Category: Remote Recording

Sonobus Remote Sessions

Ever since the pandemic, I have been trying different ways to work together remotely with you. The video chats work well for video but lack the features for good quality audio. Zoom, Webex, Facetime, Skype, Jitsi Meet – they all suffer being limited to mono audio, and an audio frequency range that is more suited to speech than music. Add to that the noise suppression algorithms that mangle sustained musical tones and it’s just not a good experience.

In the past I have used a product from Audionamix called ListenTo that worked well – full bandwidth audio, but there was no way for us to communicate with each other during a session.

Sonobus is the latest product to be offered to help musicians collaborate with each other. It was intended to be a solution for those who want to play live music with friends and band mates over the internet. It features:

  • Full bandwidth, stereo CD quality audio
  • Very low latency – usually less than 100 milliseconds to make the round trip from your mouth to the web and back again to your ears.
  • Text chat is built in
  • Voice chat is built in as well, with the ability to mute your mic input.
  • Works on Windows, Apple, IOS, and Android – so you can use it with any device on hand.
  • It is open source, so it will always have the support of the programming community
  • It is free to use
  • For best results, wear headphones or ear buds to prevent feedback.

It works well for tracking and general editing work. For mixing and mastering, however, headphones are not as accurate as speakers. When you book a remote session, remember to allow another half hour or so to get a good mix from me after we disconnect from Sonobus.

Recording Guitar to a Track with a Single Mobile Device

Stop calling it a phone. It’s so much more. Our mobile devices have become our still cameras, our video cameras, our encyclopedias, our newspapers, our magazines, and our audio recorders. The microphones that are built into our mobile devices are capable of recording the entire human frequency spectrum.

Just look at the specs for the iPhone6 (L) and the Galaxy S2 (R):

These are both older generation devices (S2 was released in 2011, iPhone 6 in 2014), but you can see that the frequency response is practically flat – nearly reference level. And they’ve only gotten better.

Here is the iPhone 11 (L) and the Pixel 4 (R):

So the device is no longer the problem. The problem is how to make a recording in your house that sounds almost as good as if you had recorded it in the studio.

I have just created two videos on how to record your guitar to a rhythm track using just one mobile device. Click here for the Android version, and click here for the Apple iPad version.

In the video I show you how to create a good recording environment by treating a common bedroom door with quilts to create a sound baffle. This keeps your recording from sounding like it was made in a bedroom.

You’ll learn where the microphone is located on your device and (through my prior testing) I’ll show you where to place your device in order to get the best sound.

I pass along some technical tips about what type of earphones to use as well as a few recording tips to make sure that you can deliver something that can be quickly time-aligned and will sound good from the start to the very end.

If you schedule a remote session with me, I have documents that I will share with you as to what apps to get for Android and IOS (they’re all free) and I’ll give you a free technical session to help you set things up.

Even though in-person sessions are available, some of you are far away and it’s not an easy thing to travel here. Remote recording is a good solution and one that shouldn’t require a sacrifice in quality.

 

Mobile Recording

As you know, during this time of uncertainty I have requested that my clients work with me remotely. One of the biggest challenges is getting a near studio quality vocal recording from home. I have just put together a short video with tips on how to do it. Follow this link for my brief YouTube video. In it I cover these topics:

  • Technical issues regarding wired earphones versus Bluetooth earphones
  • The two ways of recording your vocal along with a track
  • The importance of removing your device case
  • How to hold your device for best vocal quality
  • The best place in your house to record

I am preparing procedures for safely re-opening to in-person sessions; however I will still be offering my discounted price to clients who are willing to record with me remotely. This pandemic will remain a serious concern for those like me in the high risk category until a vaccine can be developed and implemented, and that is not likely to happen until some time in 2021. In the meantime, I believe that we can still work together and create more music for the world.