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javeiro
Lokahi
USA
459 Posts |
 Posted - 03/25/2007 : 6:23:21 PM
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I need to record guitar, ukulele and vocals at home, copy them to a CD and play them for someone who is in the hospital. I have absolutely no experience recording (really!!!) and went to Music 6000 here in Olympia, WA to buy something that I could use. I vaguely remembered reading some good comments about the Handy Recorder H4 on a previous thread and I saw one in the case there. I ended up buying it partly because it’s the only piece of equipment that seemed familiar from what I remembered reading here. Plus the guy there said it would be very suitable for what I wanted to do. I’ll be fooling with it tomorrow after I go through the instructions tonight but I thought I would post a note here and see if anyone has any tips for this recording newby before I get started.
Since the person in the hospital is my 4-year-old grandson, the quality of the recording is not a huge issue but I’d like it to sound decent. He was hospitalized a week ago today and he’ll probably be there for some time still. He loves music, and especially likes slack key. He’ll always stop whatever he’s doing and come and sit right in front of me as soon as I start playing the guitar. We’ve been playing CD's for him but we're hoping that the more familiar music played by his family will help get him through this.
I've briefly looked through the recording guide and the H4 seems to be relatively easy to use. Let me know if you have any advice for me.
Mahalo,
John
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hapakid
Luna Ho`omalu
USA
1533 Posts |
Posted - 03/25/2007 : 6:45:44 PM
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Hi John,
I don't have a H4, but I have a few pointers.
Place the unit on a chair or music stand in front of you with mics pointed at the body of the guitar. It would probably be best to have it 18" to 2' away to start.
Do a couple test recordings to see how it sounds. If the sound doesn't include too much room echo (need to move recorder closer) and doesn't distort (need to turn down recording levels), you're probably good to go.
Use headphones/earbuds to monitor the sound and watch the meters while recording. IThey help you avoid making a bad recording because you didn't set the recording levels properly. If there's a reverb setting, use some to make your recordings sound better.
Link the unit to the computer and dowload the songs. If you don't have sound editing/recording software already, get Audacity, a free program you can download on the net. Use it to chop the excess sound off the beginning and end of each song file. Audacity also gives you the tool to fade into and out of a song.
Our prayers go out to your little guy in the hospital.
Jesse Tinsley |
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JeffC
Lokahi
USA
189 Posts |
Posted - 03/25/2007 : 7:24:01 PM
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Hi John
The H4 is easy to use and you can get some nice sounding music with it. I have been setting mine so it is about 10 to 12 inches from the body of the guitar (sort of aimed toward the upper frets) so that the mics are more or less normal to the guitar at the angle it sits in my lap. There are different gain settings for the mics, and the quick start instructions can tell you how to set it and adjust it properly. I have been using a camera tripod to set things in the right position.
Tell your grandson aloha from the taropatch. I'll be sending him positive thoughts. My 4 year old daughter also loves music and will come sit right in front of me while I play.
Jeff |
Jeff
Making Trout Country safe for Slack Key! |
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Sarah
`Olu`olu
571 Posts |
Posted - 03/26/2007 : 03:23:57 AM
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Hi John,
I've got an H4 and I set it on a tripod about 8"-10" from the guitar, with the little mics pointing 1) at the bridge and 2) at the 12th fret, approximately.
As I recall, the only controls I had to mess with are the Levels -- very important -- and the File Format (set through the menu controls). I stick to .mp3 @ 320 (highest quality), or .wav @ 16 bit (produces a big file), because you can tell a certain decrease in quality with the more compressed .mp3 settings.
You WILL need to use the manual to learn how to get around in the menus, as well as to know how to set things.
Setting the levels is something I did by 1) having Reid (i.e., another person) watch the meters while I played, or 2) making trial-and-error recordings myself. Depending on your playing position, it may not be possible for you to read the meters while you are actually playing; I can't.
You will see that the Levels are set to "100" by default. After testing, and seeing that my playing was 12-24 dB low, I experimented and found that for me, setting the Levels to "115" was best. I play softer than a lot of folks, so your own setting will likely not be mine, but this setting is important to customize for yourself.
The Mic level can be set (button on the side of the unit) to H-M-L (high, medium, low) and I found for my quieter playing that I need to put it on H despite their recommendation for M for acoustic guitar.
The Zoom is really easy to use once you do your initial testing to set your custom settings, which includes optimal distance from the guitar.Anyway, once you have your settings, you can pretty much plop the Zoom in front of you, press the record button twice, and start to play; when done, press the record button once to stop, and you've got a file.
If you do a single track with instrument & vocal simultaneously, it can work, but you have to experiment a bit with mic placement so you don't wind up with either too much instrument overwhelming the vocal, or vice-versa.
I don't know anything about reverb, and I've never multi-tracked as you may be wanting to do, so I can't comment on that.
Good luck, and I'm sure your grandson will be delighted to have the files to play. My best wishes for his recovery!
Aloha,
Sarah |
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Podagee57
Lokahi
USA
280 Posts |
Posted - 03/26/2007 : 04:58:33 AM
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| Javeiro, I can't tell you anything about the mic, but I'm hoping that your grandsons condition is not too serious and that all will be well soon. So sorry to hear this. Tell the poor little guy we are all concerned for him. |
What? You mean high "E" is the TOP string. No way dude! That changes everything! |
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cpatch
Ahonui
USA
2187 Posts |
Posted - 03/26/2007 : 05:28:38 AM
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Hey John, Sarah's advice is right on the money. I would recommend recording in 44.1kHz WAV format (button 3 on the left side of the H4) since that's going to give you an easier conversion to CD (and is also better for mixing if you're recording guitar and ukulele and/or vocals separately), but if you're using the memory card that came with the SD MP3 is a better way to go since the files will be smaller.
One thing I'd add to Sarah's tips is that if you're recording guitar and vocals together try tilting the H4 sideways since that will give you one mic pointing at your mouth and one at the guitar. You can then play with position to get the right balance between guitar and vocals.
Hope your grandson heals quickly. |
Craig
My goal is to be able to play as well as people think I can. |
Edited by - cpatch on 03/26/2007 08:31:30 AM |
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Sarah
`Olu`olu
571 Posts |
Posted - 03/26/2007 : 07:00:52 AM
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| BTW, the external button for the mp3 setting reverts to the *most* compressed mp3 format, as I recall, and not the 320 size (least compressed). Got to go thru the menu to fine tune that setting. |
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kihoalukid
Lokahi
USA
289 Posts |
Posted - 03/26/2007 : 07:59:08 AM
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| John, cant help ya with the recording, but hope everything goes well with your grandson. |
Lee |
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javeiro
Lokahi
USA
459 Posts |
Posted - 03/26/2007 : 4:24:23 PM
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Thanks a lot for everyone's recording advice and for the good wishes for our grandson as well. We just got back from a long day at the hospital and Kaiea is hanging in there. This is his sixth visit there but the first one in over a year. Thanks God we have an excellent PICU (Pediatric Intensive Care Unit) here.....there are many hospitals that don't have one. He’s been on a ventilator for eight days now and we were hoping that they'd be able to take him off today but even though he’s improved and looks a lot better, his numbers say he's not ready yet. Perhaps tomorrow will be a better day.
As for the H4, I tried one quick 2-track test recording last night with fair results and I am pleased with the unit. Had I seen Sarah's extremely helpful reply before I started, I definitely would have made some adjustments. Like you, Sarah, I play very soft, but it’s supposed to be nahenahe, right? I had set the level at "M" as suggested by the instructions and it was way too low. I also set the H4 on a camera tripod but I think I had it just too far from the guitar and ukulele. The recording was okay as far as quality but very low volume. I could also just plug my GS into it but I can’t do that with the uke and I don’t know how it would be to have mixed signals like that.
The next time I try it, I'll set the level on "H" and I will ask my wife for some help to look at the meter for me and see what's happening. I’ll keep you all posted and mahalo again for your help and all the good wishes. I did take in a bunch of slack key CD's for him to listen to while I figure this H4 out.
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Aloha,
John A. |
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cpatch
Ahonui
USA
2187 Posts |
Posted - 03/27/2007 : 06:36:56 AM
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| John, you can always adjust the volume of a recording after the fact with your computer using either an audio editor or an automatic gain adjustment program such as MP3Gain for MP3s or The Levelator for WAV files. |
Craig
My goal is to be able to play as well as people think I can. |
Edited by - cpatch on 03/27/2007 06:38:04 AM |
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javeiro
Lokahi
USA
459 Posts |
Posted - 03/27/2007 : 09:39:28 AM
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| Thanks a lot, Craig, that's good to know. As I said.....I am a total recording newby! |
Aloha,
John A. |
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