Need Advice

[hythloth81]

Can someone give me suggestions on how to record good quality video and sound for simple youtube clips of me playing my acoustic guitar? I have an idea of using my webcam but actually using an expensive mic instead of the cheap mic on the pc. BTW i'm using windows 7.

 

[guitarplayr82]

Check out this thread: https://homerecording.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=310888

It will give you the basics of how to use external microphones with your video recordings.

If you don't already own these things, you will need to pick them up so you can record:

• Microphone - any type you wish
• Audio Interface - transfers the analog audio into digital so your computer can read it
• Software capable of recording an external mic - check out Audacity

Poke around this site to find out more about those items. Those are the three main components you need to record some high-quality audio.

 

[hythloth81]

thx for your reply ... that was quick lol. any suggestions on an affordable interface? i do have a few mics ... a shure sm57 and an old condenser mic.

 

[guitarplayr82]

Check out the Emu 0404 USB, any of the M-Audio products, or any of the PreSonus products. They're all really good in my opinion. Just make sure you get an interface with phantom power if you plan on using the condenser mic.

 

[hythloth81]

ok i'll check it out ... something like this? http://pro-audio.musiciansfriend.com/product?sku=241710V

really all i want to do is bypass my computer mic with a nice condenser so i wouldn't have to match the audio with the video and get a perfect sync between the sound and video. i'm trying to get a true sound from my acoustic and my amp when i record clips on the electric.

 

[smithers138]

If you are looking to record single tracks and not spend too much money I would get an Edirol UA-4fx. That was the first interface I purchased and it is cheap, low noise, phantom power for condencer mics, soem pretty neet effects. It also comes with a version of sonar for editing music, I am partial to sonar myself mainly because it was the first DAW I used and it ahs always done everything I needed. Also it is USB 2.0 so for someone just wanting to record and not mess with firewire it is pretty straght forward. There are a lot of similar devices out there in this price range but this is the only low end interface I have used so the only one I can reccomend. Here is a link:

http://www.roland.com/products/en/UA-4FX/index.html


Oh yeah.. forgot, I still use this today because it is also a midi interface.

Edit: should have clicked the link to that M-Audio device it looks pretty slick too and is multi track...

 

[mjbphotos]

I think unless you have the right software running, you are going to need to edit the video/audio together.

 

[guitarplayr82]

ok i'll check it out ... something like this? http://pro-audio.musiciansfriend.com/product?sku=241710V

really all i want to do is bypass my computer mic with a nice condenser so i wouldn't have to match the audio with the video and get a perfect sync between the sound and video. i'm trying to get a true sound from my acoustic and my amp when i record clips on the electric.

Yep, that would do the job, but I've heard mixed reviews on that product. M-Audio's a great company but make sure you read plenty of reviews before purchasing. I have friends who really like that interface though.

Anyways, just to get this posted on this thread without having people go to another thread, here is the exerpt from the page I linked to about using external microphones with video:

Step 1: Start recording with the video camera/webcam.
Step 2: Mic anything you wish to - your guitar, your voice, etc. and start recording audio into the computer.
Step 3: Play the song as many times as you need to get a perfect take.
Step 4: Stop both recordings and save them to the same directory on your computer.
Step 5: Use any simple video editing application (such as iMovie or Windows Movie Maker) and import both the audio and video track.
Step 6: Align the tracks so the audio from the camera matches up with the audio you recorded into your computer.
Step 7: Choose the take you like the most and cut all of the other takes out of the video. This is a good time to add a transition such as a fade to the beginning or end of the video. You can also add a title card to the beginning if you want to.
Step 8: Finally, mute or extract the audio from the camera so you can only hear the good recorded audio.