Vibrations & live recording

[msol607]

Sorry for posting dumb questions but, man I’m having a hell of a time recording rock band practices. Instead of using my broken deck with only one recording channel (see my previous post), I thought I’d try a portable recorder. Based on Amazon comments, I bought a used MZ-r37 for cheap. Others said they used it for rehearsal recordings. Didn’t work for me. The first try I had it sitting on a mixer cabinet. The recording had skips & drop-outs, I assumed caused by the vibrations from the loud amps. The next practice I moved it onto a canvas bag on the floor. The results were about the same. I'm attaching a clip with fairly typical skips/dropouts and another clip where the unit totally lost it (with multi-second dropouts) during the middle of song. Is this unit broken? The quieter parts of the recording have less skips but the loudest parts don’t necessarily invoke skipping. Any insights/suggestions would be apprieciated

I should note that I use two mics into a mixer which goes tape out to mic-in on the recorder. I tried to use optical/line in but could not get loud enough recording volume.

90808Messin_bad.mp3

Sweet_Bad.mp3

[greenmachine]

Make a test recording at home without any vibrations and see if it skips.

[Strungup]

Sorry for posting dumb questions but, man I’m having a hell of a time recording rock band practices. Instead of using my broken deck with only one recording channel (see my previous post), I thought I’d try a portable recorder. Based on Amazon comments, I bought a used MZ-r37 for cheap. Others said they used it for rehearsal recordings. Didn’t work for me. The first try I had it sitting on a mixer cabinet. The recording had skips & drop-outs, I assumed caused by the vibrations from the loud amps. The next practice I moved it onto a canvas bag on the floor. The results were about the same. I'm attaching a clip with fairly typical skips/dropouts and another clip where the unit totally lost it (with multi-second dropouts) during the middle of song. Is this unit broken? The quieter parts of the recording have less skips but the loudest parts don’t necessarily invoke skipping. Any insights/suggestions would be apprieciated

I should note that I use two mics into a mixer which goes tape out to mic-in on the recorder. I tried to use optical/line in but could not get loud enough recording volume.

You dont come out of a Mixer to the MIC input , You go to the Line input , and You have to set the Manual recording level Line level coming out of a mixer will destroy the mic preamp in the MD , as you noticed Less "Skipping " on quieter parts , Get the unit off of the floor ( VERY bad place for vibration,)

a Drum Throne , or a Well Cushioned seat , and a Foam box over the unit as a sound barrier(Maybe one of those Cushioned Thermal Lunch bags that zip up ) The R37 is sensitive to Sympathetic Vibrations ,.... then from the Mixer "Tape Outs " RCA jacks , to Line input on the MD , Push and HOLD the Pause Button , while Holding the Pause button , Slide the REC button and Hold it for two seconds all the way over , " Manual Rec " will appear on the screen . Then you can let go of both buttons , it will stay paused , used the FFw , and RRw buttons to adjust the REC level , Have the Band play something while you do so .

Watch the meters adjust both Mixer levels , and Rec levels , to get a good balance , then Hit the pause button , and your recording

Edited September 9, 2008 by Guitarfxr

[msol607]

Thanks for the suggestions. Encasing it foam may be the ticket. I'm getting another deck but I'm sure those units aren't built to withstand lugging around. I neglected to mention I was using manual recording (as your suggested) & had the levels on both the mixer and recorder down pretty low. I'll give the line-in another try. Despite being labeled "optical" I guess the recorder line-in will accept a normal stereo plug. Not sure why it didn't work last time. Hopefully, I'll get this recording thing down. Band-mates getting impatient.

[msol607]

A follow-up question: Instead of going the foam wrap route, what if I bought a Mz-si "Sports Net MD"? They're described as "rugged": "You can run, jog, and shake or drop the case without interrupting the music." Not sure that applies to amp vibrations. Since I am running out of a mixer, I don't need a mic-in jack. These units are going cheap used. Most don't have ac adapter which I'd need. Any thoughts? Thanks

[msol607]

A follow-up question: Instead of going the foam wrap route, what if I bought a Mz-si "Sports Net MD"? They're described as "rugged": "You can run, jog, and shake or drop the case without interrupting the music." Not sure that applies to amp vibrations. Since I am running out of a mixer, I don't need a mic-in jack. These units are going cheap used. Most don't have ac adapter which I'd need. Any thoughts? Thanks

For any others who encounter the problem: The foam didn't work. It lessened but did not eliminate the mistracking due to vibrations. The Mz-r37 apparently is just too sensitive. The Mz-si Sport unit did the trick. I put it on a piece of cloth & it recorded great despite the amp vibrations.

[Strungup]

For any others who encounter the problem: The foam didn't work. It lessened but did not eliminate the mistracking due to vibrations. The Mz-r37 apparently is just too sensitive. The Mz-si Sport unit did the trick. I put it on a piece of cloth & it recorded great despite the amp vibrations.

well that is true the 37 was before they started to get a REALLY good handle on damping , and shock resistance