MicroBR for recording band practice.

[hewhoiscalledj]

Ok, maybe I'm doing something wrong but for the life of me, I am unable to get a decent recording of my band during practice. It either ends up being too quiet, or I get distortion as the OVER message keeps popping up.

2 loud guitars, drums and vocals (still missing a bassist) and to avoid the OVER message (clipping) I have to set the builtin mic's sensitivity to around -11db and the input level around 85. This results in a recording that is too quiet.

With the sesitivity around -7db, and the input level around 95, I get clipping (OVER) so that recording is no good. I cant seem to find a middle ground. Am I just out of luck with the built-in mic?

My other option is to use a condesor mic hooked up to the PA with a monitor only mix (just that one mic) going into the MicroBR. I still have to fuss with this a little more as we got too much feedback but I'm thinking this is the way to go.

Any suggestions or tips from band guys that use the MicroBR for this purpose? Not trying to cut an album here; just want a decent MP3 recording for practice...

Thanks!!!

[Pedro]

Don't set the sensivity so low. I don't remember what settings I used last time I did that but I usually set the sensivity to -5dB and the input volume to 85.

What does usually distorts more? Drums? A little OVER sometimes is not bad (when the drummer plays crash, for example), what you need to avoid is constant OVER. Experiment with different settings until you get a nice one. Also, position is very important. Don't set it to close to the drummer, in fact, put it on the opposite side of drums and work your settings from there.

I have that problem sometimes, but when I get it right it sounds pretty good.

PS: Turn OFF the effects and record the sounds clean!! You can later use the built-in effects real-time by using the LOC setting on the EFFECTS window.

[hewhoiscalledj]

I kind of thought the sensitivity was way too low. I think it is the drums but I have the unit on the opposite end of the room already. I havent futzed with the effects though I'll check that out at tonights practice. Does it matter if the unit is laying flat or should i prop it up so its perpencicular to the floor? I know we have level issues as it is, so that's definitely part of the problem too.

Thanks for the input. If others are able to use the MicroBR for recording band sessions, then damn it, i should too. I just wish the rest of the guys were willing to let me experiment a little more. I'll admit it's a bit of a drag at practice messing with all this but it has to be done.

[guitarron]

mic placement is critical-it is a bit much to ask to get a single mic source to get a balanced mix -not impossible though-experiment-when you find what works best, remember how you did it-
ext mixer would allow more mics-but more futzing too

[hewhoiscalledj]

Yup. My other guitarist is out of town this week so we will use the downtime to experiment with recording methods a little more. Ideally, I would like to have 2 mics recording thru a monitor mix in the PA. We'll see what happens and I'll post my findings here.

[Pedro]

On a side note: One thing you should do is get another person that knows about music and sound hardware to mess around with the sound hardware while you and the band is playing.

Are you going to record the mixer output in the Micro BR? I would love to hear that as I've wondered how it sounds. Don't forget to plug in the Line In/Stereo of Micro BR.

[hewhoiscalledj]

yes, i plan on sending a customized monitor mix (of just the room mics) into the line level input of the MicroBR. i've already tried this with some sucess but it needs much fine tuning from both the recorder and the PA.

i'd much rather just play music but someones got to do the dirty work. =)

[Pedro]

OK, good luck with that then. I'm very interested in hearing the results.

[guitarron]

 this sounds like the ticket


yes, i plan on sending a customized monitor mix (of just the room mics) into the line level input of the MicroBR. i've already tried this with some sucess but it needs much fine tuning from both the recorder and the PA.

i'd much rather just play music but someones got to do the dirty work. =)
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