The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
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  1. #26

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    Quote Originally Posted by grahambop
    I downloaded the free iMovie app on my iPad, it lets you do simple video editing, including the option to adjust volume levels, I assume you could use it on an iPhone too:
    Thanks, Graham. I'll have to give that a go. Even if it doesn't work with an iPhone (-I assume it does, though), I have an iPad too.

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    The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
     
  3. #27

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    Quote Originally Posted by fep
    Mark, do you right click the youtube videos and select "stats for nerds" on the menu? If not give it a try, you can do it on this page. The video has to be playing for it to work.

    You'll see the 1st video was 11db under the youtube threshold in which case youtube doesn't touch it. The second one was 1db too high and youtube reduced the volume by 1db (which is something I woudn't worry about).

    I enjoyed your blues tune.
    Thanks, Frank. I've written a lot of tunes in my day, most mediocre, but I think that one works and is one I'll be playing a decade from now.
    No, I don't click 'stats for nerds'. I'll give it that a shot. Thanks for the suggestion and explanation.
    I suspect all my iPhone (only) videos are under the threshold and that's why they're noticeably quieter than most videos. (And not only quieter, less dynamic.)
    The iTrack pocket video is plenty loud without an amp at all. Maybe too loud! I may to more of those.

  4. #28

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    Mark, I edited my previous post with this: "The sound is good it's just a bit quiet and there is some background hiss and what not. I'm wondering, where is the mic on the Iphone and where is it pointing when you record. I know you are taking a video so the choices are limited. When I take videos my smartphone is on a small phone tripod, like the one linked below, and on my desk. So the mic or mics are not down against anything.

    https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/...?ie=UTF8&psc=1 "

    What about that?

  5. #29

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    Quote Originally Posted by fep
    Mark, I edited my previous post with this: "The sound is good it's just a bit quiet and there is some background hiss and what not. I'm wondering, where is the mic on the Iphone and where is it pointing when you record. I know you are taking a video so the choices are limited. When I take videos my smartphone is on a small phone tripod, like the one linked below, and on my desk. So the mic or mics are not down against anything.

    https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/...?ie=UTF8&psc=1 "

    What about that?
    I use a tripod, yes. It's on my music stand. (It has flexible legs so it need not be set on a flat surface.)
    iPhone recordings and YouTube volume-tripod-jpg
    I don't know why this pic appears rotated this way. The third (or back) leg of the tripod is over the top edge of the music stand.

    Background noise would probably be from a ceiling fan.
    The phone is pointed directly at my guitar but the amp is below (on the floor) and beside the stand, near the wall.)

    The Focusrite has external mics too but one need not use them. (It was designed for plugging in a guitar and singing into the external mics, which are in the front grill of the device.)

    Thanks for all your input! I appreciate you taking the time.

  6. #30

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    At the very least you need to normalize the file before uploading.

  7. #31

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    Quote Originally Posted by dmozell
    At the very least you need to normalize the file before uploading.
    The phone does not allow that (so far as anyone chiming in here knows).

  8. #32

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    The best bet is to get an external mic for your iPhone. The good ones can be pricey, but even the $15 Movo PM10 will give you better audio for your situation, since it is omnidirectional (it will need a lightning port –> mini-audio jack connector to connect to recent iPhones). The iPhone's mic is good, but it is primarily for picking up sounds close to it, and it is unidirectional.

    Otherwise, count on spending $80 (Røde VideoMic) -$149 (Shure MV-88) on a top-notch solution. I use the $99 Zoom IQ7, since it can record mid-side stereo.

    The $99 Zoom IQ6 would also be a very good solution.

    Any of these mics will allow one to adjust mic volume to taste.

  9. #33

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    Quote Originally Posted by Ukena
    The best bet is to get an external mic for your iPhone. The good ones can be pricey, but even the $15 Movo PM10 will give you better audio for your situation, since it is omnidirectional (it will need a lightning port –> mini-audio jack connector to connect to recent iPhones). The iPhone's mic is good, but it is primarily for picking up sounds close to it, and it is unidirectional.


    Any of these mics will allow one to adjust mic volume to taste.
    That's a great idea. Thank you.
    But about lavalier mics in general: where do I put it? I can see clipping it on my shirt if I'm talking or singing. But if I'm just playing guitar, I don't want people hearing me breathe! (I hear that on some videos buy guitarists who are not singing and I aways think, "That is not ruinous but it certainly isn't helping.")

  10. #34

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    Iphone’s internal mic works surprisingly well in loud environments! I can record loud concerts and never get distorted or overdriven audio anymore, so they have some good automatic compression/limiting going on.

    But of course that’s the opposite situation.....

  11. #35

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    Here’s my recording rig:



    The mic goes into a little mixer. The ‘record out’ of the mixer is fed into the iphone. I use an iRig for that just because it’s easy (I can directly plug headphones or audio out into the irig for playback) but it’s not necessary. I set record volume by regulating the output volume and gain on the mixer.
    Last edited by Little Jay; 04-23-2020 at 12:51 PM.

  12. #36

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    Quote Originally Posted by MarkRhodes
    But about lavalier mics in general: where do I put it? I can see clipping it on my shirt if I'm talking or singing. But if I'm just playing guitar, I don't want people hearing me breathe! (I hear that on some videos buy guitarists who are not singing and I aways think, "That is not ruinous but it certainly isn't helping.")
    You can put a lavalier mic anywhere – it doesn't have to clip to clothing. Experiment with placement.

    The advantage of some of the more expensive iPhone mics is that one can plug headphones right into the device, and monitor the recording.

  13. #37

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    Ordered a lavalier mic. Normally it would arrive within 48 hours but these are not normal times, so if it arrives by next Saturday (-today is Saturday), I'll be pleased.

    My god, when I was a kid and ordered things by mail, 2-4 weeks was normal!

  14. #38

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    Hey fellas. Just found this thread and it is VERY useful! Thanks for sharing your knowledge and info. Just as an experiment, I recorded a "live" video of a song -- the objective being doing it all via my iphone. Had the same volume problem issue. Thanks to this thread I was able to determine that the volume is at -18 db allowed by YT (thanks fep for "stats for nerds" info...), and how to adjust it on the phone and in the clip (thanks grahambop). Ukena's external mic suggestions are cool too. Anyway, I was wondering, if maybe we could get more YT examples posted here? For example, Little Jay's setup looks great. I'd like to hear what it sounds like. (Thanks MarkRhodes and lawson-stone for your clips. Really helps to hear them.)

    I'll take this new-found knowledge and try adjusting my volume on my own vid. I'll post it here with comments when it I do.

    Again, thanks everyone!

  15. #39

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    Oh a quick question... I see that many of the flexible iphone tripods offer a wireless remote. Do these remotes work to turn on and off the iphone video functions?

  16. #40

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    Quote Originally Posted by fep
    Mark, do you right click the youtube videos and select "stats for nerds" on the menu? If not give it a try, you can do it on this page. The video has to be playing for it to work.

    You'll see the 1st video was 11db under the youtube threshold in which case youtube doesn't touch it. The second one was 1db too high and youtube reduced the volume by 1db (which is something I woudn't worry about).

    I like your blues tune, very cool. The sound is good it's just a bit quiet and there is some background hiss and what not. I'm wondering, where is the mic on the Iphone and where is it pointing when you record. I know you are taking a video so the choices are limited. When I take videos my smartphone is on a small phone tripod, like the one linked below, and on my desk. So the mic or mics are not down against anything.
    Hey, Frank. I answered this before but I'll answer it again because a few things have changed,
    First, I have checked 'stats for nerds' on several of my videos and noted the drastic difference b/w 'just-iPhone' recordings and 'iTrack Pocket' recordings. The latter are much louder.
    Second, an external mic is on the way. Should arrive today or tomorrow. It's a cheapie, a Lavalier, but at least it will allow me to mic the amp yet keep the phone w/in reach and a decent angle for recording.
    Third, ordered a 'dongle' which will allow me to use headphones and the iPhone too. (With the Focusrite, I can never hear how the guitar will sound on playback---which is why I go for a clean sound.) With the iPhone alone, I can hear the guitar through the amp but I don't know how it will sound through the phone on playback.

    There's a new thread today about Reaper offering a free license through June 1. So I have downloaded that and have a free license for a month to see if I want to buy a permanent one. (Not sure I will actually get anything done with this---I struggle with recording equipment.)

    May record that blues tune again with better sound. Might make it a test case so it will be easier to hear the difference between the two methods.

    Thanks again.

  17. #41

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    As you requested this was done with my Samsung phone for video, but guitars and bass amp mic"d to a DAW, Reaper, and then synced together with vsdc video editor. This is one where I have good lighting, which is definitely something to consider when making a video. If I record in the morning the light is coming through a window into the room.

  18. #42

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    Wow Frank. Great job; playing and production! This takes it to a whole different level than what I expected. Sound = excellent; video production = excellent; love the mosaic grouping effect. I see Reaper being mentioned here. Not sure what it is -- I need to check into it.

  19. #43

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    Quote Originally Posted by archtopeddy
    Wow Frank. Great job; playing and production! This takes it to a whole different level than what I expected. Sound = excellent; video production = excellent; love the mosaic grouping effect. I see Reaper being mentioned here. Not sure what it is -- I need to check into it.
    Reaper is recording software for a PC or Mac. It is maybe the most robust of all the recording softwares.


  20. #44

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    Here is the iphone/imovie video I made yesterday. Thanks to the tips above, today I was able to increase the volume. Of course, as I increased the volume, so did the background noise any other distracting sounds. So I picked a comfortable medium volume level spot for this video. Also, this video is an unlisted video and not the one I initially uploaded on YouTube. To replace the original "public"video, YT requires a new link so I decided to leave well enough alone there. This video (with the improved volume level) is here so I can show you how I was able to increase the volume thanks to your advice.


  21. #45

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    Every video I post here is via YouTube. I have a pretty set procedure.

    I use a PreSonus AudioBox iTwo. I connect it to a laptop via USB.

    I run my backing track through some amp with an aux input and put that into channel 1 of the AudioBox. I use a direct line from my guitar amp whenever I can, and run that to Channel 2 of the AudioBox. Sometimes I use a microphone, usually just an old Shure SM57 hanging in front of the speaker, going into channel 2 of the AudioBox. I can adjust the input level of each channel.

    I use QuickTime Player on my MacBook to make the clip, choosing the AudioBox as my audio source. I then import it into a program called Screenflow that lets me tweak the balance, add a title slide, do a few other things if I want. I use Screenflow mainly because it's so easy to use, and it is designed for teachers to mix various media to make clips for classes, so I already had it.

    I upload to YouTube then paste the link in the "clip" tool in the forum message area.

    It sounds like a lot more than it really is. Check literally any clip on this forum by me, and that is how it was made. While I'm not happy with my playing, I'm very happy with how my clips turn out.

    In the picture the big white thing is a dehumidifier (I have archaeological artifacts in this office so that's mandatory)

    iPhone recordings and YouTube volume-recording-jpg

  22. #46

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    I just did this one, except instead of running the USB from the AudioBox to my MacBook Pro, I ran it into the iPhone Lightning port, and used the video recording from the iPhone camera. Dropped it into Screenflow and just panned the guitar to center, backed off the volume on the backing track a little, and put in a title and fades.

    One problem-the sun coming in was so bright and yellow it ruined the color and blew out the highlights so I converted it to B&W and I kind of like the effect.


  23. #47

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    Quote Originally Posted by archtopeddy
    Here is the iphone/imovie video I made yesterday. Thanks to the tips above, today I was able to increase the volume. Of course, as I increased the volume, so did the background noise any other distracting sounds. So I picked a comfortable medium volume level spot for this video. Also, this video is an unlisted video and not the one I initially uploaded on YouTube. To replace the original "public"video, YT requires a new link so I decided to leave well enough alone there. This video (with the improved volume level) is here so I can show you how I was able to increase the volume thanks to your advice.

    I like so much about that video. It is the whole package, everything put together, it's got so much soul. Of course mostly the playing I'd say, the performance is the most important. In addition, 4the background, uncluttered, simple, visually apealing. The lighting, how you look, what your wearing, the look of the guitar, it's all good. Great job.

    The volume still is low, I turned it up on my end. If you're a lefty, yes, if you're a righty... there is something in your camera setting that is create a mirror image.

  24. #48

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    Thanks Frank! I really appreciate the feedback and comments. I realize that this is not the normal fare for the jazz community here so your taking notice to comment means a lot to me. In most examples I see here, people are using electric guitars and amps whereby I'm using an acoustic (a 1933 Dobro of all things), so my mic'ing needs are a bit different. I learned getting a proper volume without getting too harsh sounding was one such challenge. I'm actually considering a separate mic for future recordings using acoustic instruments.

    Because of the simplicity of the song, for me this was harder to do than I first thought. Every note has its place and one wrong note meant back to the drawing board. (It gave me added appreciation of Bill Frisell).

    And yep... I'm a lefty.

  25. #49

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    Quote Originally Posted by lawson-stone
    Every video I post here is via YouTube. I have a pretty set procedure.

    I use a PreSonus AudioBox iTwo. I connect it to a laptop via USB.

    I run my backing track through some amp with an aux input and put that into channel 1 of the AudioBox. I use a direct line from my guitar amp whenever I can, and run that to Channel 2 of the AudioBox. Sometimes I use a microphone, usually just an old Shure SM57 hanging in front of the speaker, going into channel 2 of the AudioBox. I can adjust the input level of each channel.

    I use QuickTime Player on my MacBook to make the clip, choosing the AudioBox as my audio source. I then import it into a program called Screenflow that lets me tweak the balance, add a title slide, do a few other things if I want. I use Screenflow mainly because it's so easy to use, and it is designed for teachers to mix various media to make clips for classes, so I already had it.

    I upload to YouTube then paste the link in the "clip" tool in the forum message area.

    It sounds like a lot more than it really is. Check literally any clip on this forum by me, and that is how it was made. While I'm not happy with my playing, I'm very happy with how my clips turn out.

    In the picture the big white thing is a dehumidifier (I have archaeological artifacts in this office so that's mandatory)

    iPhone recordings and YouTube volume-recording-jpg
    Lawson, instead of playing the backing track through an amp into your interface, you can also paste it into Garageband [just drag it from itunes or finder into GB]. That way you can set up a stereo mix with your backing track and guitar, and can even record the mix if you want to make some edits. Just set GB's output to the Audiobox, and QT will pick up the mix as you playback and jam along. Seems simpler than the way you're doing it, and it'll keep the backing track in stereo.

    Later on, if the mix is off, you can remix in GB, mix it down to itune. Then pull that and your video into imovie, and use that mix instead of the mix you captured in QT.

    BTW, I'm an idiot for not realizing until you posted this that you can change the audio source for QT. I've been doing video capture in Photoboth, and editing video and audio together in iMovie. So thanks for the QT tip.

    John

  26. #50

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    Quote Originally Posted by John A.
    Lawson, instead of playing the backing track through an amp into your interface, you can also paste it into Garageband [just drag it from itunes or finder into GB]. That way you can set up a stereo mix with your backing track and guitar, and can even record the mix if you want to make some edits. Just set GB's output to the Audiobox, and QT will pick up the mix as you playback and jam along. Seems simpler than the way you're doing it, and it'll keep the backing track in stereo.

    Later on, if the mix is off, you can remix in GB, mix it down to itune. Then pull that and your video into imovie, and use that mix instead of the mix you captured in QT.

    BTW, I'm an idiot for not realizing until you posted this that you can change the audio source for QT. I've been doing video capture in Photoboth, and editing video and audio together in iMovie. So thanks for the QT tip.

    John
    I"ve never been able to get the feel of Garage Band. I am pretty happy with capturing via QuickTime Player and then editing in ScreenFlow. I might give GB a try sometime, but for now I'm pretty happy with my general workflow with recordings.