Grandfather wants to record himself telling stories... How?

[Destroyer OS.]

My grandfather has had me build him an audiophile setup but now he wants to record himself telling stories. I am sure he will spend whatever it takes to make it sound good. The problem is he is well old and probably thinks in terms of tapes or something.

What kind of equipment should I recommend? I am sure he would pay a few hundred bucks for a decent voice microphone and so on, maybe even buy a computer if he had too. My initial thought was ProTools on a MacBook Pro with an M-audio firewire device and a really good Microphone but the learning curve will not be easy, for sure. If there is some way I can make this easier I would like too.

[dooper]

If money is not a concern, the FlashMic would be an elegant solution.

[Dr.EM]

I'd go with the computer based recording setup, just use a simple wave editor program instead of Pro-tools, it's all that's required by the sound of it .

Once you've set up the gains on the interface and made a shortcut to the recording software, I doubt it'll be too hard to use?


Incidently, I've used home made phantom powered electret mics with the Panasonic capsule connected to a PC line input via a basic 8 channel mixer to give results more than good enough for speech recording (IMO). Perhaps less relevant if money isn't much of an issue though.

[Destroyer OS.]

I just know he wants it to sound really good. Money is not a concern in that he will spend what he needs to for it, not that he has endless money. He is at an age where he is going to do whatever he wants.

I know he wants it to sound intimate so anything omnidirectional and stuff like that is out. He definitely wants something that Diana Krall would tell a story on kind of sound I am sure.

[theAnonymous1]

For something semi-portable with "Hi-Fi" quality, I would do......

CEntrance -> MicPort Pro

Parts-Express.com:Behringer B-5 Single-Diaphragm Condenser Microphone | Behringer B-5 Single Diaphragm Condenser Microphone Condenser Microphone NewBEHR08

And a "netbook" with a decent size hard drive.

There are countless applications for audio recording; I won't even try to suggest which one would be best to use.

[Destroyer OS.]

That looks like a smart setup. The little pre-amp device looks good.

I figured a laptop/notebook mostly because there is no internet where he lives. How good is the Mic?

[theAnonymous1]

Originally Posted by Destroyer OS.

How good is the Mic?

There are better mics out there; you get what you pay for. I was just trying to suggest something suitable with a reasonable price tag.

I mean, there is this if you really want to go all "Diana Krall" ........

Parts-Express.com:Audio-Technica AT4060 Cardioid Condenser Tube Microphone | Audio-Technica AT4060 Cardioid Condenser Microphone Tube Microphone Microphone Condenser Microphone Cardioid Microphone audtec09

[wakibaki]

There are many, many (tape-alike) standalone audio recorders, from the ones built into stills cameras, phones, and minidiscs to solid state such as this:- Tascam DR2d recorder. Tascam is a respected name in the field. You can probably find a similar device cheaper.

You could consider setting up a video camera, and making a visual record too. If you go this route you should probably pick a camera with headphone and external mic sockets, they are available in amateur level equipment. Pick one with solid state memory again, its easier to get into a computer and edit. In this case the camera would be the sole recorder.

You didn't say anything about editing. A lot depends on what kind of editing you intend to do, and who will do it. In some ways a laptop or desktop computer is the best choice, because everything tends to end up in there in the end, for editing purposes. In this case software might be cubase, coupled with a decent sound card and possibly a webcam or better video device.

You need to find out your grandfather's exact intentions, and what he visualises as the result. Does he want to sound like a voicebook (podcast?), or will he be happy with something more informal? How about background noise? Second takes? Does he want to play with the electronics, or offload the technicalities? Presumably he's not too decrepit to press record, forward, back and play, so cut-and-paste might not be beyond him.

w

I am well old too, you young pup.

[john blackburn]

If you want a simple to use PC editor/recorder Goldwave is a good place to start. Go for an older version as they were easier to use in my opinion, I use 4.26. It's shareware and has a limit to how many commands you can use per session. It isn't something that will cause you any problems though.

Download GoldWave - Old Version.com

There are plenty of tutorials too......... YouTube - Goldwave Tutorial

Cubase is great, but it is very complex and also expensive to buy. If you wanted to mix 24 channels and sequence midi it would be exactly the thing but a bit overkill for what you need.

My mic is a Rode NT RØDE Microphones - NT1-A

It's a lovely mic but sensitive enough to pick up the fridge running 2 rooms away in a quiet house. It will get every sound whether you want it to or not. You would need a phantom power supply or mixer to run it too, some other condenser mics will run from a 1.5v battery.

I think wakibaki is right, use a video camera and have him sat in a comfy chair nicely lit. If he is the same as most people it will take him some time to relax around a mic in his face. A camera could be set on a tripod a couple of meters away with a shotgun mic making it easier to forget about for him. Have a google on voice recording techniques and mic placement, it's worth taking a little time on your room to make the best of what you've got.

Hope it helps

John

[ecir38]

Take a look at this article from the latest audioxpress issue.

http://www.audioxpress.com/reviews/media/levkoff310.pdf

I know of a couple musicians that use these in some of their recordings and the results are truely amazing from the cd's they burned the files to that I have listend to. One fellow is a older gent and descrided the sound as similiar to recordings back probably around your grandfathers day when just a single mic was used that gave that vintage sound, something he may apprecite.

I wouldn't get much easier and the price isn't crazy.

Brad