Live recording device

[madball24]

I wanna get something that will hook up to my mixer to record the bands live straight to cd. Can anyone recommend me anything?

[srp72ee]

I use a Tascam Portastudio. Works ok...

[madball24]

how do u hook it up? do u use the main inserts or go thru the aux

[agedhorse]

Tascam CDR-750 (or similar) CD recorder.

[madball24]

How would I hook this up to a allen and heath mix wiz??

 

http://www.guitarcenter.com/Fostex-C...45-i1125874.gc

[Shaster]

What's the purpose of the recording? If it's so that a band can critique it's performance then I guess straight to CD is fine.

 

If they want some sort of rough demo then I would think you would want more separation than the probable dual mono you're running.

 

And if they want to critique your performance it isn't all that useful either (at least the actual mix portion) because in most small/medium venues the overall mix is a combination of stage, PA, and reflections.

 

So.... IMO, how you hook the unit up, would depend on why you were hooking the unit up.

[Coaster]

 

How would I hook this up to a allen and heath mix wiz?? http://www.guitarcenter.com/Fostex-C...45-i1125874.gc

 

 

AB out

[Gomer Pyle]

I've used the Tascam CDR-750 and sometimes the Tascam DR-1. I usually run the feeds through one or two DBX 163X comps. Sometimes I group the vocals through one aux into the left channel and then the instruments into another aux feeding the right channel, this allows me to mix and eq the vocs and instruments separately. In the next month or so I'll be buying a Korg D-888, it's a simple and inexpensive 8 in 8 out hard drive recorder, I can group some of the drums in the last channel if I need more than 8, Paul.

[stangconv]

Zoom H4 set up in the front... just using the built in mics? I would think you would get a better sound then taking it off the board.

[Crownman]

I run the main record outs to my comp and record with audacity.

[srp72ee]

I use a stereo sub mix (group 1 and 2).

[GCDEF]

I've got a Zoom - don't remember the model number, but it'll record 8 tracks at once and has a CD burner. I use the inserts to connect 4 drum mics, guitar, bass and lead vocal into 7 channels on the recorder, then route the backing vocals to a subgroup and send that to the 8th channel. That'll give you pretty good control over the mix. The recorder has some fairly decent editing, mixing and mastering features and you can burn a CD directly if you want to from it.

[madball24]

question should the unit i get have preamps to plug into from my mixer or just regular inputs and outputs

[Mutha Goose]

Recording a live show from the main board can be very tricky, especially so if it is a small room. The problem is that what you hear in the room is not nessessarily what's coming through the mix (again, the smaller the room, the worse this is).You'd be amazed how much of the instument amps and drums you are hearing directly in the room (this will all be missing from the recording).

 

If you have direct outs, the Zoom R16 is a very decent, compact way to get raw tracks that you can mix and master later. However, be sure to dedicate at least one track to an ambient mic. This will at least pick up some of the missing info (not to mention you'll get a little crowd noise that can help a live recording).

[madball24]

if i wanna record 13 channels how can i do that thru that zoom r16

[Mutha Goose]

Of course you could always use a 24-track (providing your mixer has direct outs for each channel), but most of them weren't designed with road use in mind so you will have to be careful to avoid damage.

 

This Zoom is only 1 suggestion for a recording interface. I like it for live stuff because of how small and durable it is.You can also use two of 'em. Or you can reduce your channel needs by using a sub mix of multiple channels (i.e. drums, all backup vocals). But with the latter you will loose the ability to seperate and control the elements later.

[madball24]

ow would u use 2 of them? like would u just hook each one up the same way? how would u transport them to the same file??

[Coaster]

 

if i wanna record 13 channels how can i do that thru that zoom r16

 

 

first you said direct to cd which implies 2 channels. if you want to get more complex than that you are in for a more complex world. i have a 16 track recording rig with a 12 channel split snake i use for this very purpose and it works quite well.

 

for the very best recording, dont bother the FOH mixer at all. use a split before FOH; on my rig i can take any 12 FOH channels i want and use 4 mics that are spearate from FOH i.e. audience mics, or area mics not suitable for FOH such as possibly overheads or better piano mics etc.

 

i dont recommend taking this big of a bite right away, its one of the more stressful things i do and i have been doing it for quite some time. its also not inexpensive either.beyond 16 or 24 channels the game changes from what i am doing and is an even bigger bite, and higher cost.

 

i have close to $4k in my 16 channel recording rig and aside from a few components its all used (read much less than new price) stuff.

[Mutha Goose]

for the very best recording, dont bother the FOH mixer at all. use a split before FOH; i dont recommend taking this big of a bite right away

 

:thu:

[GCDEF]

 

if i wanna record 13 channels how can i do that thru that zoom r16

 

 

You can't unless you submix through groups like I do. You'd need something that can record 16 channels simultaneously to do it right, but once you get into 16 channel simultaneous recording, you're spending some real money.

[jwlussow]

madball, tell us exactly what you want to do, how you want to use it and your budget. We record 16 channels at every show but it takes a bunch of gear and the knowledge of how to use it. I thought, since you wanted direct to CD, you were looking at two tracks. The Zoom H4 is a great option since it is designed to do what I thought you wanted. I have never seen anybody have really consistent results recording straight to CD. I

[stangconv]

I've got a Zoom - don't remember the model number, but it'll record 8 tracks at once and has a CD burner. I use the inserts to connect 4 drum mics, guitar, bass and lead vocal into 7 channels on the recorder, then route the backing vocals to a subgroup and send that to the 8th channel. That'll give you pretty good control over the mix. The recorder has some fairly decent editing, mixing and mastering features and you can burn a CD directly if you want to from it.

 

Mrs-1608? Thats the one I have

[Bugzie]

The bottom line is to get quality when it comes to recording costs big bucks. Figure 8 channels is a thousand bucks and it goes up pretty quick from there. Ideally I'd like a presonus studio live 24 and an Alesis ADAT. I just shuddered at the thought of 16 discrete channels....christ that would be heaven. Currently I use a Boss 1600. It has 8 channel recording capabilities and I'm always wishing I had at least 4 more. Lots of effects and capabilities, but the learning curve is a bitch to say the least. Pretty similar to the Zoom unit. Biggest drawback is that the only outputs are a pair of RCA's. The easiest way that I record is to plug a thumbdrive into the back of my Peavey 24FX mixer. It records in MP3 format and the quality has surprised me on more than one occasion. Plug the thumbdrive into my PC and burn a disc from windows. They aren't great recordings but it does surprise everyone when I hand them a disc and say "here's your show from Saturday."

[jwlussow]

I use a Presonus Digimax and a Pro Tools 002R for a nice rack mounted 16 track (we usually only use 12) DAW. Works great but is was expensive compared to a simple two track recording device. I

[Black Frog]

If you have ProTools, a MacBook Pro and MBox 2 Mini can do a nice 2 track at a gig.

 

Obviously not very cost effective if you're looking to buy something, but if you already have the computer.....

 

I've always liked the looks of that Zoom H4N, I might have to give that some further thought for purchase.

 

We have done several gigs with a sound company we know well, and they have a CD player/recorder mounted in the fx rack. It is patched in to the board, and during the show he simply pops a CD in there and starts recording. He hits the 'track' designation button between songs so the track marker is put in there while recording- each song is different track on the CD when finished. At the end of the set, he pops in a new cd. At the end of the night he hands over three CD's or so and says, "Here's your show from tonight".

 

Very nice touch.