Recording options???

R

Rockrz

New member
If one is playing backing tracks / accompaniment tracks where the music is originating from a PC into a PA system... and the vocals are going thru the PA system (not the PC)... what options are there for doing some decent recording of both the music source and the vocals where both can flow together at the same level or at least at a level where both sound good together?

Obviously I don't want to provide a blank check for the project but I don't mind spending a few hundred bucks for some decent results.

Any ideas on products, or where to look for products to accomplish this would be appreciated.
Thank you!
 
Rockrz said:
If one is playing backing tracks / accompaniment tracks where the music is originating from a PC into a PA system... and the vocals are going thru the PA system (not the PC)... what options are there for doing some decent recording of both the music source and the vocals where both can flow together at the same level or at least at a level where both sound good together?

Obviously I don't want to provide a blank check for the project but I don't mind spending a few hundred bucks for some decent results.

Any ideas on products, or where to look for products to accomplish this would be appreciated.
Thank you!
Click to expand...
Just to kind of put a perimeter around this, just a couple questions.
  • How are you getting the music from the PC to the PA? (E.g., Is it using the headphone out? Something else?)
  • Is this all your own rig, i.e., you can pretty much plug anything in wherever you want? The backing tracks are on your own PC, etc?
  • If it is your own PA, what mixer is it? If it has any separately controllable sends, busses, FX out, etc.
  • Do you already own a digital recorder, and if you do, does it have XLR input or stereo line-level inputs?
The reason I'm asking is because different solutions, and pieces you'd have to acquire change depending on what is already in place, and what might change from time to time.

With all that, some DIs (or one stereo one) and a mic splitter and a digital recorder that can take all the inputs will definitely work - it's what I've been using for years, but you might get away with a less, especially if you're willing to sync up just a vocal recording with backing tracks you already have on your PC afterwards. Or, just take a tape/ctrl/heapphone output from the mixer to a basic digital recorder like a Zoom H2n, Tascam DR-03, et al. My buddy does this all the time. It's mono, but it gives you exactly what's going out of the PA.
 
The music is MP3 coming from a laptop ear plug (If USB is better, please let me know how) into a Lexicon Alpha unit which is supposed to make MP3 sound richer and fuller

From there it's going in to a 2000 watt Behringer Europort PPA2000BT pa system

I'm just trying to figure out how to blend the music and the vocals and capture it in a digital format in WAV so it can be mixed after the fact
 
Rockrz said:
The music is MP3 coming from a laptop ear plug (If USB is better, please let me know how) into a Lexicon Alpha unit which is supposed to make MP3 sound richer and fuller

From there it's going in to a 2000 watt Behringer Europort PPA2000BT pa system

I'm just trying to figure out how to blend the music and the vocals and capture it in a digital format in WAV so it can be mixed after the fact
Click to expand...
Well, you've already got the backing track so there's really no reason to capture it again, right?

Maybe this falls in the "all you have is a hammer" category, since I use these kinds of devices, here's what I suggest... Just put a splitter on the mic and capture it on a digital recorder, then mix the two in a DAW like Reaper. You can apply FX like compression and EQ to the tracks there, doing the same thing the Lexicon is doing I'm sure, to create a finished sound. (You might even figure out a way to improve the MP3s so you can skip the Lexicon in the future.)

Here are couple of links to products that would work - you can spend more, of course, or choose other brands.
ART ProSplit | Sweetwater

Zoom H4N Pro Handy Recorder | Sweetwater
 
you've already got the backing track so there's really no reason to capture it again, right?
Click to expand...

Well, yes... I'd like to capture it along with the vocals so I'm capturing both at the same time so they are being blended together.

It would be more complicated to capture vocals only and then have to learn how to do mixing to mix it all together.

I've seen people capture vocal and music together and tinker with the output volume of each until both sound like the are flowing together and it sounds pretty decent
 
Rockrz said:
Well, yes... I'd like to capture it along with the vocals so I'm capturing both at the same time so they are being blended together.

It would be more complicated to capture vocals only and then have to learn how to do mixing to mix it all together.

I've seen people capture vocal and music together and tinker with the output volume of each until both sound like the are flowing together and it sounds pretty decent
Click to expand...
They aren't captured together if the volumes can be adjusted afterwards, i.e, they have to be on separately recorded tracks.

If you don't need to keep the stereo in the backing track, you can just add a stereo->mono (1/4") cable from the PC into a passive DI, cable the thru/parallel jack to the PA, and XLR to the other channel of the digital recorder. (What I suggested in my first reply.) If you want to keep the backing track stereo, you'd need a 4 track capable recorder, or a different kind of setup.
 
They aren't captured together if the volumes can be adjusted afterwards
Click to expand...

No, they are adjusting the incoming volume levels as it happens not after the fact.

I saw one guy who had experimented with this and he could get the vocals at the right volume level where it flowed right along with the music and sounded pretty good.

Yes, I'd like to keep the stereo and all audio at the highest quality possible
 
Rockrz said:
No, they are adjusting the incoming volume levels as it happens not after the fact.

I saw one guy who had experimented with this and he could get the vocals at the right volume level where it flowed right along with the music and sounded pretty good.

Yes, I'd like to keep the stereo and all audio at the highest quality possible
Click to expand...
Why not just record from the PA then? Or ask them what they are doing?
 
The guy I knew that was doing this is no longer around.

Not sure how to tap in to the Behringer Europort PPA2000BT pa system to capture music and vocal together.

What device would I need to plug in to the pa?
 
Rockrz said:
The guy I knew that was doing this is no longer around.

Not sure how to tap in to the Behringer Europort PPA2000BT pa system to capture music and vocal together.

What device would I need to plug in to the pa?
Click to expand...
You could use anything that has a line-level input. My friend uses a Tascam DR-05, going in the EXT-IN (stereo 1/8") jack. You'd need a cable for RCA to stereo 1/8" to run from the Recording Out jacks on the Behri, and have to configure the Tascam appropriately. You'd have to test to make sure the Behri output is a consumer line-out, but it probably is. My friend discovered that his recorder worked fine with his small Yamaha board he uses when doing his solo gigs, but couldn't handle the level from his large Mackie (? IIRC).

That's about $100 plus the cost of a cable. Then you'd hear what you're sending to the audience.
 
Yeah, the general consensus is to use use a plug in recorder like you mentioned since this is not a high end deal bny any means and I've talked to some that say the plug in recorders work pretty decent so I'm sure something like this will meet my needs.

Until... I get rich and build an underground studio :D

Then, we'll be installing some high end gear fo sho
 
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