newbie taper - microtrack 24/96

[29bb]

Please help!

I know very little, but need to make an attempt at recording a show this weekend.

THe show time is about 4 hours all together (including about 45minutes of break time in there)

The only mic I have is this one

http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/MicroTrack2496TMicrophone-main.html

question 1 - can I get a decent sounding live recording using this mic with the microtrack in a small bar?

more info - the band will only run bass, vocals and maybe kick and snare through the board.  The guitars will be louder on stage and the desired effect is to have them blend in nicely with the mains.  Seems to work in most places - but not sure how this may affect recording?

question 2 - what size of memory card should I buy?

question 3 - is using the recorder on stage a bad idea?  Should I place it in the middle of the room?  Back of the Room?

I'm sure I'll just have to feel out the room and try it out but any up front advice on recorder placement would be helpful

quesion 4 - how can I avoid battery problems.  Seems like this is an issue from what I've read.  Any way to have it plugged into a power source while recording for peace of mind?

Any and all tips are much welcomed and totally appreciated.  Thanks!!!

[willndmb]

Please help!

I know very little, but need to make an attempt at recording a show this weekend.

THe show time is about 4 hours all together (including about 45minutes of break time in there)

The only mic I have is this one

http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/MicroTrack2496TMicrophone-main.html

question 1 - can I get a decent sounding live recording using this mic with the microtrack in a small bar?

more info - the band will only run bass, vocals and maybe kick and snare through the board.  The guitars will be louder on stage and the desired effect is to have them blend in nicely with the mains.  Seems to work in most places - but not sure how this may affect recording?

question 2 - what size of memory card should I buy?

question 3 - is using the recorder on stage a bad idea?  Should I place it in the middle of the room?  Back of the Room?

I'm sure I'll just have to feel out the room and try it out but any up front advice on recorder placement would be helpful

quesion 4 - how can I avoid battery problems.  Seems like this is an issue from what I've read.  Any way to have it plugged into a power source while recording for peace of mind?

Any and all tips are much welcomed and totally appreciated.  Thanks!!!

#1 - that mic will prob not give you anywhere near the results you will want, but its better then nothing so untill you can get different mics use it
#2 depends on what you want to record
if you record at 24/48 for example you can get 3hrs and 50 mins (approx) on a 4gb card
sorry i don't know other times off hand
#3 i wouldn't set it on stage i would have it in the middle of the room
#4 if you are at a small bar you might be able to plug in somewhere
but you will prob want to get some external device anyway
there are many options from a 4 aa battery box to a dvd9 to ipod plug ins
whatever you pick you want it to be 5v with a mini usb plug

[natas43]

#2- I think you get approximately 3 hours on a 2 gb card at 16/44.1.  If the unit is new, you should get about that on a full charge as long as you do not have the back light on for prolonged periods and aren't using phantom power.

[natas43]

Found this at a previous post of mine regarding battery times:

I was able to record for a whopping 2:46:51 @ 24/48 (with no phantom power) and a stunning 3:24:54 @ 16/44, again without phantom power.

Also remember that the MT does not currently have seamless track splitting, so once the file hits 2 gb, you will lose a few seconds of the recording while it writes the file.  I always keep an eye on the time and if I am recording at 16/44.1 I manually hve it write the file somewhere in the 2-3 hour time period (usually before an encore)

[29bb]

Thanks for the help so far!

another question - if I have to use the electet mike - do you think buying the 10db attenuator would be a good move?  Look like it is pretty useful in case the room is too hot.

Also, if I'm going at 1/8 with that electet mike - should I record on L or M?

I'm thinking I'll definitely go 16bit unless 24bit is safer...........

[natas43]

I'm no expert, but what I found initially was that even when I had my levels set at zero, I would still get clipping from my mics.  I bought a 20 dB attenuator and haven't had a problem with clipping since.  The book with the MT tells you what to use for the 1/8" input (I'm at work now, so I can't look at the book myself), but I think I have it on M and use definitely use the 1/8" input.

[hawghunter]

use line in 'L'.

If there's alot of bass, you might get an overdriven recording. as those are omni mics, i believe. i used them once, but it was outdoors. i would be nice if you had a battery box w/ bass roll off.

I would set up by the sound board. get those mics up in the air if you can

[willndmb]

i would get yourself a 1/8 > dual 1/4 cable made
i did so that any 1/8 i can run it into the 1/4 because the 1/8 has more trouble and issues compaired to the 1/4 jack
and if you still needed or wanted attenuation there are cables like microphonemadness 20db cable

[29bb]

Ok, so if I record and don't stop the recording between songs - how does this get brokent down to tracks later?

I'm thinking I'll just stop the recording during breaks to avoid the 2gb issue.  Then again, all I could afford was a 2gb card so I'll probably stop between sets just to preserve some disk space.

This has been really helpful so far - thanks!

[29bb]

I'm all read up on the manual now.  Here is what I think I'll do - let me know if I'm off here.

I got a 2gb card
I'll run in 16-bit/44.1kHz
will be using the 1/8th input with a stereo electret mic (unfortunately)

Is there a real difference between taping mp3 vs. wav?  I know I would rather go in wav, but am I going to hog resources and space by doing so?  All I have is the 2gb card and I dont' want to "run out" of anything.

That and not knowing if I should stop the recording between songs are my last questions I think.

I've been messing around at home with it, it's pretty easy to use.

Thanks again in advance

[Jhurlbs81]

I would most certainly set it to record in wav if you think the show will be less than 3 hours.  Only stop the recording in between sets.  You can break up the tracks afterwards very easily using CDWav.  (A program that you can download for free-if you like it register it for $15.)

I'd also take the advice given above and look into a AA battery box.  I got one for less than $10 it it powers my MT for over 5 hours.  It takes 4 AA batteries and has a USB plug.  Pick up a mini-usb->usb cable and you'll be good to go.

Welcome to the board! Good luck!

[Mr. Bull]

FWIW

You will probably end up with some clipping problems using that mic.  It will also pick up everyones conversation in the entire room. 

A cheap fix to that is get a 10DB in line attuator for the mic that will keep it from clipping.   M-Audio makes one just for the Micro Track here is one on ebay $20

http://cgi.ebay.com/M-Audio-10dB-In-Line-Attenuator-Pad-MicroTrack-24-96_W0QQitemZ200153291234QQihZ010QQcategoryZ113484QQtcZphotoQQcmdZViewItem?refid=store

Any batterie supply that has a USB hook up should work.

Good Luck

[29bb]

Well, it turned out pretty good all things considered.

I spent a great deal of the day making sure the unit was charged.  Then I get to the show and pull it out and it somehow powered up and the battery was drained.  So I had to get an extension cord and keep it charging all night.  It even came unhooked from the charger at some point in the first set so it was kind of a Murphy's Law thing for a while.

Once I got it duct taped to a wall about 7.5 ft high and got the levels down to 0 - It worked pretty well.  I suppose I can't compare it to if I had better mic's going and all that, but I wasn't disappointed with the results at all.

Let me put it to you this way, we run our own sound and have the board on stage with us so we lack the luxury of having a soundguy work through those issues for us.

I was able to pick up every instrument.  We didn't mic the guitars and at times they were distant, but I could still hear them and could hear them well most of the time.

So I was only able to salvage about a set of material, but that's better than nothin.

Thanks for all the help - it came in handy!