The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
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  1. #26

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    The first, most important, and hardeat to get piece of "gear" you need for acoustic recording is a good space/room. Should be reasonably spacy and quiet of course. Stay out of the corners to avoid standing bass waves. Higher pitched shimmer is a lot easier to tame. Once you have that, just walk around the room playing until you find a place where it sounds good. Then place your mic/recorder where it captures that same sound. Everything that comes after that point is secondary. A cheap SM57 into a cheap Focusrite 2i2 into a cheap computer with a cheap or free DAW is way enough.Or the recorder in this case.

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    The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
     
  3. #27

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    Any reasonable portable recorder should probably work well enough. I do all my recordings on a small Korg SOS (sound on sound) recorder, which works fine. I usually use a direct signal to the line input, but it also has a built in stereo mic which works perfectly well.

    For example I recorded my classical guitar on this track using the built in mic on the Korg:


  4. #28
    Quote Originally Posted by mhch
    After analyzing the offerings, I ended up buying a Tascam DR-44WL. Built quality seems better than Zoom, plus lots of great features

    1) low power consumption: I experienced up to 6 hour recording with high quality Eneloop Panasonic rechareable batteries
    2) easy navigation in the menu system
    3) quality recording in various formats
    4) ability to record 4 tracks, builtin mikes plus 2 external ones, if needed for easier mixing
    5) remote control with a smartphone
    I'm reading reviews on amazon that the DR-44WL is fragile. I don't care about Wifi capabilities. That said, the DR-44WL seems to have the best mics for the price. Unless I'm convinced elsewise--I trust you guys more than Amazon

    Is the DR 40 essentially the same as the 44wl? Once again, I care about sund quality--not wifi.

    What's the difference between unidirectional and omnidirectional mics? Which would be better for recording live music (ie, jam sessions) and practice sessions?
    Last edited by Irez87; 05-21-2019 at 10:22 AM.

  5. #29
    this video was hard to find on youtube...grr

    I think there should be more mic comparisons like this:



    it's like the Zoom captures more bass to my ears.

  6. #30

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    Quote Originally Posted by Irez87
    I'm reading reviews on amazon that the DR-44WL is fragile. I don't care about Wifi capabilities. That said, the DR-44WL seems to have the best mics for the price. Unless I'm convinced elsewise--I trust you guys more than Amazon

    Is the DR 40 essentially the same as the 44wl? Once again, I care about sund quality--not wifi.

    What's the difference between unidirectional and omnidirectional mics? Which would be better for recording live music (ie, jam sessions) and practice sessions?
    I'm curious to know more about what was the reasons to state the DR-44WL fragile ! What I can say than in hands il feels sturdy, heavier than the similar zoom beasts (not 10x of course), the builtin mikes are well protected, attention has been paid to eliminate too easy pushing of a button

    Connection with a smartphone is bluetooth, not wifi.

    Unidirectional mikes are meant to focus on a specific audio source, ignoring what is not in the narrow mike field. They are probably used for recording speech when being at a distance. I guess they are also called shotgun mikes

    Omnidirectional mikes grab all the audio in a large space,all around, possibly even from behind, probably used to record ambiance sound

    more in The Different Types Of Mics And Their Uses | Gearank

    Personnally I've always been using the two DR-44WL builtin mikes for recording jam sessions and practice, just need to pay a bit of attention to set the beast so that no wanted audio source is too far on its sides or behind

    I remember that one of the zoom (H2?) can record all around using 4 builtin mikes, a guy I play with has one but what we each recorded during the same session was about the same (we were not looking for outstanding audio quality, just to record the overal band music)

    no idea about the difference between the DR 40 and 44 but this may help

  7. #31

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    In case this is helpful.

    I had a Sony ECM DS70P, which is a little stereo mic. I originally got it to record with the Iriver, which didn't have a quality built in mic, but sounded great with the little Sony.

    The Sony sounded better to me than the mics in the Zoom H2.

    But, after the H2 died (for no obvious reason) I switched to the Yamaha. The built in mics sounded fine and I stopped using the Sony.

  8. #32
    Okay, so I finally knuckled down and got the Zoom H4n Pro -- with a starter kit (16 GB SD card, AC unit, USB cord)

    It captures voice extremely well, very much plug and play.

    Figuring out how to capture my guitar, at least acoustically, is another story.

    After some experimenting, I found that I could get a truer sound by playing the built in mics near the f-hole (bass side).

    That said, my strings sound a lot more "rubbery" than I thought they did. I play with round wounds, so that was unexpected. And treble-ly.

    Any suggestions on how to record guitar with a portable?

  9. #33

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    If it's an archtop, get the microphone(s) away from the guitar, at least 3 or 4 feet.

  10. #34
    I have an archie, but it's a through top pickup--not a floater.

    Still loudish acoustically.

    I'll try it, because I had the mic almost touching my fretting hand before.

    What about placement when I plug into an amp?

    Sorry if these questions are obvious, I've only ever recorded on crappy equipment before--like a computer mic. Even the Blue Snowball doesn't quite compare to the detail I now get with the H4n Pro.

    Hey, once I get this figured out--I can post more audio over here so we can see if Mr. Ear Training can actually play

  11. #35

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    Miking an amp can be fun. Typically you want to be about 1/2 the way put from the center of the cone, and play with distance from the cone.

    But it's all testing. You might get best pointed at center or at edge. Up close or backed off.

    Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

  12. #36

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    The following video is geared toward people who want to blend amplified and acoustic mics, but it might give you some ideas.


    Recording with built-in mics is definitely a compromise. But that H4N seems like good unit. I probably would have chosen that if it were available when I bought my H2. And it does allow you to connect two external mics and provides phantom power, so if you could try the two mic techniques in that video. Of course that requires even more gear. :-)

  13. #37
    I can't afford spendin more moolah on recording gear--this was my father's day gift to myself...

    That said, I tried moving the recorder to the center of the room... and viola--instant acoustic goodness.

    The sound I hear through my ears is very close to what I heard in the recording!

    The next frontier is figuring out placement with an amp in the mix.

    I think I can plug my guitar into the unit as well?

  14. #38

  15. #39

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    Quote Originally Posted by Irez87
    I think I can plug my guitar into the unit as well?
    You could connect the line out from your DV Mark to one of the H2N’s XLR inputs.

    Or you could plug the guitar into a direct box or an amp simulator pedal and do the same. The H4N does have two 1/4 inch inputs, but I doubt it would sound good to plug directly into it. (There’s no harm in trying though.)

    Your recording has a lot of ambient noise—a fan or motor, breathing, squeaking, etc. You should be able to reduce that by changing the direction the mic is pointing, moving a little closer, moving the mics away from reflective surfaces, and putting sound absorbers around and behind the mics. You can buy absorbers as in the following photo, but sofa cushions, pillows or blankets can do the job.

    Live rooms (with wood floors and minimal absorbers) are great for hearing yourself, but can make recording difficult.
    Last edited by KirkP; 05-27-2019 at 12:27 PM.

  16. #40

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    The amp line out will give you everything but the speaker/cab sound. Effects loop send will only give the preamp section out. You coud use a cheap multi-fx pedal with amp modelling to get a whole sound... maybe a little reverb and compression into a Fender Deluxe amp/speaker/cab model. From there straight into the recorder. I use a Fender Mustang Floor for this, but you could look at the Zoom MS50G for about $100. (I've never tried one of those, but the price is right.) Or you could look at those Torpedo Captor things, which supposedly do DI with speaker/cab simulation. I don't know much about them. Just throwing a few ideas out.

  17. #41

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    I tried to check out demos of the MS50G amp models, but almost every demo is so overloaded with effects that you can't hear the amp(s). I finally found this one that shows pretty much what one of the amp models sounds like. No idea which one, but probably one of the Fenders. The keys on the backing track are way too loud, but at least you can hear the guitar part on the virtual amp with only a little reverb. It doesn't sound cheesy at all, which is pretty amazing for a ~$100 device.
    Smooth Jazz Improvisation (With Zoom MS-50G + Zoom MS-70CDR) - YouTube
    So you would basically just plug your guitar into this thing and plug your recorder into the output. Or you could go straight to a PA or whatever.

    Edit: Here's another one where the guy only starts out with too much reverb, but you can still clearly hear the amp model itself (at first).
    ZOOM MS-50G - "Galactic Spaces" - 50 custom presets - YouTube
    Last edited by strumcat; 05-27-2019 at 11:53 PM.

  18. #42

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    You could try just plugging your archtop straight into the recorder, that’s how I usually record my 175, it sounds fine.

  19. #43

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    I bought a Tascam DR-05X today. Upon first inspection it radiates cheapness.

    It doesn't come with an SD card, so you can't use it out of the box. Luckily I had a 16 GB one lying around that worked ok. Strike one.

    The battery cover comes off with very little force. I can foresee a situation where it falls off when handled the wrong way, a battery becomes dislodged, and a recording gets ruined. Strike two.

    The menu system at first could not be navigated properly. I could go forward along the heirarchical structure of the menus, but not backwards. After I turned the recorder off and on, it began navigating as expected. Strike three. You're out.