Topic: Newbie - SP-BMC-2 > R-09?

[vanark]

I'm waiting on my Church Audio preamp/mic package to arrive, but itching to break out my R-09.  I've got a set of Sound Professionals SP-BMC-2 binaurals and 2 x 4GB SD cards and was thinking of taking the R-09 out for a spin just to get used to it.  I'm going to the Govt Mule show on Friday (with Grace Potter and The Nocturnals and Earl Greyhound opening).  I'm not sure how it will turn out, but maybe you all can help me give it a good try.  No stand, just gonna clip the mic's to my cap.  Like I said, just gonna jump in to get used to the R-09, but might as well do the best I can.  Given the volumes I should expect at the show, can I reasonably run the SP-BMC-2 straight into the R-09?  Any recommendations on the settings on the R-09?

[SmokinJoe]

I suspect it will be pretty loud, and you might brickwall with the plug in power from the R-09.  The CA pre drives 9V to the mics, which gives it more headroom than the (something like) 2 or 3V from the R-09.

If you are talking about Boston, I will be there, and I have a CA ST-9100 I would be glad to loan you for the evening.  We will be at Section 1 Row GG which is in the right hand section looking at the stage.  We'll have 3 mics on a stand... 2 guys in their 40's named Joe and Karl.  We may not be there for Earl, but definitely plan to be there for Grace.   Please bring a fresh 9V battery... I don't want to be responsible if the one that's in there dies on you.

Mics > R-09, I would run Mic in (low sensitivity), and probably you will be at the high end on the 0-30 scale, which is fine.  With Preamp, run line-in, preamp knob at 3:00, and I expect you will be at about 10 on 0-30 scale.  Suggest you try one of the opening bands with Low-cut turned off.  Listen to it with earphones after that set.  You may decide to turn on the low-cut after that if it's too bassy.  Mule is generally pretty bassy, and binaurals are usually pretty sensitive to bass.

Hope to see you there.

[vanark]

Thanks for the feedback, Joe.  Much appreciated.  I am also in section 1 (don't recall the row right now - maybe K?) so I'll be sure to say hello.  I'll keep in mind your very kind offer to borrow the ST-9100.  I'm a bit hesitant to be borrowing someone's gear at this point given my newbieness.  The generosity of the offer is amazing, but from what I've seen, it seems to be the norm in the fraternity.   If I could +T, I would, but I'm a bunch of posts away still.

[Humbug]

I don't suppose one of you could tape Earl Greyhound?

http://www.myspace.com/earlgreyhound

No worries if not, just I think they're rather good! (and there's no danger of them coming anywhere near me anytime soon).

[vanark]

I don't suppose one of you could tape Earl Greyhound?

http://www.myspace.com/earlgreyhound

No worries if not, just I think they're rather good! (and there's no danger of them coming anywhere near me anytime soon).

If I get there early enough, I will make an attempt.  But, since there are three bands playing, Earl Greyhound goes on at 6:00 PM and it might be a bit tough for me to get there from work by that time, let alone get my gear going on its virgin voyage.

[Humbug]

Like I said, no worries, especially if you're trying to link up with another taper.

(horribly off topic): I've seen you around the trading NMAS boards (taped them a couple of times myself in the UK), what took you so long to get into taping? 

They came over last year and I managed to miss them, will hopefully make their next visit.

Humbug

[vanark]

(horribly off topic): I've seen you around the trading NMAS boards (taped them a couple of times myself in the UK), what took you so long to get into taping? 

They came over last year and I managed to miss them, will hopefully make their next visit.

I hope you get a chance to catch them when the come around again.  I suspect that won't be until next year sometime at the earliest.

"Around the NMAS boards" may be a bit of an understatement. I actually moderate their official message board and do my best to archive audience recordings for the band.  Until now, I have been happy to play a secondary role in the process, helping out tapers when I could.  I've always wanted to record shows, but felt I didn't have the time to get up to speed (still not sure I do!). I've had a few taping acquaintances prod me to get into it. We'll see how it goes from here.

[SmokinJoe]

I don't suppose one of you could tape Earl Greyhound?

There are a bunch of tapers who will be there... I expect somebody will get it.  For us to get there from Maine/NH by 6:00 is pushing it.

[secondskin]

Here's to a good pull your first time out, Rory! Have fun! 

[vanark]

Here's to a good pull your first time out, Rory! Have fun! 

Thanks, Brad!  Good pull or not, I'm going to have fun. 

It has been fun trying to figure all this out.  Tonight, I'm going to go home and blast my mics (no preamp or batt box) with my stereo to see how it handles the volume.  After that, pack the bag and hope I didn't forget anything. 

[SmokinJoe]

I don't suppose one of you could tape Earl Greyhound?

http://www.myspace.com/earlgreyhound

No worries if not, just I think they're rather good! (and there's no danger of them coming anywhere near me anytime soon).

PM sent to Humburg offering you my raw file...

Vanark... good to meet you.  Good time!

[vanark]

Nice to meet you as well, Joe!  And Karl, too.  I ran into Jason on my way out and gave him a hello as well.

I made a few mistakes, but that was part of the exercise.  I haven't had a proper listen and my USB cable is in my other car so I won't be able to transfer it until later today, but I plugged it into the car's headphone jack on the ride home and it was a tad bassy, but otherwise not too bad.  I'll try to post a sample, maybe Southern Man with Grace Potter joining Mule on vocals.

List of things that went wrong:

1) I had an extra ticket and had set up to meet someone at the venue to sell it to them.  He never showed even though I had spoken to him at 6:00 PM.  Never answered his phone after that.  I waited too long to ditch him before dumping the extra for only $10.  As such, I was just getting to my seat as Grace started her set so I missed the first song while getting my gear together.  Lesson learned - dump it early or eat it and get to your seat.

2) I had upgraded my firmware to v1.30 the day before and didn't realize it wiped out my settings, so my first attempt had no sound from the mics.  I turned the power on the mic in and restarted and it was okay.

3) During Mule, I had flipped the Hold switch to On and put the R-09 in my pocket.  Checked it about 5 minutes later for levels and found the R-09 stopped.  The Hold switch was not fully engaged.  So, missing a few minutes of Set 1.

I probably should have run one of the Mule sets with the Low Cut on just to see the difference, but I expect to run a different setup in the future.

I appreciate the support and guidance from everyone and look forward to getting out there again soon.

[vanark]

Here is a sendspace link to an mp3 sample - Southern Man with Grace Potter guesting on vocals.  I had a very enthusiastic fan on my right, so watch out for the woots for Grace!  I have to take some blame for this - I brought her. 

http://www.sendspace.com/file/g6kl34