Best recording setup for practicing

[dxhall]

I’m looking at different recording / playback setups for my practice room. Any favorites out there? Amazon lists the “zoom” brand as the best. I’d like to record half of a duet, and play the other half.

[BGuttman]

Nothing short of a studio will give you studio quality.

Nearly anything works well enough to assess your faults.

The Zoom H2 has gotten good press here.

[2bobone]

If you're just looking to fool around with duets, something like a hand held digital recorder will work amazingly well, but if you want to seriously critique your own sound you will greatly benefit by placing a mic both in front of your instrument and behind the instrument near your head. Many of the acoustic "cues" you use to "steer" the instrument to where you want it to be are only readily apparent behind the bell. A colleague who was Concertmaster of my orchestra once complained to me that he never heard a recording of his playing that sounded like he thought he sounded. After I explained that he had a resonator [the body of his violin] tightly clamped between his collarbone and jawbone creating a mainline of bone matter to his hearing mechanism, he realized why he never liked any of his recordings. He heard characteristics of his violin that no person in the audience could possibly hear. When recording solo violin I always made it a habit to place a mic above and below the instrument to capture the full body of the instrument which produced a remarkable difference. It has worked beautifully for over thirty years as a recordist. Try it ! You'll like it !

[timothy42b]

I run my Zoom H2 directly into the laptop running Audacity. That lets me play back a track instantly, while I'm still remembering how I wrongly thought I'd played it. The laptop is connected to a home stereo with decent speakers.

[baileyman]

... When recording solo violin I always made it a habit to place a mic above and below the instrument to capture the full body of the instrument which produced a remarkable difference. It has worked beautifully for over thirty years as a recordist. Try it ! You'll like it !

Great perspective! Holy cow!

[bcschipper]

I use a Zoom Q4. I like the sound. Video is ok. But I don't like that it doesn't have a remote control and it just records .mov. They got now Q8 but still no remote control.

[Savio]

I have a rather new Q4n. Nice recording quality but it only makes wide angle movies. Should wish there was a way to turn it to a normal camera.
Leif

[mwpfoot]

I have the Tascam DR-40 which has been a nice little tool. I get use out of the extra 2 channels: the other day for an electronica jam with friends I plugged in lines for bass and mixing board (all the keyboards, vocal in one track yikes) while the built-in mics caught the drums and room. I can quickly create a nice rehearsal snapshot mix from that, with recording levels just monitored visually.

Stereo built-in mics would be just fine for most solo or small group applications, so that would point to the cheaper Tascam DR-05. Both devices have overdub capability to layer yourself up. Primary difference is that the DR-40 has 2 external inputs that accept 1/4" or XLR cables and the 4-track recording capability.

Anyways, there are lots of Tascam equivalents to the Zoom devices and I'd include them in your search.

[Pre59]

I have an H2, a H2n and a Q4. I'd recommend the H2n because of the many mic patterns available. In particular the M/S setting which will help you to get better sounding recordings in unfavourable conditions, being truly mono compatible.

[Cmillar]

Stereo built-in mics would be just fine for most solo or small group applications, so that would point to the cheaper Tascam DR-05. Both devices have overdub capability to layer yourself up. Primary difference is that the DR-40 has 2 external inputs that accept 1/4" or XLR cables and the 4-track recording capability.

Anyways, there are lots of Tascam equivalents to the Zoom devices and I'd include them in your search.

I second the Tascam DR-05. I've used one for the last several years and see no reason to get anything different.

The technical specs are excellent. You can choose between various recording settings (wav., mp3, bits depth, etc.)

Yes...you can overdub onto it as well for a two track recording.

The built-in mics work fine for practice or documenting anything you want to do, but if you want better sound, then patch in a mic or line-in source.

I also own the Tascam TM-ST1 stereo mic. It'll make the recorder even better than it already is. I've recorded live concert gigs with it, done a little remixing/mastering on my main computer DAW, and have come up with excellent live recordings.

Tascam...they know what they're doing!

[Leisesturm]

I run my Zoom H2 directly into the laptop running Audacity. That lets me play back a track instantly, while I'm still remembering how I wrongly thought I'd played it. The laptop is connected to a home stereo with decent speakers.

Well that's fine, you already have the Zoom H2, but someone asking the question who hasn't yet bought any hardware should know that an H2 is much more than a microphone. If they already have a laptop running Audacity, all they need to do is buy a decent USB microphone for much less money than a Zoom H2. Brands like Shure, Samson and Blue make stereo USB microphones, all around ~$50 that will record a Trombone with good fidelity.

[Leisesturm]

I have to observe that (IMO) a constant program of 'practice room' practicing is a bad thing for a brass player (especially) to adopt. Brass instruments, more than any other kind, need an expansive, resonant, acoustic space in which to sound their best. Regular practice in a space like that and you won't need tape playback to tell you how you sound, you will be able to hear it for yourself, while you are playing, not afterwards. You also learn the necessary support to fill a large space in practice, and not just on the occasions when you perform. I don't know of a single neighborhood in America that doesn't have several churches per square mile that are largely vacant during the week, and access can usually be accomplished by a verbal inquiry. Rarely is any money required. To play duets with yourself, however, some up front money needs to be spent, not just on a microphone, or laptop, or Smartphone, but on good headphones (to monitor the playback of the other part(s) or the 'click-track' that holds it all together).

[PaulyC]

One more vote for the Tascam DR-05.

[GBP]

I wouldn’t spend a lot, of it is just for practicing. I used a mini recorder for years that worked very well for Analyzing my playing. Analog does the best sounding half speed playback and it was cheap and portable. For simple record and playback for duets, buy an inexpensive digital recorder.