequencies were a problem with my Lyric pickup so this time I used my Cort guitar with its under-saddle Fishman and it has the same frequency issues. Thus wanting to record better.

FYI this is what I recorded last show.


Any advice appreciated thanks.



https://youtu.be/4RkMQ3r_Rg0

[midwinter]

Take a look at Harmonicdog's Multitrack DAW. It's about $16. It'll run on your phone. You could send your vox and guitar signals separately to it, get good levels on the Scarlett, and then use it to mix your live sound.

It's even got effects built in.

[Petty1818]

The best live recording I have ever gotten was with my mac laptop hooked up to my presonus fire studio project. I simply patched two outputs from my mixer to inputs one and two on the presonus for a stereo sound and then loaded up garage band. I have also experimented with a mic out front for a FOH sound to blend in and it works great. That set up can be pricey but you could easily get a cheaper interface and you don't need a mac lap top.

[RogerPease]

If you want to use your phone I recommend an external mic made for the
purpose.

My nephew records our band's gigs with his iPhone and a little X-Y mic set
that plugs into it. It does a very tolerable job of capturing something that
we can review to critique our own performance. Not sure of the brand but
there's probably several different kinds avail.

Problem is more where to put it where it will be safe from getting pocketed.
Also, conversations are sometimes distracting in the foreground.

A couple of the recordings have turned out very well but usually not balanced
enough to be worth publishing.

Another option would be a dedicated recorder, like a Zoom H4n for ~$200.

_Roger

[jomaynor]

Take your phone out of the case?

[Mischief]

Originally Posted by jomaynor

Take your phone out of the case?

The case is a real pain to take off with potential of relaxing it's press fit to the seal (which would then allow leakage) if done too many times.

[Andy Howell]

Buy a Zoom digital recorder - H4 will do. Take a line out of desk/mixer (either XLR or jack). Process At home with a bit of extra reverb or compression.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Teknoss]

The best choice is the Line6 Sonic Port Interface.
It's small, and you can record stereo directly on your iPhone.
No mic necessary since you got the TC-Helicon Play Acoustic.
Just use the headphone out from your Play Acoustic and connect it to the aux in
on the sonic port with a 1/8 stereo cable.
There are two versions of the sonic port.
Check the compatibility of your IOS version before buy it.

http://www.zzounds.com/item--LINSONICPORT?siid=125931

[Mischief]

Originally Posted by midwinter

Take a look at Harmonicdog's Multitrack DAW. It's about $16. It'll run on your phone. You could send your vox and guitar signals separately to it, get good levels on the Scarlett, and then use it to mix your live sound.



It's even got effects built in.

Thanks for the tip.

This is something I was thinking of the other day. I was wondering if I could use the Scarlett to my phone to become my live mixer. It would need to be capable of being configured ahead of time with presets so it did not need to be set up every time.

Would be cool if I could use it as an EQ too.

A few concerns though are
Lag
Set up
How long can it record for? GB I think cuts out after like 15 or 20 minutes or something.

But unless I split the signal I can't use this when there's a house sound guy as I would take away his capability to adjust my sound independent. Unless I just record Vox and guitar hard pan and send him two outputs from the Scarlett. Then if I use stomp box or anything I would have to either not record through Scarlett or take away the ability for the sound guy to adjust.

Which makes me wonder then if I should just pull a recording from my TC pedal as I can just send the two signals easily but I would give up the ability to record separate tracks.

I'll add that I have a beat buddy that I'll likely add into a few songs in future so now I'm up to; Vox, Guitar, stomp, possibly room mic and Beatbuddy channels that would be ideaI to record live. I wish the Scarlett could send out all the separate channels that come into it.

Maybe I'm over thinking all this.....

[midwinter]

I'd just use the Scarlett + DAW as my mixer. I don't know about the rest of your signal chain, so I can't comment on that.

I've used DAW to record for long stretches (over an hour). It'll record as long as you need it to. I have, however, never used it for live recording of a performance.

I'd set it up at home and see what you think. Maybe there's lag; but DAW is simple enough that it might not be bad.

Originally Posted by Mischief

Thanks for the tip.

This is something I was thinking of the other day. I was wondering if I could use the Scarlett to my phone to become my live mixer. It would need to be capable of being configured ahead of time with presets so it did not need to be set up every time.

Would be cool if I could use it as an EQ too.

A few concerns though are
Lag
Set up
How long can it record for? GB I think cuts out after like 15 or 20 minutes or something.

But unless I split the signal I can't use this when there's a house sound guy as I would take away his capability to adjust my sound independent. Unless I just record Vox and guitar hard pan and send him two outputs from the Scarlett. Then if I use stomp box or anything I would have to either not record through Scarlett or take away the ability for the sound guy to adjust.

Which makes me wonder then if I should just pull a recording from my TC pedal as I can just send the two signals easily but I would give up the ability to record separate tracks.

I'll add that I have a beat buddy that I'll likely add into a few songs in future so now I'm up to; Vox, Guitar, stomp, possibly room mic and Beatbuddy channels that would be ideaI to record live. I wish the Scarlett could send out all the separate channels that come into it.

Maybe I'm over thinking all this.....

[MaurysMusic]

Originally Posted by Mischief

Howdy,
I would like to get better recordings during my live gigs.

Sample below.




I used my iPhone 6 with just the phone mic but my phone is in a waterproof case and it colors the sound.

I would like to keep things as simple as possible but ultimately am looking for good return on effort.

At my disposal I have a Scarlett 18i8 and my TC helicon play acoustic pedal pedal.

The TC pedal I can capture one track of combined VOX and guitar. I mostly have used the pedal as a DI with EQ / Tuner for the guitar and Vox reverb.

Would it be worth the hassle to set up the Scarlett and record multitrack?

If I did this it means I'd have to set up the Scarlett, split the; Mic, guitar, stomp box
plus likely add a room mic.

I know I would need a proper splitter for the mic but do I need that for the guitar and stomp box (the stomp
I build can be either line or mic level)?

But now that's an interface, 4 extra cables and a way to split 4 sources.

Although I would then be able to post edit the audio to clean up and balance the sound.

This is mostly to improve the quality of my you tube videos. I'd like to think I'm getting a little better each time I play out (I'm still a noob).

The last show I did I used my iPhone 6+ but again but in its waterproof case. I thought some annoying to me frequencies were a problem with my Lyric pickup so this time I used my Cort guitar with its under-saddle Fishman and it has the same frequency issues. Thus wanting to record better.

FYI this is what I recorded last show.


Any advice appreciated thanks.



https://youtu.be/4RkMQ3r_Rg0

Well done, I think you sound good! I agree, if you're not interested in removing that case, you need to get a good mic injected into the phone. When I'm abitious (and have the time) I bring my Tascam DR-60, a Rode shotgun mic and connect it to my iPhone 6S... BUT for this gig I did last night, I just used the iPhone 6S all by itself and I'm fairly happy with it's on-board mic. It compresses a little too easily but the tone is fair IMO. What do you think? This is return on no effort.

[Mischief]

Originally Posted by MaurysMusic

Well done, I think you sound good! I agree, if you're not interested in removing that case, you need to get a good mic injected into the phone. When I'm abitious (and have the time) I bring my Tascam DR-60, a Rode shotgun mic and connect it to my iPhone 6S... BUT for this gig I did last night, I just used the iPhone 6S all by itself and I'm fairly happy with it's on-board mic. It compresses a little too easily but the tone is fair IMO. What do you think? This is return on no effort.

That was really good mate.
Yeah that sounds way better. I know the factory mic is pretty good and your right super simple no effort for the return.

Suppose another positive thing about recording the ambient sound. It would be a bit more representative of what people were hearing on the night. Vs taking a signal feed.

Im going to look into an outboard mic for the phone as an option maybe an XY as mentioned. However I think I would still be interested in getting some more direct recordings from my signals. Ideally being able to blend them.

[MaurysMusic]

Originally Posted by Mischief

That was really good mate.
Yeah that sounds way better. I know the factory mic is pretty good and your right super simple no effort for the return.

Suppose another positive thing about recording the ambient sound. It would be a bit more representative of what people were hearing on the night. Vs taking a signal feed.

Im going to look into an outboard mic for the phone as an option maybe an XY as mentioned. However I think I would still be interested in getting some more direct recordings from my signals. Ideally being able to blend them.

Thank you! Yeah I've rarely been happy with direct recordings, but if done right, with an ambient mic blended in, they can be very cool. Best of luck!