whats the best way to record your jammins sessions

[KennysFord]

hi folks,
as the title suggests,
were struggling a wee bit to find the best way to record our jams.a label on the front of the jar just aint workin !!
seriously though,we have an 8 track desk but no drum mikes as yet so weve been trying to do it into a lap top with a mic into wavepad.the results are pretty crap so im hoping some of you guys can point me in the right direction.
thanks in advance,
pete.

[urb]

Hey man - I use a little Belkin mic thatb you can plug into you iPod - it has to be one of the bigger iPods like a 30 or 80gb one - but it's a stereo digital mic so as long as the music isn't ear-bleedingly loud - i.e. sounds good and clear in the room - this little mic picks it all up in crystal clear stereo. The really neat part is when you plug it back into you PC or Mac is that you can then take the file out of iTunes - once its transfered over when you sync the pooter with the iPod - and then you can edit and mix the highlights of your session. There are loads of other ways you can do this but I think for convenience, ease of use and speed this is one of the best I think. You just need to make sure you place the mic+iPod somewhere central in the room so you get a good balance of sound not too much bass

Alternatively you can always plug the entire band into the PA and take a line out to a laptop but this is a lot more complicated ad teim consuming - on precious rehearsal time and money - so unless you want to make a demo or a rough mix recording - personally I think the mini-disk or iPod way is better. Hope that helps.

M

[ShergoldSnickers]

We use a Korg D888 8 track digital recorder. The bass goes straight in from an Aphex Punch Factory pedal via the XLR output, the guitar is miked up, and the drums use a Rode NT4 stereo condenser for an overhead with an AKG D112 for the bass drum. We also have a CAD m179 condenser located to pick up the snare, so we can add a touch of reverb without affecting the rest of the kit. We now have a keyboard player and the remaining two tracks are taken up with this.

Results? Well, try not to listen too much to the 'music' as it will seriously damage your mental stability, but we don't think the actual sound is too bad. It certainly captures everything in a way we are happy with.

[url="http://web.mac.com/ianhalstead/Desperate_Din/"]Listen here.[/url]

PS Yes, 'Sandwich Spread' is our signature 'tune'.

[KennysFord]

Thanks urb,thats the answer i was hoping for,something simple and effective like that will be just the job.
Good man.

thanks shergold,your reply came up whilst i was replying to urb.
some good stuff there too.we need to dip our hands in our pockets for some more gear so ill look into that one too.

Edited April 5, 2008 by kennyrodg

[Muppet]

I bought a cheap minidisc player off ebay and plugged one of [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/SONY-ECM-DS70P-Condenser-Stereo-MD-Microphone-mic-cable_W0QQitemZ150233019996QQihZ005QQcategoryZ8258QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem"]these[/url] in to it. Stick it in the middle of the room and it's done. I like the ipod idea too though - might give that a go.

[urb]

Cool dude - this is the one I use - it's very good:

[url="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Belkin-iPOD-TUNETALK-STEREO-BLACK/dp/B000IZTCQA/ref=pd_sbs_ce_img_1"]http://www.amazon.co.uk/Belkin-iPOD-TUNETA...pd_sbs_ce_img_1[/url]

Really good value too

M

[jakenewmanbass]

+1 to what Urb said really, if its just for listening back and you don't need to mix it then get the best stereo mic you can for a reasonable price and experiment with where to site it in the room. As long as no-one over does it with volume you should find a happy medium. Plug it into any reasonable standard digital recording device (as mentioned) and you should get good results.