Recording Method Suggestions

[Mobley 113]

Hey everypony,

 

So I'm a bit of a composer on the side of things and I wanted to share some stuff that I wrote for the community. The problem is that I have relatively few ways of recording anything.

 

If I write on the computer, MuseScore can generate what's written but it doesn't sound particularly good, and unfortunately all I have to record with live is an old cam-corder that I haven't fully worked out how to use, or my android phone...I tried recording using a stock app which I think it meant to record speech and was not encouraged by the results.

 

I'd love to get something up of sufficient quality that ponies here can enjoy the results. At present, I'm not good in the wallet department, so the tech I can get hold of is limited. Does anyone have any helpful suggestions that might enable me to make some headway?

 

Thanks in advance

[Vox 870]

Well, first thing's first, what instruments are you recording with? 

[BlueBrony 388]

You may be able to find a better recording app for your android, depending on what you are trying to do. I started recording with an iPhone when I was first starting off, and though I never got as good of quality as some of my stuff today (with a $150 mic), I did manage to make some tracks that I still find enjoyable to listen to.

I would like to mirror @@Vox and ask what you are trying to record.

[Mobley 113]

Hiya guys, thanks for the replies! I'll have a trawl on the app store and see what I can dig up.

 

Well, first thing's first, what instruments are you recording with? 

 

Ah yes, sorry, I completely forgot to say! I'm thinking of recording some piano work. Hope that helps

[Vox 870]

Hiya guys, thanks for the replies! I'll have a trawl on the app store and see what I can dig up.

 

 

Ah yes, sorry, I completely forgot to say! I'm thinking of recording some piano work. Hope that helps

Hmmm, okay, do you have an acoustic piano or an electric keyboard? 

[Mobley 113]

Hmmm, okay, do you have an acoustic piano or an electric keyboard? 

Both, though I primarily meant an acoustic (upright) piano.

 

I do have an ancient but otherwise serviceable keyboard...compatibility might be an issue.

[Paianis 488]

An iPhone is no good for a music production, no matter what app you use.

You may find that the kind of equipment you'll need to record an acoustic piano is prohibitively expensive, as you'll need one or two condenser mics, plus a mixer that can provide phantom power. That could easily run over £200. I have tried using dynamic mics but the results were way too noisy to use for anything serious.

Recording a keyboard is much easier and cheaper. You'll need a cheap USB interface such as this, and a cable to connect the two. I'm assuming the keyboard has a quarter-inch stereo headphone jack. Alternatively there's this cable with dual mono plugs at both ends. That comes to around £30-40 all in all.

As for software, Audacity is all you'll need for recording. In Audacity you can also amplify the captured audio to an acceptable level, but you cannot control the levels on the recording, for that you'll need a USB interface with mixer capabilities. But this should be enough to get you started.

[Mobley 113]

Ah okay, I'll have a look at getting equipment for the keyboard. I'm vaguely familiar with Audacity for editing work but forgot about it, thanks for reminding me, and thanks for the info. I'll try and put it to good use. Come Christmas I might be able to put something together to record the piano

 

In the mean time I'll see if I can't do something funny with an 8-bit tracker I'm experimenting with. Any which way, I'll get something up for you guys

[Grepper 3,192]

If your keyboard has a MIDI interface you could look into buying a USB-to-MIDI adapter.