Recording rehearsals

[wayne58]

Absolutely....I use a line 6 backtrack which I have had for years.
I record every rehearsal, it's surprising what you miss if you rely on memory alone.

I just leave it running and delete all the chaff when I get home, it saves writing arrangements down, which in my opinion doesn't help to learn new material.

[42Hz]

I am in a(n amateur)band where the keyboard player records our rehearsals on a simple recorder. Occasionally he burns a CD to the band members and I listen to it when it happens. Simply because this - to me at least - is necessary to improve my playing in a way that supports the song the right way. Not that I am nerdy about playing the exact same lines every time but the [b]musical expression and character[/b] of playing has to be right. This can be difficult to judge unbiased in the moment you play.

Edited September 9, 2017 by 42Hz

[51m0n]

Always

But our rehearsals are always 70% writing new material 30% revision if you like

Zoom H4n plus a pair of Line Audio CM3s.

Perfectly acceptable recordings for checking out ideas after the fact.

[Chaos Daveo]

Yep we use phones, easy quick and low quality maintenance. Reason that riff that such and such played between songs, also if you sound ace on a sh*t phone recording it will sound better when recorded at on higher level equipment. You can still pick out mistakes and that face the drummer just made just fine

[JapanAxe]

When I am depping I typically have one or two (at most) rehearsals with the band before the gig. I record the rehearsals on my phone, upload to Dropbox, and download to my computer. The main benefit to me is identifying:
(1) sections that the band play differently - it's not my job to force them to play the right chords etc;
(2) the overall structure of numbers; and
(3) how any segues work.

[TimR]

Has anyone had much experience of syncing audio files from different devices.

Say I used one H2 with external O/H and Kick mics, one H2 for bass and guitar and another for vocals. Is it easy to mix the results or are the clocks not stable enough.

[Dad3353]

[quote name='TimR' timestamp='1506097096' post='3376486']
Has anyone had much experience of syncing audio files from different devices...
[/quote]

The answer's a lemon, of course; suck it and see, but it'll probable work fine enough. It'll help if, at the beginning, there's a 'clap', and another at the end, that all the devices pick up. When each track is imported into the DAW, the Start-End can be aligned, by 'time-stretching' if necessary. It won't be perfect (phase issues, for instance...), but it would probably be good enough as a record of the rehearsal. I do this kind of thing all the time, when composing my stuff for the Composition Challenge, for instance, when working with samples or snippets from several sessions, lining up differing tempos and such; it seems to work well enough for me. It shouldn't be all that difficult to just try it and see, though.
Just my tuppence-worth.

Edited September 22, 2017 by Dad3353

[discreet]

[quote name='TimR' timestamp='1506097096' post='3376486']...Say I used one H2 with external O/H and Kick mics, one H2 for bass and guitar and another for vocals. Is it easy to mix the results or are the clocks not stable enough. [/quote]

I did this a lot when recording rehearsals. As Dad says, it's a case of transferring audio to DAW, matching up the start points and doing a bit of tweaking (if necessary - often it isn't). It's easier than it sounds and you can get a lot of control over the result. Some of the best performances I've recorded have been at rehearsals - people tend to be a lot more relaxed than they are at official recording sessions in a proper studio.

[Highfox]

[quote name='Mickeyboro' timestamp='1504775924' post='3367188']
Is this something you do regularly, and if so how do you use it to improve the music?

It follows on from my thread 'Playing with Pros'. The ex-pro I recently worked with recorded everything, then sent me the tracks over the internet. I found it interesting, but it led to more heat than light in the end.

I'm just trying to work out if it's a concept I should try in the future, never having done it before. Views most welcome...
[/quote]
I do it a lot, I find it helps a lot in hearing back what's working and what isn't, especially when working on new material. Also helps me erradicate some mistakes and sloppyness.. The others find it useful as well.