Topic: HELP! Newbie: iPOD 80GB - Mike Placement & Guns N Roses This Weekend

[monobum]

Hi there all.

This is my first post and I just want to congratulate all of you for this bad ass website. I cant believe I did not find you guys before surfing the web.

This is the deal "Guns N' Roses" will be performing this weekend. And I want to tape some audio, not the whole show, because I most likely and dont have  the right tools for the whole show (who Knows). I will be doing this with the 80GB iPOD. (It's a new era indeed) I just got this idea recently after reading these intresting articles online:

http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/articles/comments/why-podcasters-and-bootleggers-will-love-the-new-ipod/

http://reviews.cnet.com/Belkin_TuneTalk_Stereo/4505-6519_7-31954596.html?tag=sub

http://www.engadget.com/2005/10/14/music-thing-now-the-ipod-records-audio-properly/

Basicly i can do "CD Quality Recording" .wav with the iPOD.

This will be my gear:
• 80GB iPOD

• Belkin Tune Talk Stereo: http://reviews.cnet.com/Belkin_TuneTalk_Stereo/4505-6519_7-31954596.html?tag=sub

• And these mikes I got of ebay, The seller said they are cardoid: http://cgi.ebay.com/STEREO-Y-MICROPHONE-PANASONIC-MICS-REC-LIVE-CONCERTS_W0QQitemZ110045895645QQihZ001QQcategoryZ15056QQtcZphotoQQcmdZViewItem

(By the way has anyone here used those mikes I got of ebay before ?)

...Mi question is where do I clip these mikes.  I was plannig on my Jeans or to my cap. What do you all think? If they are cliped to my jeans or cap will they pick up my voice singing and the people around me? Once I saw a guy recording Black Sabbath, I think he had a dat and he kept his mike on the floor pionting twards the stage. Is that a goog idea? I want to rock out & record, is it possible? My seats are on the 1st level not floor, but still pretty near the stage, give and take. I have never recorded audio before, but I love the GNR  songs old & New so I have to at least try.

I know this recording will not be perfect due to my lack af vast experience like most of you reading this (I have been reading the forums and all you guys are artist of the underground), but hopefully I can get something so I can enjoy latter.

I know these are a lot of questions but any info will be apreciated pronto, the concert is this sunday oct 29th.
Thanks
monobum
 

[leehookem]

welcome aboard!  but don't worry about recording GnR, cause you know they will cancel! 

[monobum]

welcome aboard!  but don't worry about recording GnR, cause you know they will cancel! 

....good one  Hope Not.

[Church-Audio]

Hi there all.

This is my first post and I just want to congratulate all of you for this bad ass website. I cant believe I did not find you guys before surfing the web.

This is the deal "Guns N' Roses" will be performing this weekend. And I want to tape some audio, not the whole show, because I most likely and dont have  the right tools for the whole show (who Knows). I will be doing this with the 80GB iPOD. (It's a new era indeed) I just got this idea recently after reading these intresting articles online:

http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/articles/comments/why-podcasters-and-bootleggers-will-love-the-new-ipod/

http://reviews.cnet.com/Belkin_TuneTalk_Stereo/4505-6519_7-31954596.html?tag=sub

http://www.engadget.com/2005/10/14/music-thing-now-the-ipod-records-audio-properly/

Basicly i can do "CD Quality Recording" .wav with the iPOD.

This will be my gear:
• 80GB iPOD

• Belkin Tune Talk Stereo: http://reviews.cnet.com/Belkin_TuneTalk_Stereo/4505-6519_7-31954596.html?tag=sub

• And these mikes I got of ebay, The seller said they are cardoid: http://cgi.ebay.com/STEREO-Y-MICROPHONE-PANASONIC-MICS-REC-LIVE-CONCERTS_W0QQitemZ110045895645QQihZ001QQcategoryZ15056QQtcZphotoQQcmdZViewItem

(By the way has anyone here used those mikes I got of ebay before ?)

...Mi question is where do I clip these mikes.  I was plannig on my Jeans or to my cap. What do you all think? If they are cliped to my jeans or cap will they pick up my voice singing and the people around me? Once I saw a guy recording Black Sabbath, I think he had a dat and he kept his mike on the floor pionting twards the stage. Is that a goog idea? I want to rock out & record, is it possible? My seats are on the 1st level not floor, but still pretty near the stage, give and take. I have never recorded audio before, but I love the GNR  songs old & New so I have to at least try.

I know this recording will not be perfect due to my lack af vast experience like most of you reading this (I have been reading the forums and all you guys are artist of the underground), but hopefully I can get something so I can enjoy latter.

I know these are a lot of questions but any info will be apreciated pronto, the concert is this sunday oct 29th.
Thanks
monobum
 

The mics will distort, the tune talk is not very good for recording voice never mind real audio no input gain control no vu meters. You would be better off selling your ipod and buying a Mircotrack  edit (removed because I have been accused of hawking)  The mics you have are unmodified Panasonic wm-61, they will handle about 100 db at 1% distortion. When the band kicks in, it will sound like a giant fart. Sorry to break the bad news to you. They are also not Cardioid they are omni. Next time ask the guys in this forum before you spend your money on gear you will find the people here to be very knowledgeable about all live/studio recording gear based on what you want to spend.
You are also missing a preamp or battery box to power your mics with but the knucklehead that sold you your mics was more concerned with making the $25.00 off you then telling you the TUNE TALK WILL NOT POWER YOUR MICS! you need a external battery box for that.

Chris Church

[prof_peabody]

Chris was also suggesting you consider a different set of mics, particularly some stealthy custom made jobs.  There are quite a few places to get these... Church Audio, Sound Professionals, giant squid, or some sort of AT853/AT943/AT933 setup.  Take a look at some of the info files from tapes you may have downloaded, and check out the set-ups used.  You can also ask around here about specific models.  Don't forget to check the yardsale for deals too.

[Church-Audio]

Chris was also suggesting you consider a different set of mics, particularly some stealthy custom made jobs.  There are quite a few places to get these... Church Audio, Sound Professionals, giant squid, or some sort of AT853/AT943/AT933 setup.  Take a look at some of the info files from tapes you may have downloaded, and check out the set-ups used.  You can also ask around here about specific models.  Don't forget to check the yardsale for deals too.

I also think he should give up on the Ipod. I think any other recorder would be better suited to live recording the ipod is great for what it does, Playback. Recording is not what it was designed for.

[Brett S.]

Your questions are good ones.  Being your starting out, the equiptment issue is imo the hardest to answer. There is alot involed in all our first recordings, especially stealth. 

I would suggest if you are located in the u.s to try the team boards to see if there is someone in your area who may be hitting the same show, so you can maybe work together to get the best results. If the other person is experienced you could get his copy and use yours to expeiment w/.   

The first shot may end up a wash, do not be discouraged. Take this opportunity to work your equiptment and figure things out, if all works out, bonus!

As far as your set up goes. "To each his own", One suggestion is pick up at the very least a himd they are lossless and reasonably priced!!!

[monobum]

Ouch!! What a reality check I have just gotten.

Thanks for all the valueble info. I was not really planning on recording the audio until I ran across that iPOD article online.  I'm a little late at this stage to get better gear & by the way a little tight on $$. I'm having 2nd thoughts on geting the iPOD in now. Sunday if I'm in the mood I might just pass it for the hell of it as a test and nothing more. But anyway thank you all & when I do get the $$ for gear I'll be doing my research here. Anyway I will still be coming on this board to read & post. I love this place.

Thanks

[Liquid Drum]

Ouch!! What a reality check I have just gotten.

Thanks for all the valueble info. I was not really planning on recording the audio until I ran across that iPOD article online.  I'm a little late at this stage to get better gear & by the way a little tight on $$. I'm having 2nd thoughts on geting the iPOD in now. Sunday if I'm in the mood I might just pass it for the hell of it as a test and nothing more. But anyway thank you all & when I do get the $$ for gear I'll be doing my research here. Anyway I will still be coming on this board to read & post. I love this place.

Thanks

Would you actually be able to test them?? I'm not sure ipod has plug-in-power likean MD would. You would at least need plug-in-power for the mics to work, but you'd need a battery box really.......

If you can somehow lend an MD deck from a friend or something, you'd have a better chance of at least testing it out.

[tiberiusbkirk]

Since you bought those things already, you might as well try it and give us a report.
I don't see any members having used those items so it will be a learning experience for us all. there were some posts on the belkin tunetalk but no one has it. I see it has a line in, perhaps a battery box with those mics will help.
I started out using a MD unit and a PC mic and just now moved into the DIY wm61a binaurals and battery box realm.

[yotalkn]

First of all it sounded like most people thought it was not going to work out well to use the i-pod to record a show.  Has anyone actually tried it yet?  Is it not going to work at all ir is it not going to be as optimal as some other options.  Second of all what exactly do I need to try this?  I know it is probably not going to be as good as putting together a whole set up but frankly i do not make enough money to purchase a whole thing at once.  If I were to get two decent mics with batteries in them and a  stand for them and plug it into a Belkin tunetalk stereo on my Ipod would that give some result that I could listen to.  I am not asking what will give me the optimal sound.  If I decide later that I want to get more serious about recording then I might look into getting a better setup.  But for the time being I am just trying to get started at a novice level.  The problem I seem to run into everytime I try to find out about taping is that everyone wants to tell me what they think works the best (and there seem to be as many oppinions about what is the best equipment as there are tapers) and I just want to know what is the bare minimum to get started.  It would be like if I was starting to play guitar for the first time and I was asking what kind to get.  Then everyone tells me not to get a $90 squire becasue it will not sound as good and that I should realy get a $3000 strat.  For instance when I ask what kind of mic I should get people start telling me about specific brands and models.  I just want to know the general category of microphone to get.  I look for mics and see words like omnidirectional and I don't know what they mean and which one I should get.  I know that some mics are designed to only pick up something close to it like the kind of mic that a singer would use.  I don't know what that kind of mic is called so as to not get that one.  I want to be able to go to radioshack and get a fairly inexpensive mic that will work for this.  Not neccessairly the best one for this but one that will give me something.  So what should I look for as the bare minnimum to try with my ipod and Belkin tunetalk stereo to see if it works?  From there I may later on get a dat recorder but I don't want to spend the money and then decide that I prefer to listen to the concert rather than tape it.

Robb

by the way...I am interested in taping shows that have taper secctions so being covert is not an issue for me.

[prof_peabody]

... take it easy - people here have that info.  Just state you have $90 for an open rig and people will help you out...

All the info about mic types amd other things is already here, spend some time using the advanced search and narrow it to this section.  I spent about 20 hours here reading before I put my first rig together for $250.  All the info was already here.  Someone earlier mentioned minidisc would be better and at the exact time there was a free mini disc player in the yardsale.  Some upgrades can be had on this forum for little or no cost.

[tiberiusbkirk]

Oh, I forgot to add I used a Radio Shack in line volume control before I made my DIY battery box to prevent overloading the pre amp in the MD unit. Worked well in an outdoor dave alvin show.
Would I have loved to use a new fangled digital unit, hellz yes but current situation calls to use adaptive skills. And, I'm happy so far.

[Brian Skalinder]

...Mi question is where do I clip these mikes.  I was plannig on my Jeans or to my cap. What do you all think? If they are cliped to my jeans or cap will they pick up my voice singing and the people around me? Once I saw a guy recording Black Sabbath, I think he had a dat and he kept his mike on the floor pionting twards the stage. Is that a goog idea? I want to rock out & record, is it possible?

Let's see...  Cap.  Go for it.  Yes.  No.  No. 

In case that's confusing:

...Mi question is where do I clip these mikes.  I was plannig on my Jeans or to my cap.

Clip 'em to your cap - higher is better to reduce the crowd noise around you, minimize muffling from the surrounding crowd, etc.

What do you all think?

I think there are very few people here who've used the gear you mention, hence the lack of detailed responses.  Give it a try, see what happens, and let us know how it goes for future reference.

If they are cliped to my jeans or cap will they pick up my voice singing and the people around me?

Yes.  Not much to be done about this but try to locate yourself in a good-sounding spot that doesn't have lots of singers / yellers.

Once I saw a guy recording Black Sabbath, I think he had a dat and he kept his mike on the floor pionting twards the stage. Is that a goog idea?

Probably not, unless you want people stepping on your mics and gear.  Or maybe I'm misunderstanding and this was set up on the stage lip or some such?

I want to rock out & record, is it possible?

IME, no.  Rocking out and recording don't mix well together.  Everything you do in the process of "rocking out" will have a negative impact on the recording - the mics will pick up phasing and swooshing sounds from dancing around, as well as your singing and hooting and hollering.

[monobum]

Thanks for all who gave me their input, but the search a the door was brutal! Security was on High alert @ the GNR show and even during the actuall show security was hasseling people that were taking pictures.  I could not get the mics in.     I still plan on doing the Ipod test at another show, but whoever mentioned that the lavalier mics would not work with batteries was tottally right, but still plan on using the BELKINS mike. It records pretty decent. dont know about a concert situation?

I'll keep you all posted.
KEEP THE BOOTLEGS ALIVE!