Mic-ing for rehearsal

[SamIAm]

I'm a member of a 7 piece ukulele band.  At rehearsal we have 6 ukes gathered in a circle (usually) with none plugged in, non mic-ed vocals as well as my bass going through an amp.

We often play a piece that sounds fab but then fire up ... an iPhone to re-record it for later rehersal.

 

I'd like to record the whole session so we can just edit the bits we liked for later listening.

 

I would appreciate experience/adice on a decent (but not expensive) omni-directional mic I can use to just record the whole 2 hours and later edit with my DAW.

 

Easily portable and setup a must.

 

It will run into a Scarlet into a Macbook.

 

S'manth x

Edited August 6, 2022 by Smanth

[Newfoundfreedom]

Something from the Zoom Handy range should do the trick. H2 to H6 depending on your needs and budget. 

[blisters on my fingers]

Zoom H2next might be worth checking out ?

 

You beat me to it Newfoundfreedom !

 

 

[SamIAm]

Thanks folks, the H2N seems just the ticket and I've found a few good deals on eBay in my budget range.

 

Many thanks!

 

S'manth x

[blisters on my fingers]

Review from 2012 on the Soundonsound site....

 

https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/zoom-h2n

 

The mid/side feature along with the free software ( if it is still available, I haven't checked ) was invaluable for recording rehearsals.

Leave the H2N recording for the entire rehearsal, everbody forgets it's recording, nobody gets stressy with 'Take One, Take Two'  etc.

When you get home, pop out the SD card put it into your computer, edit out the chitchat, adjust the stereo image. 

Marvel at your bands godlike genius 😀

 

(My band split soon after that but in all honesty Zoom cannot be held responsible)

[naxos10]

Tascam also have a number of recording products that would fit your requirements.

[Random Guitarist]

Happy H2 user here. The four mic mode is great for rehearsals in the round.

My H2 pretty old so I don't know what the software is like these days, but mine records two stereo tracks, one each for front and back. I import the tracks into Cubase with the split option so I get a 4 track recording that I can edit/adjust.

The out-takes can provide excellent blackmail material as well!

 

[AndyTravis]

My H2n has always yielded fair results.

 

it’s getting temperamental…record takes 4/5 presses of the button etc. I’ve had it 4 years and it was probably 4/5 years old when I got it. Used every week, so not so bad.

 

Having just jacked in the band, I’m not rushing to replace it. Just yet.

[neepheid]

Another happy H2n user here.  Use it a lot to record band rehearsals and what comes out of it is eminently usable - I just take it into Audacity and do a bit of normalising left/right plus a touch of compression and it's ready to use to point out where everyone else is going wrong

 

For reference, here's some guff we've been throwing around the rehearsal room, recorded with the H2n and touched up as described in Audacity.  I didn't record Dirty Harry with it, I spliced that on after because the track made me think of 70's cop stuff.

 

http://www.ifb.co.uk/~matthew/mp3/Teaspoons/practice20220713/cold_frontier.mp3

 

[lemmywinks]

We used to use an old H2 many years ago, results were always decent and a lot better than you would expect from just sticking a small gadget in the middle of the room and pressing a button. It eventually died a death at the hands of our guitarist's teenage son so as long as you keep them away from clumsy teenagers you should be ok.

[SamIAm]

My H2N just arrived ... now to figure out how to use it 🤔!

 

Thanks all for your guidance!

 

S'manth x

[Andyjr1515]

I fully endorse the H2n too. Good choice

[tauzero]

That reminds me, must start using my H2n at rehearsals with the new band...