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I have a ZOOM recorder which has two onboard mics as well as the capacity to run two more with phantom power. What would anyone recommend for general placement of the unit and its two mics, along with two other moveable mics, in a generally non-reflective basement when we rehearse tonight? I tried last week with a eye-level (5.5 ft) mount in the middle of our quintet which I arrayed in a rough circle. We were generally equidistant from the ZOOM's 2 onboard mics (about 4-5 ft away) except for the horn, which was a little closer, and with his bell facing a wall for reflection. This made a pretty good general recording, but I want to place two more mics, giving me some ability to mix out balance problems which might still need some fine tuning. If anyone has done any of this type of amateur recording with success I would love your comments. Thanks in advance. Steve

I have used my Zoom a lot for this very purpose. I used the onboard mikes mostly. We sat in our usual U shape with the Zoom about 12-15 feet in front of the U. The seating arrangement from left to right audience perspective is Tpt 1, Tpt 2, Tuba, Tbn, Horn. I also tried it with extra phantom mics which enhanced the recording somewhat but not nearly as much as I thought it would. I was not trying to get anything that I could mix later but rather a true to life "live" recording for instructional purposes. It is amazing what that little zoom can do though. It is very faithful to what it hears, good or bad.

Has anyone a recommendation for processing additions or modifications such as echo, reverb, and the like? I will try to use this for a website ultimately, unless they prove completely unworthy. I have a friend with a deal for a professional recording studio at $200 for 5 hours, but I am hoping we can do well enough with the ZOOM.

vintage7512 wrote:Has anyone a recommendation for processing additions or modifications such as echo, reverb, and the like? I will try to use this for a website ultimately, unless they prove completely unworthy. I have a friend with a deal for a professional recording studio at $200 for 5 hours, but I am hoping we can do well enough with the ZOOM.

$40 a head for the quintet? That's cheap, do that!

I thought that sounded cheap, but that's what he told me. Some kind of special deal here in DC. I will try some of the arrangements of group and mics discussed here tonight. I think the quality of the ZOOM is quite good for such a tiny package, and with some good audio editing software I have, a good recording can be had. I will try recording us live at a mall on Saturday - that should be really challenging with all the ambient noise.

Go with the studio - it is well worth your money - the recording will sound MUCH better,
Good luck, Phil

Any recording guy will tell you - you can make or break a recording with your mics. So using phantom powered $100 mics vs. letting the studio use their $1,000 + mics and the rest of their equipment is well worth it.

That being said, if you do find some good mics to use, as long as you are getting sufficient sound from your horn player in the front of the group, a standard x/y pattern or side-by-side will work. X/y works better because it eliminates the dead zone that a split side-by-side will have, but it takes some manuvering to get the mics lined up correctly. Just be sure that with either setup, you use them at pretty close to a 90 degree angle.

(these are things that I've picked up from my sound engineers at work)