Re: Home Recording Setup for Total Beginner?
Originally Posted by
Mitch Stein
+1 for the above. We use a Tonor Q9 microphone that goes for $50 on Amazon and get recordings that are better than a "Total Beginner" needs.
I just want to say thanks to Mitch for his suggestion. I play in a slow fiddle jam that met in library meeting rooms to play. After Covid shut down that option, the jam leader and I flipped for it and I got to be the online Zoom jam leader. My fancy-schmancy, less than 4 month old laptop proved to have a truly lousy mike and camera. Sound was horrible. I tweaked Zoom but the sound was still lousy. I started using a basic USB webcam, and the picture improved very much, but the audio only slightly. I started looking at microphone options. I know nothing about professional or studio mikes, so I tried reading all the articles like "10 Best USB mikes", "Best Microphones to Record at Home", etc, etc. My brain turned to mush. Nowhere could I find something described in terms that my mind could translate into the likes of "Best Mike to Play Slow Jam Tunes on Fiddle on Zoom", admittedly a rather small niche. Then I saw Mitch's post, and just like in Monty Python and the Holy Grail, little cartoon clouds parted and shining cartoon trumpets played ringing fanfares. Aha, I said, this is exactly what I need. I ordered one, set it up, and used on the next jam. Everyone said that they immediately noted a big improvement in the sound quality. I ran the video recording back on VLC and the audio on Audacity, and it is markedly better. Mission accomplished, and cheaply, to boot. This is one of the many reasons I spend way too much time on this forum.
Rob Ross
Apple Valley, Minne-SOH-tah
1996 Flatiron A5-Performer, 1915 Gibson F-2 (loaned to me by a friend), 2008 Kentucky Master KM-505 A-Model
1925 Bacon Peerless tenor banjo (Irish tuning), 1985 Lloyd Laplant F-5, 2021 Ibanez PFT2 Tenor Guitar (GDAE)
and of course, the 1970 Suzuki-Violin-Sha Bowl Back Taterbug
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