SnakeSanders
Joined: Aug 02, 2003
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  Posted:
Sep 19, 2005 - 21:18 |
 
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Hey guys,
Some of you may know already, but i play in a pretty decent brass band! I have been toying with the idea of buying an mp3 player (nothing too ridiculous, maybe just a 512MB one!) but as I was playing at Band Practice on Saturday night I thought...
"I wonder if its a plan to try to record and burn to CD via mp3!!"
Someone told me that the sound would be uneven/rough if i used a conventional single microphone/mp3 combo to record as different sections are louder than others, (any Brass Band CD's I have dont utilise the stereo capability, eg Euphoniums in one speaker and Cornets in the other! If you know what I mean!)
The ceiling in the Hall is also rather low, leading to a "blargey" sound, especially when the bases tear into their parts!
I also have a mp3 splitter program here so cutting them wouldnt be a problem!
Does anyone have any tips (use several mikes, but not wanting to spent a lot of money etc)
Thanks!
Rob (I may even let you hear some of our work and some of my solos heh, but i need to practice a bit more for that  ) |
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peikko
Joined: Aug 02, 2003
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| Posted:
Sep 19, 2005 - 21:28 |
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Recording on mp3 player?
Buy recording minidisk and use some money on microphones and you might get decent quality. |
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Shepherd
Joined: Oct 28, 2004
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| Posted:
Sep 19, 2005 - 21:33 |
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Amen.
The newer MD units allow you to record an INSANE amount on a Hi-MD and upload to the computer lickety-split. You then need to extract the sound, but there's freeware that can do that at minidisc.org.
The Sony Stereo mics are as good as anything out there, IMO. I've been recording jazz concerts by friends of mine and if I'm positioned well they prefer them to some of the multi-point recordings (mind you, the hall has VERY good acoustics too).
It might be more expensive than you'd be planning on, but if you offer to record and burn these concerts and pre-sell CDs to your bandmates at a reasonable cost, you could easily defray the expense.
Plus, if UK/Ireland taxes are anything like Canada's, you could declare it a business expense (as long as you declared the CD income too) and probably write off some tax dollars. |
_________________
A super-hero that always fails his Bonehead roll: MAN-MAN, the averagest hero alive!
Buy Dead Eyes Open, starting July 2005 from Slave Labor Graphics! |
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SnakeSanders
Joined: Aug 02, 2003
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| Posted:
Sep 19, 2005 - 21:37 |
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I have a minidisk, and thats a good alternative, but I was hoping to burn the tunes to a CD for my friends.
I was going to buy this mp3 player/recorder (sorry about the above, a slip of the tongue!) and get a decent microphone too
Do minidisc record to mp3 now? the one i have doesnt but its banjaxed at the minute 
Thanks anyway peikko |
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Mezir
Joined: Aug 02, 2003
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| Posted:
Sep 19, 2005 - 21:56 |
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| brownrob wrote: | | I have a minidisk, and thats a good alternative, but I was hoping to burn the tunes to a CD for my friends. |
What part of "it uploads to computer lickety-split" didn't you understand.  |
_________________
Build a man a fire and he's warm for a day; set a man on fire and he's warm for the rest of his life. |
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SnakeSanders
Joined: Aug 02, 2003
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| Posted:
Sep 19, 2005 - 22:07 |
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/me slaps Mezir with his knowledge of new Minidisks!
Anyway, Mr Shepherd is a much fatser typer than me and my chubby farmer fingers |
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milnestar
Joined: Oct 23, 2003
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| Posted:
Sep 19, 2005 - 22:37 |
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Have a scout round on ebay. An old 4 track with 4 mics would do the trick nicely. ( even 1 mic record the different parts seperately ? ). The burning to cd aint the problem, almost anything can be hooked up to PC, the most important thing here is the sound quality and I doubt that MP3 player would cut the mustard. |
_________________
Milnestar proudly drinks Stella Artois ! |
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milnestar
Joined: Oct 23, 2003
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| Posted:
Sep 19, 2005 - 22:43 |
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milnestar
Joined: Oct 23, 2003
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| Posted:
Sep 19, 2005 - 22:49 |
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SnakeSanders
Joined: Aug 02, 2003
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| Posted:
Sep 19, 2005 - 23:09 |
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| milnestar wrote: | | Have a scout round on ebay. An old 4 track with 4 mics would do the trick nicely. ( even 1 mic record the different parts seperately ? ). The burning to cd aint the problem, almost anything can be hooked up to PC, the most important thing here is the sound quality and I doubt that MP3 player would cut the mustard. |
That looks nice, but im not really intending to make 100's of CD's! I was going to get an Mp3 player, and this was just an extra, would the sound still be as bad at 192kb? or would it be a problem with the actual recorder???
Thanks for your help so far! Really useful |
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milnestar
Joined: Oct 23, 2003
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| Posted:
Sep 19, 2005 - 23:15 |
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If your planning on buying an MP3 player - then go for it, but I doubt recording your band with one mic would give you much you could really use. I imagine it gets pretty noisy in there !
Good luck - pop in your nearest music store for some advice, or even better - you can probably hire a local studio for a couple of hours and get a cd done real sweet for about £120
Keep us informed ! |
_________________
Milnestar proudly drinks Stella Artois ! |
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SnakeSanders
Joined: Aug 02, 2003
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| Posted:
Sep 20, 2005 - 09:27 |
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Sounds like a decent plan!
My band are actually planning to release an Xmas CD, but Im more of a march man, and since the band is the best in the county, I have friends in other bands who would love a CD of marches, to use as a teaching aid! If I had the time/money/knowhow id go for that nice looking Fostex.
| milnestar wrote: | | even 1 mic record the different parts seperately ? |
That would give me a better sound of the individual parts, but Im afraid Ill lose the authentic "brass band sound" and all the tuning/harmonies etc if I go down that route! One of the guys I was talking to says you get a better sound for a brass band if you use as few mics as possible!!!
Im still totally undecided here!  But you are giving me more insight into the thing!
If what Sheperd says is true, it could be worth the money if i get a HD Minidisk!
If I manage to get a decent recording of my work/solos, sure Ill make them available for the baying FUMBBL wolves!!
Just need to figure out how to host sound files!!! |
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SnakeSanders
Joined: Aug 02, 2003
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| Posted:
Sep 20, 2005 - 21:04 |
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| Shepherd wrote: | Amen.
The newer MD units allow you to record an INSANE amount on a Hi-MD and upload to the computer lickety-split. You then need to extract the sound, but there's freeware that can do that at minidisc.org.
The Sony Stereo mics are as good as anything out there, IMO. I've been recording jazz concerts by friends of mine and if I'm positioned well they prefer them to some of the multi-point recordings (mind you, the hall has VERY good acoustics too).
It might be more expensive than you'd be planning on, but if you offer to record and burn these concerts and pre-sell CDs to your bandmates at a reasonable cost, you could easily defray the expense.
Plus, if UK/Ireland taxes are anything like Canada's, you could declare it a business expense (as long as you declared the CD income too) and probably write off some tax dollars. |
Hey Shep!
I managed to find a Brass Band forum and asked their advice (Im really started to get interested in it!) but one of their admins said this (kinda like Grum here ) His first advice to me was...
| Adrian Horn wrote: | You could try it, but the quality will not be great. You would ideally, as a minimum, need at least two microphones (preferably decent condensor mics) set either as a spaced pair or as a coincident pair running through a mixer so that you can check levels properly and get a stereo recording. In my opinion though, MP3 as a recording format is not good. There is too much compression used to get good detail levels and the large dynamic range of the brass band will quite easily cause problems for MP3 whilst recording.
When recording, I'm afraid that if the equipment used to make the recording isn't up to scratch, then you can't do much to improve it once recorded. |
Thats fair enough but then I asked him what he thought of your suggestion!
| Adrian Horn wrote: |
The Sony Stereo Mic is good for what it is, but it is no where near as good a quality as even say a pair of cheap, good dynamics such as Shure Beta57s running through a mixer.
Also, as you a recording into the minidisc, you will be using the minidiscs own analogue to digital convertors, which, as the main use is only for dictating, are poor and cheap to keep costs down.
If you are wanting recordings which you are going to want to teach from, the I suggest getting someone local, who has a small amount of professional recording gear (perhaps ask students doing music or music technology at a local college) who might jump at the chance to have a go at recording a brass band. That way they get practice, and you get a recording. |
I dunno now! The guy might just be anal about having perfect sound (your sounds sound like they are pretty decent!) but I really dont know where I can go from here! Where I live is the bottom of society as far as technology/equipment/intelligence are concerned! Just ask Colin! There isnt really an option for a studio unless we travel a big distance to Belfast (80 miles)
Maybe Im getting in too deep here!
Rob |
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