Digital recording of church worship and sermon

H

hockeypoor

New member
I tired recording the sermon this weekend and picked up a ton of what sounds like radio interference. I came off the tape out rca's on my mackie 1604 vlz into the mic input on the laptop.
Not really able to do any mixing but right now I just want the sermon.

I want to use a Tascam us1641 for recording.


I would just use some "Y's before the Mackie and go 1 to the mackie for House and 1 to the Tascam for recording. The Tascam come with basic Cubbase le4. But I also have Audacity. With would be better for basic sound? We are a small church with a nice worship band and just want good sound for the website.
 
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Chances are, a mix for recording and a mix for PA purposes won't be the same. You might consider using an unused effects send or similar so that you can get a custom mix for recording. That said, I'd be tempted to just stick a stereo mic (or a pair of cardioid mics on a stereo bar) out in the middle of the congregation somewhere. If it sounds good in the space, you'll probably be happier with the sound that way (and if it doesn't, fix it :D).

Regarding Cubase vs. Audacity, your choice in DAW software should make absolutely no difference in the sound captured, and negligible difference in the mixdown quality. If it does, it's a bug.
 
I have the same vlz. I would use one of the 1-8 channels for the mic and use it's respective direct out to feed your interface. Take out anything inbetween. That board has plenty of routing options. The mic input is a problem. I would get a small interface like the firebox or the tascam you mentioned.
 
gcapel said:
I have the same vlz. I would use one of the 1-8 channels for the mic and use it's respective direct out to feed your interface. Take out anything inbetween. That board has plenty of routing options. The mic input is a problem. I would get a small interface like the firebox or the tascam you mentioned.
Click to expand...

So I could use a Behringer U-CONTROL UCA222 USB Audio Interface.
Would I hook that to the tape OUTS? or to just the pastor's mic direct out?

I would not be able to mix anything but the sound through a USB would be much better then through the mic input. Is that correct?
 
hockeypoor said:
I came off the tape out rca's on my mackie 1604 vlz into the mic input on the laptop.
Click to expand...

Does your laptop have a "line" input? What you described is pretty much what I'd expect from the "mic" input on a built-in soundcard.
If you dont have a "line" in, you'll need to consider a usb or firewire interface. Plenty out there capable of stereo input for cheap...
 
Jeff_D said:
Does your laptop have a "line" input? What you described is pretty much what I'd expect from the "mic" input on a built-in soundcard.
If you dont have a "line" in, you'll need to consider a usb or firewire interface. Plenty out there capable of stereo input for cheap...
Click to expand...

No "line" input only mic.
so I think going with a Behringer U-CONTROL UCA222 USB Audio Interface.
Will do the trick for now.
Although I still wont be able to edit each track it will work for just the sermon.
I really want to get the worship at some point also.
 
hockeypoor said:
No "line" input only mic.
so I think going with a Behringer U-CONTROL UCA222 USB Audio Interface.
Will do the trick for now.
Although I still wont be able to edit each track it will work for just the sermon.
I really want to get the worship at some point also.
Click to expand...

So, do you already have the Mackie mixer and the Tascam us1641???
How many channels are you using at once? If you already have the Tascam, I wouldnt buy another interface. I'd spend a few bucks on cables to hook the two together. My first inclination would be to use the Mackie as the main mixer and then use the direct outs from that to inputs on the Tascam.
 
hockeypoor said:
So I could use a Behringer U-CONTROL UCA222 USB Audio Interface.
Would I hook that to the tape OUTS? or to just the pastor's mic direct out?

I would not be able to mix anything but the sound through a USB would be much better then through the mic input. Is that correct?
Click to expand...

I;ll tell you what I do at my church. I put a firewire card in the PC and I use a presonus firebox (cubase LE came with it). It has two mic pre inputs and two line inputs. I feed one of the line inputs from the lapel mic direct out from the board. I put two large diaphram condenser mics in the back of the room 10' apart on center with the house speakers. I plug those mics in the two mic pre inputs on the firebox. I used this way so I could record the music as well as mix the room mics with the lapel mic later in cubase.
 
Jeff_D said:
So, do you already have the Mackie mixer and the Tascam us1641???
How many channels are you using at once? If you already have the Tascam, I wouldnt buy another interface. I'd spend a few bucks on cables to hook the two together. My first inclination would be to use the Mackie as the main mixer and then use the direct outs from that to inputs on the Tascam.
Click to expand...

This is my current set-up.
Mackie 1640 vlz mixer.

7 xlr Shure mics'= 4 for singers, 1 for tambo, 1 for wireless handheld mic, 1 for Pastor's wireless headset mic.

2 Channels used for direct guitar inputs.

1 channel for keyboard.

I am using the Mackie as The House mixer and it does work great.

We are growing and our goal was to get our Sermon's online to our website.(easy) Then we decided that we also wanted to do Worship and cd's. That's when things became difficult.
Later we will move into video!

I am just trying to find the best way to do things and not have to back track or rebuy something.

So I have come to 3 options I think.
1) buy a cheap audio interface like the Behringer UCA222 USB
run from the rca out's on the Mackie to the UCA 222 to the usb on my laptop. This should give me good reproduction of the "HOUSE SOUND"
Cheap and easy but no editing.

2) Buy the Tascam us1641 and install "y"s on the mic's before they go into the mackie. 1 to mackie 1 to Tascam. then to usb and spend time mixing.
This is the best I THINK for getting great sound out of both the sermon and the Worship. But will also take longer to mix after service.

3) Buy a Mixing Recorder like a TasCam 2488 Neo (or close) This would give me instant mixing and cd's but is also more money.

Ok sorry about so much this is what I am trying to figure out.
 
Your option 2 looks good, if you don't mind the extra time mixing. Remember that when you are in service of your fellow man you are in service of the lord. The 'house sound' straight from the board won't really give you the same sound that you are hearing in the building. A stereo mix using 2 room mics and the headset would give you a pretty good sound without much mixing.
 
Ok so I have a new idea.
As we all know what sounds good in a Church does not always record well and sound good in your car.
But here is what I am thinking.
I have got the sermons down that was kinda easy because it is only 1 track.

As for the worship team. How would this work?

Set up 1 stereo mic on a stand right in the center of the church and record from that during practice. If it sounds good in the church and I record that wouldn't that be a more of a true sound then the 1 channel I am currently pulling off the mixer which is mixed for the house but does not record well?
 
man I just can't figure out what is the right way to go.
Now I am thinking maybe a Behringer XENYX 1222FX usb mixer instead of the Tascam us 1641. I don't know help help. Pros and cons of both please.
Click to expand...
I have the Xenyx 1204FX.
Nice mixer but not for recording, I'm afraid. It's too noisy.
Just off the cuff, is the pastor wearing a lapel mic.?
 
Yes the pastor has a wireless lapel mic. I have got his sermons down no problem and they sound good. I am looking for a cheap way to record the worship team now.
 
Yes the pastor has a wireless lapel mic. I have got his sermons down no problem and they sound good. I am looking for a cheap way to record the worship team now.
Click to expand...
:)
Glad you got it.
What's a worship team?
 
I think it is what us Catholics think of as the 'House Musicians'.

My group at our church survived for 22 years. You can get decent live sound. But recording them was a real challenge, especially since so much of what we did was acoustic-guitars, pianos, mandolins, and the occasional tin whistle.

No way to filter out shuffling, sneezing and the kids in the front pew screaming about something.
 
zippydw said:
I think it is what us Catholics think of as the 'House Musicians'.

My group at our church survived for 22 years. You can get decent live sound. But recording them was a real challenge, especially since so much of what we did was acoustic-guitars, pianos, mandolins, and the occasional tin whistle.

No way to filter out shuffling, sneezing and the kids in the front pew screaming about something.
Click to expand...

Good point. I am going to try to record the "band" tonight at practice. Nobody but us will be there so I still think 1 mic center of room. But we will see.
 
I think it is what us Catholics think of as the 'House Musicians'.
Click to expand...
Aaaah!
Two mics would obviously be better but with respect to the venue, a bit obtrusive.
Let us hear how it goes.
 
I have the same issuesa. I just use my DP-1 connected to the headphone jack on the board or one of the aux out's. I record in MP3 and the sound is good, I then transfer it to our web site, very easy. Phil
 
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