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I've seen people post a lot of decent quality video recordings here... but every time I try to take one, the sound quality from the mic is just horrible (because the instrument is so loud, it's just too much for the mic to handle).

Have had lousy luck on my Samsung phone, Microsoft Surface, and Kindle (<-- that was just for fun, had zero expectation there). Do I need to buy an external mic? What does everyone else use?

By contrast, for Audio, my Tascam audio recorder sounds excellent, as long as I place it far enough away from me.

What's the trick for good video/audio together?

In your control panel on the phone and the Surface, do you have an adjustment for microphone input level? Have you tried turning it to half volume?

I just looked through my iPhone and iPad and can't find a control, but there's definitely one on my Macbook. I'd think the Surface would definitely have one. (Just looked it up, Surface should definitely have a mike volume slider in control panel under sound).

There are tons of external microphones out there that should fit your equipment, and they're all likely to improve your sound.

The other alternative is to record video on your phone and audio on your Tascam and combine the two in a video editing program.

Okay!!! This is something that I've been working with since I posed a similar question to yours, last year.
My daughter needed video recordings with sound for numerous auditions. I didn't want to spend an arm and a leg to make the recordings, so I did a good bit of research. Long story made short.......... I used a "Blue" desktop style mic (a little over $100 at Best Buy), plugged it into my desktop iMac, which was located on my office. The program I used was "Quicktime". I recorded her playing in our kitchen, as it is a very large room (18.6' X 25') with a high ceiling. It has a very nice reverberation to it!!!

I placed her and the horn near a wall with a door on it, and I put the mic on the counter.... about ten feet in front of her. The idea was to get the reflected sound of her horn, picking up the room's natural reverberation, and at the same time, pick up my piano accompaniment, which I played on my grand piano in the living room....... lid wide open. The HD Logitech Webcam was placed on a tripod about five feet from her. It has it's own mic, but, as I said earlier, I selected the Blue mic as the input. It has three different mic patterns you can select from. I did a rather short sound check..... Volume control was in the Quicktime program and on screen, and gave out a constant sound level reading as the recordings progressed.. Things worked out VERY nicely...... even with just the one mic.

I was going to buy more equipment so I could use more.... and better mics, but when I heard the results from just the one, I changed my mind. It's not a "professional" quality situation, but, as I said, the quality was VERY nice. Obviously, I needed extension cords for the mic and the camera to reach the computer in my office. Once again........ not expensive.

I could have bought the ribbon mics, stands, and a digital mixer......... and I almost did. I figured that my daughter could use the equipment later in her career, when she needed to do more professional recordings, but I was rather pleased with what I was using, so I opted not to make the purchase.

I'm not sure how much different it would be with a tuba, rather than a French horn, but I would think that it should be quite workable.

I hope this helps at least a little.

Thank you both for the help!

I thought i had adjusted the level settings, but will check again. Definitely took some dialing in on the Tascam with that, too.

Hoping to not need much supplemental equipment... sounds like fun, but i just don't have time for it right now. Videos are more fun to share than audio, so hopefully I can work it out pretty easily.

Thanks again!

Thanks Bill! Very helpful!

Definitely a lot of directions I can go in, based on time and money...! Will check and try some things out and see where it takes me.