Recording your band…where to start?

After going through the hectic and trying times of recording some applicants to the All-State Band, only to find out that none of them made it, I decided to purchase some recording equipment to get as high quality as I can.  I am convinced that the reason that some students did not make the cut was because of the recording quality.  The fact that this factors in is for another blog-rant, so I will spare you.

Where do I start?  What do other directors use?  I have been looking online for something affordable and I have found a few items:

1.  Zoom H2 Handy Two-Track Recorder.  This device is an all in one set up.  It has a left-right-mid mic set up, so you supposedly get a stereo recording.  The nice thing about it is that it is all self-contained.  The recording controls are on this device, as are the mics.  Also, it comes with a USB output so you can dump the recording onto your Mac or PC (more on this in a minute).

2.  Samson CO1U USB Condenser Mic:  $87.95 (Amazon).  This is just a microphone.  You would have to lug it into your laptop or desktop computer, but it would deliver a decent sound.  I hesitate at its price.  I have purchased microphones before, and this price seems a bit low.  I would not want to buy it, wait for it to be delivered, then regret it.  This is just one of two pages of results I found when I searched for “microphones USB”.  Here is the link for the page of results:  http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_etk_ce_av_/002-4711038-4340050?url=search-alias%3Daudio-video&field-keywords=microphones+USB&x=0&y=0

3.  Audacity:  (FREEWARE).  I have been using this program for years.  It is easy to use, and it includes powerful editing features.  Sure, you can buy other programs to edit (Peak, Cakewalk, etc.) but those programs have a ton of other stuff you really don’t need when it comes to making a decent all state or audition recording of your band.  Audacity will record your track, display a sound wave, and allow you to fade in, fade out, splice out bad clicks or pops, record multiple layers, and a bunch of other stuff.  It is a free download from audacity.sourceforge.net.  Keep in mind that you will need to download something called the “lame lib” if you want to convert your recording to an .mp3.  If you guys want me to, I will do a post on how to use Audacity later.

That is all I have found that has made it on my potential shopping list.  There is a ton of crap out there, so be careful.