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best iPhone app for recording a rehearsal?


Monkey Steve

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I've just been asked to cover a couple of gigs for a band and am trying to learn all their horribly complicated stuff in a bit of a hurry.  the band themselves couldn't be more helpful and patient, but it occurs to me that it might help if I can listen back to myself to see how I'm sitting in the mix and fitting in with the rest of the instruments.  I don't want anything spectacular or very high tech, just something that lets me hear if I'm getting things right or wrong, and if the lines I've come up with suit the songs.

I have an iPhone XS, and it occurs to me that it's full of stuff that would make a recording, if not necessarily a great recording - videos, GarageBand, even just recording memos.  

Anybody else used their phone for this, and if so, any advice on what works best?  No suggestions of what other stuff I should be buying to do this please - I'm not going to splash out for a digital recorder or anything else, I just want some feedback on whether my iPhone can cope with it

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We just use the video option on the camera on an iphone6, but then play it back either through the mixing desk or a decent amp.

Amateur maybe, but by using the eq different instruments can be identified enough to pick out mistakes!

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Doesn't answer your question but I bought a Tascam dr-05 a few years ago and it's great for recording rehearsals and gigs - problem with a phone is that no matter how good the software, the mics aren't much good for music. If you can scrape together £80 for the Tascam (or a Zoom H1) you'll get a lot of use from it.

 

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8 hours ago, tinyd said:

Doesn't answer your question but I bought a Tascam dr-05 a few years ago and it's great for recording rehearsals and gigs - problem with a phone is that no matter how good the software, the mics aren't much good for music. If you can scrape together £80 for the Tascam (or a Zoom H1) you'll get a lot of use from it.
 

Totally agree. The DR-05 is a fantastic small recorder, with very good quality. We record all our gigs and rehearsals on mine. It also means the recordings are more or less as they are in the room, and not compressed so that the balance is all wrong.

Edited by Rich
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Thanks for all the suggestions - I'll try a couple out at the next rehearsal.

No replies about GarageBand - has anybody used it?

As regards the Tascam, I have thought about a little digital recorder, and bandmates in other bands have brought them along to practices and they have worked very well, but my immediate need is for the next few weeks only, so I'm sure i can make do without shelling out any cash right now

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What tinyd said. One of those hand held recorders is what we use for  recording a rehearsal, but instead of using the short onboard mics, we connect a Sure vocal mic to it and dangle it over the ceiling RSJ, so it's vaguely in the middle of the room. It's only for our own playback to see where the mistakes are and what not.

Recording is just about ok, but the room is around 12ft by 12ft and we're all in a circle, which isn't ideal, but it's a rehearsal,  so we dont really care.  :)

https://soundcloud.com/user-perplexus/kissmp3

 

 

Edited by fleabag
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1 hour ago, Monkey Steve said:

Thanks for all the suggestions - I'll try a couple out at the next rehearsal.

No replies about GarageBand - has anybody used it?

I’ve used GarageBand as a practice/play along, so not quite as you’re intending to it, and find the small phone-format a bit faffy. For your purposes i.e. a quick rehearsal recording VoiceMemo should be adequate.

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Garage band. Open App, select an Audio track, press the record button and off you go.

For field recordings, or any quick recording of Ambient sounds, conversations and general messing around, Acoustic ideas etc; It does the job for me with minimal fuss.

Also it's easy to go into the timeline and cut the Audio up into smaller Audio events, along with tidy up/get rid of anything I don't need. And of course I can add FX if needed.

If I have been depping on any shows, It has been perfect for recording in the pit for my notes and getting a general feel for the show while going over/reading through the charts at home.

 

It's pretty easy really.

https://support.apple.com/kb/PH24832?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US

 

Edited by lowdown
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A very good for the price small recorder is the Zoom H2n. It does a great job for this kind of thing, you can also use it as a USB microphone for Logic Pro or GarageBand etc.

I used it the other week for field recording in Amsterdam, I was pleasantly surprised how good it was. I did some really lovely and unobtrusive recording in Stedelijk Museum, it picked up the natural reverb in the halls and staircases really well. I wouldn't use it for quiet recording, but for what you want it's ideal.

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I think the native sample rate when using voice memo is 8K, which won't give you anything above 4K of audio in mono and will also have aliasing issues in the adio frequency band. I forked out for a Shure MOTIV MV88 mic that plugs straight into the iPhone via the lightning port. 24 bit/96KHz, records using a Mid-Side stereo capsule - so you can control the width of the stereo image. The MOTIV app has a limiter and enough headroom to record anything from a live metal band to a single acoustic guitar. The app will also see the camera, so you can get useable sound on live video. I know you din't want more gear, but it's a massive upgrade, you keep your phone and the mic fits in your pocket. 

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8 minutes ago, The59Sound said:

Any plug in mics that anyone can recommend for iPhone? 

I bought a Zoom mic that plugs into the bottom of my iPhone a year ago but still haven't used it! I have a Yamaha Pocketrax recorder I use to record rehearsals and gigs, so haven't had a need for it yet. I think it cost about 60 quid from AGK or G4M on line.

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On 31/10/2018 at 14:43, Monkey Steve said:

Thanks for all the suggestions - I'll try a couple out at the next rehearsal.

No replies about GarageBand - has anybody used it?

As regards the Tascam, I have thought about a little digital recorder, and bandmates in other bands have brought them along to practices and they have worked very well, but my immediate need is for the next few weeks only, so I'm sure i can make do without shelling out any cash right now

GB’s over complicated for what you want. I use VoiceRecord Pro as itallows you to save the files as MP3s, export them etc. Other apps will be just as good

Edited by TrevorR
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update and to slightly derail my own thread...

Practice yesterday afternoon, brought my pedal board.  I'd been using my Tech 21 VT Bass pedal to do a SVT impression through the band's (actually quite nice) H&K QT 600, but my pedal board also brought an Ampeg SCR-DI pedal that has had a similar eq section to my SVT 2 Pro, so it's a lot closer to having my amp in the studio.

Lots of amusement before we start playing that I had quite so many flashing lights (Drummer: "so, do you like Star Trek?") and in getting it all set up I completely forgot about setting the phone up to record everything.

However, one song in and the drummer and rhythm guitarist are both telling me how noticeably better the bass is sounding in the mix.  To my ears it was a little scooped, but if it works for the band...

Next practice is on Thursday so I'll try and remember to actually record some of the songs, but I'm happy that it's more about the playing than the sound now.

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  • 4 years later...

Yes, your iPhone can definitely be used to record yourself and get some feedback on your playing. As you mentioned, there are several apps built into the iPhone that can be used for this purpose. I suggest you to use headphones. This will allow you to hear yourself more clearly and make any necessary adjustments. You may also experiment with different apps. This tip always helps me choose the most suitable app, as it happened with https://smartengines.com/ too. Once you've recorded yourself, take some time to listen back and make notes on what you like and what you want to improve. Overall, using your iPhone to record yourself is a great way to get feedback on your playing and improve your skills.

Edited by AleenaatGrif
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