Inexpensive Recording Equipment

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Permalink Reply by Jud Hair on August 30, 2012 at 8:11am

The most basic thing I can think of is just having someone record you on their iPhone, then sending the recording directly to Youtube.  Of courrse, this will not win you any audio or video awards, but you did say "basic" and "simple" ... it gets the job done quickly and with minimal hassle.  I've done this several times with very reasonable results.  Here's an example, using no voice or guitar amplification. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzuypDLK-jI&feature=youtube_gdat...

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Permalink Reply by FloridaGull on August 30, 2012 at 9:15am

If you have a laptop with a webcam, you can record yourself with that by placing the laptop in front of you - like Skype - no, I haven't tried it myself yet - and I should... ;-)

And again, as Jud said, this will not win you any audio awards...

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Permalink Reply by Richard Burridge on August 30, 2012 at 11:01am

Yes I do have a Logitech webcam and the picture is fine but the sound of my Martin is pretty dreadful. Very thin and tinny when played back through reasonable speakers. I was hoping for some advice on how to improve the sound as well.

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Permalink Reply by FloridaGull on August 30, 2012 at 9:19am

In fact, I will commit to doing/trying that this weekend - even if only a little fingerstyle improvisation - fun with Dm, Am, and Em...or D, A, and E...or C, Am, Dm, and G...

People have wanted to know what my Craviola sounds like...

So many reasons to try... ;-)

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Permalink Reply by Jud Hair on August 30, 2012 at 10:18am

Yes ... please do ... you've lain low long enough!  ;-)

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Permalink Reply by Phil Manuel on August 30, 2012 at 9:33am

@FG - tried using my son's laptop to record a video, it's fairly new and has lots of disk space, memory, and a very fast cpu. Still, when I record a video, it looks like a vid from space - lots of frames dropped, and a whole lot of latency issues.  I've tried a couple of different video recording tools but they all turn out the same. 

If anyone has gotten over those kinds of issues, please share you solutions.

;-)

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Permalink Reply by FloridaGull on August 30, 2012 at 9:39am

Thanks for the feedback.  I'll see what happens when I try it.  I think John Culver recorded his "She Talks to Angels" this way...that was pretty clean.

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Permalink Reply by Clive Davies on September 4, 2012 at 6:38am

I have used the inexpensive Zoom Q3 it records excellent sound and pretty good visuals too.

Link to my guitar tips page http://www.clivedavies.eu/Pages/GuitarTips.aspx

Clive Davies

 

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Permalink Reply by Craig MC on September 25, 2012 at 8:13pm

If you have a pickup on your guitar, one option is to use a 1/4" to USB cable. I have one called a Lightsnake and the results are pretty good. you run the cable from the jack on the guitar or the line out on your amp to the USB port on your computer. then use something like Garageband or iMovie to record the signal. easy and cheap, no microphone, no ambient noise.

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Permalink Reply by Richard Burridge on September 26, 2012 at 1:26am

Sounds good, I'll give that one a go, thanks Craig ........

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