missclarktree
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Post by missclarktree on Nov 24, 2013 16:14:51 GMT
I'm afraid the previous posts about home recording are way above my head. Uploading pictures from a camera is about all I can manage tech-wise. Isn't there a simple equivalent for sound?
PS I haven't got an iPhone.
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Post by colan on Nov 24, 2013 16:31:07 GMT
Decent photography depends upon a decent camera and decent home recording also requires a little expenditure. You can do it on the cheap with a simple, free, software audio sequencer like Audacity; audacity.sourceforge.net/...but you still need a decent piece of hardware- a soundcard for your computer- to act as an interface between your computer and your input, your guitar/microphone, etc. I've just bought this as my christmas present to me from my wife; www.musicradar.com/reviews/guitars/zoom-r8-479919It seems to me to be an excellent piece of kit for entry-level home recording and it's less than two hundred quid, built-in mics and all. You couldn't get a cassette player for that not so long ago. With something decent to record with you can produce something decent to upload.
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ocarolan
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Post by ocarolan on Nov 24, 2013 16:41:30 GMT
I hope I'm not misunderstanding your post Alison, but it seems to me you don't want to get involved with complications like multitracking and sound processing, but just quick and simple audio snapshots - am I correct? If so, read on... Does your camera do video, Alison? If you, you can record a video, which includes the sound. Not likely to be top notch with quality, but is fine for a lot of purposes. If you want something just for sound, there are a lot of simple small digital sound recorders around. I use one all the time, a Zoom H2. There are other similar devices from other makers of course, but my only experience is with the Zoom H2. It records to an SD like a camera, and you can use the files from that just as they are, especially if you are careful to get neat starts and ends. It is possible to do a lot more with the files once uploaded, but you would need additional software (freeware/sharewear/purchased) to accomplish this - maybe something to think about a little further down the line? This page - www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=zoom%20h2has lots of the kind of thing I mean. There's an updated version of my ancient Zoom H2, the H2n, plus the simplest and cheapest Zoom H1, which still gives good quality sound. All my audio recordings, and the audio with many of my more recent videos has been recorded using a Zoom H2, with very little in the way of editing (just trimming the ends and sometimes a little reverb)to tart them up. It is possible to do all sorts of things with the recorded files once on your computer, but from your question, I don't think you feel able to get into editing etc, at least just yet. No problem the simple Zoom etc recorders are the nearest thing to a sound equivalent of a digital camera - just record and upload (or transfer the SD card to computer and copy/paste) the soundfiles - listen to them right away. Hope that helps - shout if it's still not making sense! Keith
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Post by Martin on Nov 24, 2013 17:02:34 GMT
Another recommendation for the Zoom H2 here. There are quite a few simple 'audio notepads' available that are capable of doing simple, decent quality recordings that aren't too difficult to transfer to a computer for upload.
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andrewjw
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Post by andrewjw on Nov 24, 2013 17:13:44 GMT
Plus one on the Zoom suggestions.. If you own a Mac or I pad though then Garageband [ which is part of the software package that you get with either] is very user friendly and intuitive ....used with an Apogee mic [which is purpose built to go with Apple systems] you can get startlingly good results with minimal techy knowledge... apogeedigital.com/products/mic.phpLoads of stuff on you tube/ internet in general about this...
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missclarktree
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Post by missclarktree on Nov 24, 2013 19:25:17 GMT
I've just bought this as my christmas present to me from my wife; www.musicradar.com/reviews/guitars/zoom-r8-479919It seems to me to be an excellent piece of kit for entry-level home recording and it's less than two hundred quid, built-in mics and all. You couldn't get a cassette player for that not so long ago. With something decent to record with you can produce something decent to upload. I like the fact that you plug it into the mains, but still, 8-track isn't quite dumb enough for me. I can't even count up to 8!
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missclarktree
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Post by missclarktree on Nov 24, 2013 19:32:45 GMT
I hope I'm not misunderstanding your post Alison, but it seems to me you don't want to get involved with complications like multitracking and sound processing, but just quick and simple audio snapshots - am I correct? If so, read on... Does your camera do video, Alison? If you, you can record a video, which includes the sound. Not likely to be top notch with quality, but is fine for a lot of purposes. If you want something just for sound, there are a lot of simple small digital sound recorders around. I use one all the time, a Zoom H2. There are other similar devices from other makers of course, but my only experience is with the Zoom H2. It records to an SD like a camera, and you can use the files from that just as they are, especially if you are careful to get neat starts and ends. It is possible to do a lot more with the files once uploaded, but you would need additional software (freeware/sharewear/purchased) to accomplish this - maybe something to think about a little further down the line? This page - www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=zoom%20h2has lots of the kind of thing I mean. There's an updated version of my ancient Zoom H2, the H2n, plus the simplest and cheapest Zoom H1, which still gives good quality sound. All my audio recordings, and the audio with many of my more recent videos has been recorded using a Zoom H2, with very little in the way of editing (just trimming the ends and sometimes a little reverb)to tart them up. It is possible to do all sorts of things with the recorded files once on your computer, but from your question, I don't think you feel able to get into editing etc, at least just yet. No problem the simple Zoom etc recorders are the nearest thing to a sound equivalent of a digital camera - just record and upload (or transfer the SD card to computer and copy/paste) the soundfiles - listen to them right away. Hope that helps - shout if it's still not making sense! Keith Thanks Keith. That sounds just the sort of thing I was hoping would exist. Could I ask you a couple of questions about it? 1. It looks as if a USB cable isn't provided. Would a camera cable do? Or, if I took it to somewhere like Maplin, would a suitable cable be easy to obtain? 2. Once you've uploaded the files to the computer, can they be deleted from the card so that it can be re-used? Thanks, Alison
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missclarktree
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Post by missclarktree on Nov 24, 2013 19:47:07 GMT
Plus one on the Zoom suggestions.. If you own a Mac or I pad though then Garageband [ which is part of the software package that you get with either] is very user friendly and intuitive ....used with an Apogee mic [which is purpose built to go with Apple systems] you can get startlingly good results with minimal techy knowledge... Haven't got a Mac, but I do have an iPod and a minidisc recorder/player with an optical cable to connect it to PC - not that I've ever tried it. Would it be possible to use either of those? I'm as bad as that woman who, when asked by the IT department what type of computer she had, replied "A white one."
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Post by colan on Nov 24, 2013 20:34:26 GMT
I've just bought this as my christmas present to me from my wife; www.musicradar.com/reviews/guitars/zoom-r8-479919It seems to me to be an excellent piece of kit for entry-level home recording and it's less than two hundred quid, built-in mics and all. You couldn't get a cassette player for that not so long ago. With something decent to record with you can produce something decent to upload. I like the fact that you plug it into the mains, but still, 8-track isn't quite dumb enough for me. I can't even count up to 8! Just because it's got eight tracks doesn't mean that you have to use eight tracks. You can use just one- but you've still got another seven for later.....and all included in the price ! AND you get drums ! AND guitar/vocal effects ! AND loads of other goodies- none of which you have to use. Of course, you'll be tempted to go for the simplest means of doing what you want to do- but the minute you've got the hang of that you'll wish that you had something more versatile. Better to spend a little for something you can grow into, imho.
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Post by andrewjw on Nov 24, 2013 22:34:52 GMT
Plus one on the Zoom suggestions.. If you own a Mac or I pad though then Garageband [ which is part of the software package that you get with either] is very user friendly and intuitive ....used with an Apogee mic [which is purpose built to go with Apple systems] you can get startlingly good results with minimal techy knowledge... Haven't got a Mac, but I do have an iPod and a minidisc recorder/player with an optical cable to connect it to PC - not that I've ever tried it. Would it be possible to use either of those? I'm as bad as that woman who, when asked by the IT department what type of computer she had, replied "A white one." I'm afraid an I Pod won't work as a recording device ...some recorders used to use mini discs as a storage medium but I'm afraid my experience with those is very limited... Good luck with your search for an easy to use recording solution..
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Post by leoroberts on Nov 24, 2013 22:52:01 GMT
I, too, use a Zoom H2 - although recently I've been using the Zoom Q3 (which is, basically, a Zoom H2 with a video camera included) Obviously, I don't use the camera for stuff on here Zoom Q3The Latest version (HD Video) is less than £150 quid... Zoom Q3HD
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ocarolan
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Post by ocarolan on Nov 24, 2013 23:08:03 GMT
......... Thanks Keith. That sounds just the sort of thing I was hoping would exist. Could I ask you a couple of questions about it? 1. It looks as if a USB cable isn't provided. Would a camera cable do? Or, if I took it to somewhere like Maplin, would a suitable cable be easy to obtain? 2. Once you've uploaded the files to the computer, can they be deleted from the card so that it can be re-used? Thanks, Alison I had a feeling that was what you're after. As to your queries, 1. Mine came with a USB cable and various other bits, but it seems that you have to buy a separate accessory pack to get the cable etc now. Disappointing, but still worth getting the accessory pack. However, in truth, you don't actually need the cable to transfer the recorded files - I never used it for that - the transfer rate always seemed v slow. But if you just remove the SD from the device, put it into the slot in your computer and you can read (ie play back) the files from the card to check yo have what you want, and then simply copy them to a folder on your computer - that's what I do. 2. Yes, you can delete the files from the SD card either while it is still in your computer or when it is back in the recorder. I do use the cable, but to allow me to use the recorder as a USB microphone into my recording software on my computer. This sounds like a complication you could do with avoiding at this stage, though, as colan points out, you may want to get more complicated later on. Actually, I've got simpler as time has gone by - I used to use the kind of set up he describes with all sorts of gear, but in truth, the Zoom H2 gives me equally good quality results with a lot less fuss and clutter! You'll need to be sure your computer will take an SD card in order to manage without the USB cable. The Zoom H2 takes normal sized SD cards, but I think the H1 uses mini sized ones. .It is possible to get adapters to convert the miniSD cards to normal size if you computer has a standard SD slot only. Hope that's helpful, but shout if not, or if there's anything else occurs to you. Keith
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missclarktree
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Post by missclarktree on Nov 25, 2013 19:28:21 GMT
That's really helpful - thanks very much Keith. I've decided to go for the Zoom H2, though I might just wait for the January sales. That gives me a couple of months to get used to recording and to pluck up the courage to upload something. My son will be able to tell me if one of the funny slot-type thingies in the side of my laptop is the correct socket.
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Post by 007 on Nov 25, 2013 19:50:10 GMT
There were some 2nd hand H2 on Flea bay last week Leo sent me a link to one
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missclarktree
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Post by missclarktree on Nov 25, 2013 20:19:46 GMT
I'll have a look - thanks 007.
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