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Plan to record and publish my composition, think how to record
MusicCrusader
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Dear community,
Being a middle-level gypsy jazz guitarist, I composed one composition. It is not gypsy jazz, probably some funk (I am not an expert in styles). But I know this community has a deep and wide knowledge and could help me with one question.
I think of recording the composition and publishing via music stream (YouTube Music, Spotify, and many others). I found there are a lot of distributors and I chose one.
The composition has only a solo, it doesn't have a bass or rhythm guitar. I ask myself, do I need equipment? I don't think the composition will shoot off, so spending money on recording hardware is a big concern. I don't know if I will come up with new compositions in the future. The current one I composed looks like a big project for me (because I never did it before).
Here's what I have: an 8-year-old mediocre budget level laptop, a three-year-old iPhone, a Cigano, a Krivo pick-up, an amplifier Boss Cube Street 2, a looper Digitech Trio+
Only a really deep, persuasive reason can convince me to spend more than $10.
The basic consideration is to record on my iPhone using the default Voice Memos app. Sound quality will not be perfect; it might distract the public from listening to it regularly and sharing. However, a few years ago before buying the looper, I recorded my backing tracks on the iPhone; sound quality was good for open mic performances. I don't think that a higher quality recording will make a change in the distribution of my future recording.
I tried to connect my iPhone to the Boss Cube Street2 using its very old and not-updated for 10 years app, Roland Cube Jam. The app is unstable and always closes, but the main thing it needs is a backing track to record with. Additionally, even connected via a jack to the amplifier, the iPhone mic recorded outside noise (while I expected it would record only signals from my pick-up sending to the amplifier).
Other options: buy something.
I am open to listening to opinions and advice.
Comments
Record a demo on your phone. If it sounds ok. Publish it. If it doesn't. Spend a few hundred bucks and go into a proper studio for an hour and have a pro record it.
Or go to a music store and rent an all in one zoom recorder. It will sound better than your phone but maybe not as good as a studio.
As with most things. The more you spend the better it will be (with diminishing returns).
You need a USB audio interface and a recording software for a good quality recording. Any kind of multichannel recording really (even though some phone apps are supposedly able to let you make a multichannel recording).
Audacity is open source, free to use recording software. Search the Internet for a USB audio interface, I saw some on Amazon for as low as $30 and people say they work ok. Maybe you can find used for even cheaper.
However, if you're aiming for a very basic recording, then just put it on YouTube.
Don't know about generations of iPhones, but during Covid, Mary Flower posted weekly solo sessions from her living room that looked and sounded very good, using just her iPhone. So it's possible that for a quick & dirty live solo recording, the iPhone video function would work fine. I suppose for better audio quality, a decent mike and whatever interface an iPhone or laptop+Audacity requires would be a relatively low-cost solution. (I would think that something like a Shure SM58 would be part of a standard kit anyway.)
My own portable recording solutions for years have been the Olympus digital recorders--the older LS series models show up on eBay at pretty decent prices. (I've used the 10, 11, and 12 and currently use the really small LS-P5 as a shirt-pocket field recorder.) Tascam and Zoom have similar products.
Thank you for the suggestion. What will be input for an USB audio interface? What defice will record audio? I don' have a microphone, I have a krivo pick-up.
Thank you for the suggestion. I checked, and there are many Zoom recorders. Are you talking about the specific model?
You could probably run a USB mic straight into the USB drive in your computer and record directly to a DAW like Audacity but you won't be able to use monitors without running into feedback and latency issues - best option is to grab a small audio interface to run the mic into first and run through the monitor testing (which should be included with any reputable audio interface manufacturer, Focusrite being an example I've worked with).
Otherwise, getting a Zoom or another portable recorder as others have suggested would be the way to go, although a recent model iPhone may record without much quality loss (again as others have suggested). Ultimately tho, if you're looking for decent quality than a mic/audio interface combo would be the best option, easily at that.
Similarly to what @voutoreenie said, your Krivo pickup would go into the interface. Any XLR input (as far as I know) will also take a 1/4" Jack input.
Zoom recorders are great. But they're aimed more for recording a live band performance, band rehearsal, concerts etc...anything live. Don't know if they can do multi-track, maybe they do...
Interface into a laptop with a recording software is the closest you'll get to the recording studio setup. Well, a lot (most?) of them use that exact setup, or nearly so, since majority use computers with software anyway.
Josh Dunn (https://www.instagram.com/joshdunnmusic/) is a terrific swing guitarist who records a lot with an (old/old tech) Tascam cassette recorder. It sounds amazing and is just a decent microphone into tape I believe. It even sounds good outside.
In a few other posts you can see more equipment but I don't think it's complicated. I love the lo-fi sound. Leaning into it like this is one nice way to do it. Idk about a vintage Tascam but a single track tape recorder would work if you like the sound...
If I read the original post correctly, all MusicCrusader wants to do is record a solo composition ("it doesn't have a bass or rhythm guitar"). If that's the case, all that's needed is a recording device that will save in a format that lets him distribute a file. Which means most cell phones, plus any number of handheld audio recorders that can save and transfer an MP3 or WAV file. Some of the really affordable "voice recorders" could probably work as well, though I suspect that they're not much more sophisticated than the voice-recorder apps on most smartphones.
Multitracking, overdubbing, or track bouncing require more and/or more expensive gear--Zoom and Tascam have such devices, with entry-level under $200. But that's overkill for a real-time solo recording that need not be of commercial-release quality. And if basic editing or tweaking is required, Audacity is more than adequate.