Audio recording equipment.

Hi all, I started learning to play tenor saxophone 4-5 weeks ago and can already hear a notable difference in the horrid noises that are expelled from the bell of my shiny Yanagisawa.

With this in mind I thought of an idea! My wife is currently assisting my 7 year old son with his schooling, ie- spelling, arithmatic ect and asked if I had anything I could record her sounding out spellings and times tables then play them back to my son!

So I started to look around and rather like these digital recorders made by Zoom, was looking at the H2n which can be had for around £150 on fleebay.

But rather like the idea that I could record myself while I desicrate my shiny Yanag! (hopefully ill play it back in years to come in disbelief ) I wish!

Any advise welcome.

Rgds Lee.
 
Hi Lee. Recording yourself whilst you learn the sax is a fantastic idea and one that is highly recommended by many teachers. As far as I'm aware, all the Zoom "H" range come highly recommended. I'm sure other members will give you their personal experiences and recomendations.
 
I've got a Zoom H2. Fantastic device. When I first got it I couldn't believe how good the recording is for such a cheap device. As well as sax recording I've also used it for recording the kids doing stuff for school. Very good value.
 
Hello Breathless,

With regard to recording yourself playing the sax, here's my admittedly limited experience:

I started off using my iPod touch which probably has much the same performance as any small portable recording device. While it worked, it was hard not to record the effect of the room acoustics as much as the instrument itself. It wasn't really satisfactory to be honest. I'm sure such a device would be fine for speech if you were talking directly into it. I then found an article on this site by a nice Mr Thomas extolling the virtues of a cheap electret condenser microphone on a boingy metal strip attached to the sax by a John Lewis plastic clothes peg. The mic I used came from Amazon for the outrageous price of just under £13. Here's the link to it:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Qtx-Microph...9XFI/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1338116356&sr=8-2

My boingy metal strip consisted of a bit of metal clothes hanger araldited to the clothes peg. You need the isolation this provides because if you clamp the mic directly onto the bell you get a nice thumpy sound everytime a pad closes over a tone hole. I'm very pleased with how this works and it was remarkably inexpensive to put together. You do need to have a PC nearby though.

The problem of any recording setup, especially one that captures our playing with unfailing fidelity, is that we get to hear exactly how we sound in all its gruesome detail. I've been playing for just over 4 months and according to my teacher am making excellent progress. However, having listened to some recordings of me my ears tell me otherwise. If anyone ever needs an incentive to work on them there long notes I think a recording of ourselves is probably one of the most potent.

Good luck,

Paul
 
I Have a Zoom H2 and after my sax it is the best thing I have bought. My tutor often records a piece for me to play along to which really helps with timing.

Jx
 
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I've had my H2n for about a month now, very happy indeed with it. I took it to band practice last week and recorded a piece and was blown away by how good the recording was for almost zero effort (was already set for surround sound and auto gain, put on chair in middle of room, press "record").

Brilliant piece of kit.
 
Another happy H2 user here. It can also be used as an audio interface to your computer so you can use (eg ) Audacity to record duets with yourself, solos over backing tracks, etc.
 
If you ever thought you might want to get a bit more ambitious, you could look at the Tascam DP-004 or DP-008. I got the former, and almost immediately upgraded to the latter. Apart from the tedious method of preparing to transfer recordings to/from your PC, they're very good. You can, for example, transfer a backing track to them, then record yourself while playing along to it (they will play and record at the same time).

May not be quite what you're looking for, but I like them! Oh, and apart from the links to the above, here's a review.

Cheers

Jonathan
 
Wow, thanks for all the reply! Lots of interesting info, and Paul regarding hearing yourself! I've only been playing 5 weeks and still making my ears bleed, but enjoying every minute.
Although my wife met her friend at the bus stop this morning, they live a road behind our house and her husband is a musician (plays trumpet) and she said to my wife "your husband was practising yesterday wasn't he?" (my wife- ar yes) wife's friendly - my husband was listening to him and said he's (me) is doing quite well, sounded quite good!

All I can think of is he must have heard the album I played after my practice Lol!

Jonathan ive just read the review and watched a few pootube videos on the Tascam dp004/008 Wow! What a piece of kit? I'm not advanced enough yet to need a bit of kit like that (I'm still on jingle bells - Not kidding either!) the idea has come from the need to record my wife's in a bid to help with his schooling but I think there will be a place for something like the Tascam in the future!
Thanks for all the advise.
Lee.
 
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I have a Zoom H1. Very easy to use and for less money. When I started to record myself to check my timing, "evenness" ... I recorded into an old tape recorder (Tandberg) and later a cc recorder. But if you want better recording you should go for a digital recorder.

I reacently bought a recording kit so I can record myself with a backing track. Hard to get used to play with headphones! But I prefer to play in the old way.

Thomas
 
Again thanks for all the info, after reading so many good reports regarding this device and watching many video reviews and demos I ordered an H2n and accessorie kit last night from the tropical rain forest website!

Should arrive Thursday, looking forward to playing with another gadget.

Rgds, Lee.
 

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