hello, and a plea for help

WannabeSM

Member
Hiya everyone,

I'm just about to graduate from high school, where i'm involved in running the sound crew and stage managing in our annual musical.

Now i've been asked to run the technical side of a fairly big youth conference next year, and they require that the majority of the seminars etc need to be recorded. I was wondering what software anyone would reccomend for recording direct to PC. Or whether it would be easier to get a hold of some sort of solid state recorder.

I've been looking at Adobe Audition and Soundbooth, and both look like they would work well, but if anyone has any better ideas i'm all ears.

thanks
 
Welcome aboard Wannabe < It's an Algonqquin word meaning "Want to be"> :lol:
Sorry, Um, I'd use something I had on hand. Heck Windows Media player will record from any input Winamp Pro will enode in MP3. But I'm not a humhead so I'll let them laugh at me now and crawl back under my soap box.
 
Hey there,

I would invest in a digidesign M-Box. The entry model, the mbox mini, is only 229 at academic superstore, and comes with pro-tools.
If you are going to be doing this a lot, get the bigger m-box for 120 more, They really are great, and pro-tools is of course excellent. They work well with any laptop or desktop, mine has gotten me out of a few jams.

Digidesign Mbox 2 Mini at Academic Superstore

Good luck
~Joe
 
I know its a bit more then a PC solution, but if you are just looking to record spoken word and your sessions are shorter then 70 minutes, this would be the way to go. Its simple, quick, and the recording is done the second the show is over. You don't get the chance to clean it up in post, but you will have a recording fast.

Fostex CR500 CD Master Recorder from zZounds.com!
 
Hi there...

For a quick and dirty record to a PC, the best way I can think of (and the way I've done a couple dozen shows worth of cue edits and voiceover recordings) is Audacity. It's open-source software, freely available and downloadable, for Windows. Download it and play with it some--nothing to lose, and it might just be what you're looking for. It exports .wav and .mp3 files, which is a very nice thing.
 
Audacity can also be used in OS X and in Linux, so if you're running either of those OSes you're covered. Also, best of all, its free.
 
(deleting first section -- I misread the original post).

If you want to use the PC and don't have a good quality interface device yet, check out the thread "Choosing a USB Sound Card/Device" for some suggestions. I own the M-Audio FastTrack Pro for this and it works great. Others will swear by Firewire devices.

For recording/editing software, Audacity as suggested above, or Goldwave for about $50 (I tried Audacity but ended up with Goldwave)

You can also buy a solid state recorder such as the Marantz PMD660, Zoom H2 or M-Audio Microtrac II. I own the Marantz PMD660 and it works really well for board recordings and also misc FX that I need to record while on the road. The mic preamps sound noisy on it though ...

-- John
 
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Hi there...

For a quick and dirty record to a PC, the best way I can think of (and the way I've done a couple dozen shows worth of cue edits and voiceover recordings) is Audacity. It's open-source software, freely available and downloadable, for Windows. Download it and play with it some--nothing to lose, and it might just be what you're looking for. It exports .wav and .mp3 files, which is a very nice thing.

One more vote for Audacity. I have used audacity to record lectures/sermons/bible studies at my church (on a PC) and then paired it with video for DVD. It's easy, it supports the major user formats, and it's free - all while providing considerable power. The quality of the sound was much better than the camera, especially when paired with a semi-good quality mic and mixer. We also record weekly sermons using audacity and upload to the internet, where all in all, the quality isn't too bad either. It's a bit scratchy, but I'm willing to bet that that's the fault of improper EQ (there's no one mixing live) and the compressed size the website gives.

Also, If you are doing it with a laptop, I would suggest getting a USB or Firewire sound card ($150?) to up the quality of the sound.
 
Realize that your board dump/recording (from the Main Outs) will be the inverse of the live mix - whatever is loud in the house will be soft in the recording; whatever is soft in the house will be loud in the recording.

If you are only doing a talking heads gig, recording off of the Mains should not be a problem. If you are trying to record a band or group of some sort, I would recommend that you use an Aux send or two to record from so that you can get a more balanced mix.

A board mix can be a very good eye-opener for hearing how you need to improve (and by "you" I mean you the FOH person AND the band).

Audacity is cool, you would just need to interface the console and your computer properly. Make sure that the levels match up.
 

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