Live Recording with MZ-M10

[uberboot]

so i picked up the hi md mz-m10 a few weeks ago and am having some trouble. i would appreciate any help.

i pretty much intend on recording nothing but metal shows. some of these will be held in small places, though most will be held in rooms that hold about 1000 people. needles to say, most of the recording will be stealth. which stealth mics would be the best? im looing for something that can clip on my shirt collars, and the smaller the better.which mics would you suggest? 100-200 bucks for the mics wouldnt be too much of a problem

should i plug a mic through a battery box into the line in jack and set it to low sensitivity? or should i go manually and adjust it around 10-12 as the booklet suggests? if i go the manual route, would i still have the adjust the sensitivty to a low setting? most of the shows will be heavy on kick drums.

if im forgeting something, then please point it out. ill be doing at least 4 or 5 shows in october and 1 in sept.

t

[A440]

Look at http://www.soundprofessionals.com for a lot of small, stealthy clip-on mics at fair prices, and get what your budget can afford. I prefer omnidirectional/binaural mics--two names for the same thing--rather than cardioids because the sound is more realistic. I mostly use BMC-2 mics, which are tiny (pencil eraser size) and sound quite good, but more expensive ones should sound even better. They have some ultra-tiny ones now that you might be able to sew into a shirt collar or hat if you want to be super stealthy.

In the specs for the microphones, the ones that are especially important for you are:

Frequency response: nothing narrower than 20-20,000 Hz

SPL--Sound Pressure Level: the loudness the mics can handle. Higher is better.

Sensitivity--Lower sensitivity is better. Sensitivity is negative numbers, so -40 is lower sensitivity than -30.

Do your recording with Mic-->Battery Module-->Line-in. Use Low Sensitivity. (The mic jack is useless for loud music--it will distort, because its preamp is made for much quieter sounds.) You'll see in the specs that the mics can handle higher SPL when powered from a battery module. You're gonna need that.

I like this battery module because it's small, but Sound Professionals also has something similar:

http://www.microphonemadness.com/products/mmcbmminminc.htm

You get better recordings with Manual Volume, even though you have to set it on the spot, with the disc in the unit and the recording on Pause, for each new recording. Try 15/30 for your first recording. Don't fiddle with it during the set unless you see it constantly peaking--squashed up at the top of the range--on the level meter. (And in a situation where you can't watch the meter, don't worry about it.) If 15/30 comes out too quiet in the recording, try a higher setting the next time; if it distorts, my apologies, but lower it next time. The ideal level will depend on which mics you choose, as well as the volume at the show.

You can do some recording tests at home with your stereo pumping.

[uberboot]

thanks for the help. im still trying to narrow down the binaural mics i want to use. will let all know who everything turns out.

[uberboot]

im having some futher problems. recently, i tried just using the mic(the t mic that came w/ the unit) on its own through the line in jack and its showing no signal. is this due to the fact that i need the battery(which im expecting in the mail any day now, with mic(sound pro bcm 12) or is it some other problem?

im thinking it may have something to do w/ the fact that the mic is plug in power, but i dont want to be wrong. i also tried using a patch cord from the tape deck through the line in and had the same problem, but think it may have something to do with the fact that the cord is not a stereo cord(the jack has only one line) again, thanks for any help

[A440]

There should be two jacks: Mic-in (which is red) and Line-in (which is white). Mic-in provides power to the mic and has a preamp behind it to amplify the signal. Line-in doesn't. For a direct mic connection with virtually every mic, you need to use Mic-in. Or you need to use a battery module that gives the mic some power.

If the mic takes an internal battery then yes, you'll need that too for Mic-in.

When you get these, if that's what you're getting--

http://www.soundprofessionals.com/cgi-bin/.../item/SP-BMC-12

you will also need to run them through the red Mic-in jack or, for loud music, a battery module into Line-in.

Edited September 17, 2007 by A440

[uberboot]

my mics and battery box just came in the mail today(bcm-12, sound pros--helpfull people!). i decided to go with one of the battery boxes that have the bass switches on them. my question is, whats would be the best setting? i thought i read something around here that stated 95hz would be the best option. but, if i dont flip any of the switches, would that mean that im reducing all the bass, or none at all? most of the shows i intended are doing will be drum heavy--such is the nature of metal! but, i dont want to take too much out of i cause i cant "replace it" would this be correct?

also, how well would the remote (sony rm-40ezk) work w/ the mz-m10? it would be much easier having that in my hand vs a hi md that isnt backlit, or am i just screwed?

now, when i run the mics--battery mod-line in im not getting any meter signal at all. the battery mod has a brand new battery and the hi md battery is fully charged. is this normal using a mic bc when i do a line in from another source then it shows a signal . is this normal when using as mic through the line in w/ a battery pack?

thanks for all the help

Edited September 21, 2007 by uberboot

[uberboot]

wo hooooo!! i read some more of the site and i feel like such a bonehead--i was doing everything as i should, checking levels, etc, but b/c its 0030 here in the states i couldnt play the source at louder volumes, which is why i couldnt hear it through my headphones. the meter wasnt even picking up an levels! so i cranked the rec levels and presto! i heard it all.

the battery box didnt really have any instructions, just "levels" on the back. i should have known that both sets of switches needed to be flipped. all i need to know now is if i dont flip the switches on the battery box for the bass will the it act like a normal box, or will it just not read any bass at all? that and the remote.

[greenmachine]

The highpass in most battery boxes is a simple 1st order filter (6dB/oct.), not that aggressive at all. If set to 100 Hz for example, the frequency one octave below (half the frequency), in this case 50 Hz would be attenuated by 6dB. 25 Hz (again, one octave below, half the frequency) would be down by 12 dB; 12.5 Hz down by 18 Hz, etc.. 6dB are perceived by the human ear as roughly half the volume.