Recording band rehearsals with a portable recorder

[dave_bass5]

Ive been recording our gigs for years with a small Edirol R-09HR digital recorder. I strap it to the singers mic stand and it picks up a really nice stereo spread, plus with the vocal monitor being right by the mic stand the vocals come out nice and clear, and central. I use manual record level of course and ive never had a distorted recording and certainly no lack of bass in the mix.
As has been said, with these things you more or less get the same out as going in, although it does help to place them centrally.
When we started rehearsing earlier this year i also used the recorder for these and again, they come out nice and clear although with a bit more room ambience as i put it at the back of the room.

[mcnach]

[quote name='Bassman Steve' timestamp='1449946821' post='2928320']
Zoom H2 with the limiter set to Live 2 and you can't go wrong (at least I haven't. Never had any problems and can get very decent results out of it.

[b]I believe there are some limitations if you rely on the battery - I recall some functions don't operate when it's being powered by the battery.[/b]
[/quote]

Not in my experience. I run it on batteries most of the time.

[EBS_freak]

http://www.shure.co.uk/products/microphones/microphone-series/motiv

Some of this stuff looks pretty interesting.

I use a (getting on a bit now) Tascam DR-07 (Mk 1). Have to say it's pretty good... but like with all these recorders, beware of handling noise and make sure you ALWAYS use a wind/pop filter. Your recordings will thank you for it.

[Bilbo]

This is a Zoom H1. Simplest device, great sound for referencing. Anything live on my Soundcloud page is recorded in the same way.

https://m.soundcloud.com/robert-palmer-1/unit-seven

[MoonBassAlpha]

https://www.dropbox.com/s/63o485o8e6idv57/Charms-Wheatsheaf-05dec2015.mp4?dl=0

Recorded on a Zoom Q2 HD, apparently. Quite acceptable sound and video, shame it couldn't autotune the backing vox down a bit though! There was no monitor my side, honest!

[Dad3353]

This is The Daub'z rehearsal from last night, recorded 'live' using a 4-track Fostex MR-8HD. One large diaphragm condenser before the drums, same before the two guitar half-stacks, slave out from Hiwatt bass amp and a mono out from the vox console. A fair bit of 'leakage' on the mics, but nothing unworldly. Roughly mixed down and lightly mastered, short interludes between numbers sliced out; otherwise, pretty much raw. Enjoy...

[url="https://soundcloud.com/dad3353/the-daubz-rehearsal-20160114/s-VdDtl"]The Daub'z rehearsal, 14th January 2016 ...[/url]

[peted]

I regularly use an old faithful Zoom H4 and it's brilliant with the correct positioning.

[FinnDave]

I use a Yamaha pocket track (can't check exact model as it's upstairs and I can't get there with my current injuries) and it sounds good to my ears when played back through decent speakers or headphones. All th music[url="http://www.lemonrock.com/thewirebirds?page=mp3s"] in this link [/url]was recorded with it, but at gigs rather than rehearsals)

[AustinArto]

I take a Zoom H2 to every rehearsal and it's probably the best thing I ever bought. I take the rehearsal recordings home, stick them on my Mac, chop out any interesting parts worth working on and share them with the band on Google Drive. Handles bass perfectly well have to set it up a fair distance from our drummer though even on the lowest input gain setting. Don't really have any big distortion problems I just notice he clips it a bit with his hi-hats.

[discreet]

Zoom H1. Don't use it on automatic setting, set the record levels manually. Set to 'wav' for ultimate quality with bass cut 'off'. I had mine about two meters from the front of the drum kit pointing at the top of the kick drum. This picks up everything the drummer plays and records it in stereo with the kick dead centre. I then had the bass amp close in to the left of the drums and the guitar amp on the right a little further away. Vocal through a small PA. The H1 will pick up everything. If you wanted to find a decent room and spend all day finding the optimum position for everything you could make some very creditable recordings that would only need mastering and tidying up. The H1 is also very affordable...

Edited January 15, 2016 by discreet

[BrunoBass]

I've experimented with Zoom and Tascam portable recorders and they've largely given good results. However the best results I've got was from running a USB mic (Samson C01U) into GarageBand on my iPad. The mic was about £50 from Amazon, and the USB/Lightening adaptor was about £20. Very happy with the sound.

[Count Bassy]

[quote name='RockfordStone' timestamp='1449830295' post='2927225']
i use a tascam dr-2d and it records the practices pretty well.[b] i find its all about the location[/b]
[/quote]

Definitely this in my experience. I use the Tascam GTR01, and the actual sound quality is great. Getting it in a good position to pick every thing up evenly can be quite difficult though, especially in a small room. In a larger room (e.g. village hall), I just put it at the back of the room and it's been great.

[solo4652]

[url="http://uk.line6.com/backtrack/"]http://uk.line6.com/backtrack/[/url]

I use a Line 6 Backtrack + mic. It's primarily aimed at guitarists. I have the model with the on-board mic and it records band rehearsals perfectly well, once you've set the gain properly. Dead easy to use, and I prefer it over my Zoom Q3 because the battery life of the Line 6 is so much longer.

[Cameronj279]

https://soundcloud.com/goon-and-the-kings/new-funk-one/s-c5Dmp

This was recorded on a Zoom handheld recorder. Picks up everything really well I think.

Disclaimer : If you end up listening please ignore the bit I haven't written yet.

[discreet]

[url="http://www.mediafire.com/listen/tewkvw2qoxqmmqo/Last-Great-Days.mp3"]This[/url] was recorded in a rehearsal room on a Zoom H1 in '.wav' mode, manual recording levels. The resulting audio file was then imported into FL Studio 11 where I was able to 'stereoize' it a bit, add some subtle FX and master it using PSP VintageWarmer II. Or to put it another way, I messed about with it.

[wateroftyne]

The Zoom Q2 is canny. The camera isn't great (super-narrow viewing angle), and I miss the 360-degree field of my old audio-only Zoom, but for the money I can't complain.

Here's a clip I did on mine... the vox are buried as the recorder was behind the PA and the band are on IEM's.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i03gdUnWrrE

[discreet]

[quote name='wateroftyne' timestamp='1452947442' post='2954938']
Here's a clip I did on mine... the vox are buried as the recorder was behind the PA and the band are on IEM's.
[/quote]

A video as well..? That's cheating!

[mep]

I too have a Line 6 Backtrack bought from BC. Simple enough to use. Charged from USB. reasonable results for practises and gigs. One of the cheaper options.

[Skybone]

I bought a Tascam DR-05 literally just before the old band disintegrated, so I never managed to get any use out of it. It's sat in the box for a few months, but now the new band's starting to get moving, it'll be taken along to the next rehearsal.