Recording A Live Drumset

[cementdrums]

I just purchased the multitrack recorder and attempted to sit down at the drumset and try recording my first track.

I had nonstop trouble with the sound clipping and cutting out.

I used the built in iPhone mic at 0 and again at -40. Still overloading and clipping the input.

I used a nuforce headset and mic and had the same results.

I moved the phone about 16 feet away and continued to have the same troubles with each attempt.

Is it the mic itself that is clipping out or is there some setting I can work with to be able to record live drums?
Thanks a lot for your replies.

[pwnified]

What version iPhone do you have? Can you make a clean recording if you use the built in Voice Memos recorder on the iPhone?

[cementdrums]

I am using a 3GS 32GB model iPhone.

I got together some connectors and was able to run an external microphone straight in to the phone.
I used a mini AV cord for a camcorder that has the 4 contact headphone Jack on one end and 3 RCA plugs on the other. This way, I am able to listen to what has been recorded previously while laying down a drum track.

Still having signal strength issues running my mic through a Rolls personal mixer. I am going to try an inline attenuator before sending the signal into the iPhone via the mini av cord interface.

The recorder is fantastic and the iPhone mic is great for most everything else I've tried, the little mics just can not handle the drumset.

[cementdrums]

I'm sorry, I forgot to answer the other question. I have not yet tried recording the drumset using the voice memo function. I will try that later tonight also when I go to the drum room.

I also have a Griffin recorder I'll try as well and post the results.

[pwnified]

OK. I was a little confused because your post said it was cutting out and I was just trying to isolate where the problem was. It sounds like it's just too loud of a sound source for the microphone. Drums are notorious for clipping because of the high transients on even professional mics, so if it's clipping at the mic there is really nothing you can do to avoid it, short of wrapping the mic up with towels (which changes the frequency response), or getting another mic which support higher SPL's. It might also be possible to build an acoustic attenuation chamber for the mic. If you can get a mic that handles the SPL in the room, you still might need a pad going into the iPhone depending on the voltage output of the mic. Once it's into the iPhone, attenuation can be achieved with the input volume fader but that's after (in the signal chain) where the clipping has probably occurred so it wont help.

I have had good luck using the alesis protrack and some phantom powered omnis, for recording very loud sounds, because it has attenuation knobs right there on the unit.

[crunchysteve]

What you need to do to do this effectively is to use 4 mics, into a mixer, connected to the line-in on something like a Macally iVoice. The iPhone mic is good, but a good snare hit will send it running home to mum, even if your iPhone's on the other side of the room.

[victoria]

Hello,

Good info...thanks for sharing!
Yeah...The iPhone is the most sophisticated, outlook-challenging piece of
electronics to come along in years. It does so many things so well, and so
pleasurably, that you tend to forgive its foibles....




Regards

Victoria Heden
Magic Mic Song Chips

[jorgren]

If you're taking the output from a mixer and feeding it into the 4-pin earbud/mic jack, you will definitely overload (clip). The line-level output from a mixer is waaaay too high for a mic-level input, especially if you are recording drums. There's nothing an app developer like pwnified can do about this because the signal is overloaded right at the A/D input, and there is no hardware gain setting in the device. You need to provide the proper level to the iPxxx.

I recently got a chance to test a line-level stereo recording setup with great success. I used the Belkin TuneTalk, which has a stereo mic/line input with switch selectable gain (only 2 gain choices, but they were fine for my job). I connected a Korg Kaossilator directly to the TuneTalk and got extremely clean recordings. I was just mixing them down this weekend (unfortunately I still have to use the computer for that until MultiTrack 2.0 comes out). I was surprised to find essentially no noise at all, perfect level, and no distortion. Sweet.