Topic: Field recordings on the go! (10-ch telephone song..)

[BottleneckJohn]

Guys, just wanted to share this!
I'm a big fan of analog recordings but the digital stuff can be very useful..

A tiny clip here with a song I recorded on my iPhone!!!
Hehe ..

This is a song called Do You Call That a Buddy?
Heard it with Bob Brozman, many years ago ..

http://www.bottleneckjohn.com/Doyoucallthatabuddy.mp3


Just the phone and headphones were used, the mic is the one built in.
The voice distorted a bit, hard to find the proper distance right away, LoL!

With an external quality pickup you could probably do really good recordings, great for the songwriter who wants to put together an idea or for folks wanting to make some cool "field recordings"..
Remember this test is really, really just for the fun of it, a crazy jam......

Straight to the computer, no EQ or fixing/mixing with the file...


I managed to squeeze in:

Guitar banjo: Levin 1931
Resonatorguitar: Republic Highway 61
Mandolin: Levin 1950's
Foot-stomping
Drums(brushes!) Played on the banjo skin, haha! 
Lead Vocals
3 Backing vocals
Kazoo..

All in all, a fun test..
Thinking of getting a condenser mic later on for this one! 


http://www.bottleneckjohn.com/iPhone.htm

[Pan]

Great stuff BJ!

I wish I was as savvy with the recording stuff, as you are. Not to mention, of course, the great voice and playing...

Cheers

Pan

[BottleneckJohn]

Thanks Pan!!

This was a very easy way to record some simple acoustic stuff. 
With an external mic I think the quality is good enough to put on a record, mine at least, lol!!

I'll record some stuff on tour or wherever and see what happens, meeting other musicians down the road and being able to record together could be great fun!!!

[uncle bud]

Nice, John. I am assuming the iPhone is not mixing the different tracks together and that you've done that on the computer using some piece of software? (Not a smartphone user at this point, so am not smart about them.)

[BottleneckJohn]

Nice, John. I am assuming the iPhone is not mixing the different tracks together and that you've done that on the computer using some piece of software? (Not a smartphone user at this point, so am not smart about them.)

Thanks!

And no, everything is actually and completely recorded, panned, mixed and mastered in the phone!!  

That's what's so totally freakin' awesome with this thing, lol!!
I'm so amazed about this gadget, hehe.

When you're done mixing it down to a 2-track stereo wav-file, you can upload it via wifi from the phone to your  computer.
Or take each track form the phone to mix in a computer but that is not needed, I mixed it all in the phone this time!

It very, very easy!
I used to operate a recording studio between 1992 and 2005, all analog multi-track tape recorders, a huuuge mixing console etc, etc..

Now I can carry my "studio" in my pocket!  

The program I use is called 4-track, and it's basically no limit to the amount of tracks used by bouncing it all to the two first tracks over and over again.. It's a very smart system that also can keep your original tracks intact and just create a new "song" for each bounce..



Like this last song I have 10 tracks running and it works perfectly!

I've just made two test recordings so far but I must say it sounds quite OK considering it's the built in mic used, there's some great condenser mics that you can plug into the iPhone.. I'm gonna try that and see how much better it gets!

Since I'm so impressed I have the weird idea to record a bunch of songs somewhere comfortable(not a studio environment) with this new thing and maybe it can be used for a new CD?!
There's always the chance to do some stuff to the recorded material in a computer later on, like adding reverb, I miss  that feature in the phone's program..  

Imagine if John Lomax had one of these...


I wrote some on my website about the process:
http://www.bottleneckjohn.com/iPhone.htm

[sustaireblues]

Dang John, that is great!
I love the sound quality.
You definitely on to something there!

Joe

[uncle bud]

Wow, thanks for the info, John. Consider me impressed! Yet another reason to get an iPhone.

[BottleneckJohn]

Wow, thanks for the info, John. Consider me impressed! Yet another reason to get an iPhone.

Thanks and yes, if you have an iPhone, get this app for sure!! 
If you're considering a new phone and/or to get a hand-held recorder like ZOOM etc, an iPhone with this software could do the trick.. 
I've had my iPhone for 3 weeks and I'm totally happy I got it, been reluctant for years now and finally I got it and I don't have any regrets at all.. It's the ultimate phone/studio, haha!!

Dang John, that is great!
I love the sound quality.
You definitely on to something there!
Joe

I was so surprised over the quality of the recordings too!
It sounds quite nice with that many tracks used, not too much hiss.. And still, with an external condenser mic plugged in, the quality must be even better!!
It's all about having the proper distance between the phone and voice/instrument. Kinda hard for my vocals not to distort, hehe. "Too dynamic" I guess.. But I'm learning..