Re: [Harp-L] how to record a jam session

["hazcon" <hazcon@xxxxxxxxxx>]

I've had great success in the past doing a similar thing just using a video 
camera.If you experiment a bit with placement you can get a very good 
reasonably balanced sound especially if you convert them to an uncompressed 
'wave' file on your computer.If you use the free Windows Movie Maker 
software you can get the wave file and some useful/interesting video as 
well.I have a lot of old recordings that I used to make of our bands 
rehearsals that are now a very good trip down memory lane.
        The main trick with just using a video camera to record with, if 
you want better quality, is to not overload the mike i.e. keep the bands 
volume down a bit and be fairly fastidious about the camera placement.A room 
with nice natural acoustics also helps a lot.
        I did a video a while back for a Jazz band at one of their 
rehearsals and as semi pro musicians they were all happy(and surprised) at 
the quality of the sound I ended up with.Of course as a Jazz band there were 
no Marshall stacks and the drummer was not Ginger Baker.
       Anyway someone is bound to own a decent video camera so give it a 
try as the cost will zero,always good ;-)
Rick
in NZ

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Tom Halchak" <thalchak@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Friday, September 17, 2010 03:06
Subject: [Harp-L] how to record a jam session


> Although I have been playing harp for about 35 years, I am an amateur.  I
> love to jam whenever I get a chance, but those opportunities are few and 
> far
> between.  I have a business, a wife and five kids and the notion of going
> out to an open jam session at a lounge and hanging around all night
> (drinking) just so I can get up stage and play one or two songs just isn't
> in the cards for me.  So recently I set out to organize a jam session at 
> the
> country club I belong to.  I figured there had to be some other wanna be
> rock stars like me who would welcome the opportunity to just hang out and
> play.  The club has made space available to us at no charge so everything 
> is
> looking good.  So far we have a guitar player, a drummer, a couple of
> vocalists, a sax player and me.  Should be fun.  I would like to record 
> our
> session just for kicks (incase I come up with something brilliant and I 
> want
> to save it for posterity).  I don't have any sophisticated recording
> equipment.  I was just planning to use my laptop and Audacity.  Can 
> anybody
> give me any suggestions given the limited equipment I have available?
>
>
>
> Thanks.
>
> Tom in Clearwater, FL
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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