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Am I on the right path for budget recording?

#41
Just an FYI, As in the video, you will need to rig some sort of mic boom. Depending on distance from the camera, this can be something as simple as a broom stuck with a I believe it is a 3/8" stud thread end on the end to hold your mic clip... (Verify thatt measurement).

The idea is a nice solid pole that will get your mic up overhead, close by the speaker, but out of the video frame.

My current rig is...

#1. Telescoping painters pole rigged to an old throw away photography tripid.
#2. Depending on location, either a Condenser mic with shock mount, OR a dynamic mic and mic clip. The condenser mic has MUCH better sound, but is FAR more sensitive and delicate in its very nature. The dynamic takes far more abuse, and sounds better in breezy / windy conditions.
#3. XLR cable. I use 20' Musicians Gear XLR tweed cables, they do a great job, tolerate a lot of abuse, and deliver clean sound.
#4. Small desk / table to hold the mixer and laptop.
 
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#42
The components I was planning to get for the non-instrument audio were just 4 items.

1. Atlas Sound PB21X Extendable Length Boom Ebony
2. Blue Blue 20 foot Quad Microphone Cable Blue 20 Feet
3. Raxxess Pop Filter Kit
4. Audio-Technica AT897 Line + Gradient Shotgun Condenser Microphone

Since I'm putting the investment into monitors and interfaces and what not, I decided to bring in other musicians for my channel. The only situation that I'm planning on not using direct in to record is a violin. I was thinking if I get a good telescoping boom stand, I could rig up my mic and just leave it in the same spot next to my workstation. For video editing, I'm also buying a new computer and such. Started out as just wanting to record some riffs so I don't forget them but it's quickly rolled into becoming a very amateur recording production. I'm dedicating my bedroom to this now. :)

Oh yeah, the telescoping boom was essential to get a downward angle to my microphone. I watched a lot of YouTube videos on shotgun mic usage and saw that to get the audio I was looking for, I'd need one.
 
#43
Just so we are clear here, are you wanting to record spoken work / dialog, or musical performance? The methods / equipment will be similar, but there will be definite differences...

If you are going to be using that mic for recording anywhere that there will be air movement coming from any direction other than say where your pop filter is, I would HIGHLY recommend a windscreen instead of, or in addition to the pop filter. (Windscreens make barely passable pop filters, pop filters make horrible windscreens).

If you are using a condenser mic, do yourself a huge favor and use a shock mount. I tried mine without a shock mount, and ewwww....

Is a Shotgun mic going to provide you with the pickup pattern you want?

Just some of the many stupid thoughts banging around in my head on this subject.

Not sure how helpful this is, but take a look at this link to get an explanation of microphone pickup patterns and what advantages one has over another.

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/mar07/articles/micpatterns.htm
 
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#44
Big Hoss said:
Just so we are clear here, are you wanting to record spoken work / dialog, or musical performance? The methods / equipment will be similar, but there will be definite differences...
Click to expand...

I will be recording all my electrical instruments via the direct in XLR connections on my mixer. The microphone is for dialogue for the videos. Only instrument I have in mind that I would record without the microphone is a violin, MAYBE an acoustic.

Big Hoss said:
If you are using a condenser mic, do yourself a huge favor and use a shock mount. I tried mine without a shock mount, and ewwww....
Click to expand...

I was thinking about making my own shock-mount. I wanted to see if I would even need it. I was planning to have the boom off to the side and hanging over my shoulder area and a little in front of me. I wasn't sure if I would need a shock mount if I wasn't anywhere near the mic.

Big Hoss said:
Is a Shotgun mic going to provide you with the pickup pattern you want?
Click to expand...

Yes and no. The smaller 160 buck version has an R in the title and is intended to be used on a camera and cut out extra noise from the sides AND behind the mic. The one I'm getting will not lower behind the mic noise unfortunately, but the overall quality of the recording will be higher. The one I REALLY want is a Sennheiser MKH416 P48 U3 Super-Cardioid Shotgun Condenser Microphone but that's $1000 so.... nope.... nerrrrrp.

If I were to go any higher price in any one item it would be between my camera and my Workstation PC. I'm likely getting a
Invalid Link Removed and a Panasonic HC-V750K Enhanced Sound Full HD Camcorder . The Camera that I would switch for is double the price and only slightly better to my eyes. The computer could always use more RAM for the video editing and rendering.


Oh. I read your blog and saw that you use Linux. My professor today told me that working on the videos and recordings in a Linux machine will boost my processor and memory power during rendering and editing. I've never used Linux though. Would it be wise to take windows off of my all-in-one, perform a couple of clean wipes, and install everything as Linux? I'm going to school for digital forensics and need to familiarize myself with linux a bit anyway, but its not worth throwing myself to the wolves unless the power increase will be real noticeable.
 
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#46
I'e been reading a lot tonight. You can try linux without uninstalling windows. I'll back up windows and give Linux a try. Sounds promising though. This is what my setup will be if I can manage it.

Fedora Workstation (uses the least amount of memory, less than Ubuntu)
Ardour digital audio workstation.
Lightworks (Now free and was used to edit Pulp Fiction and The Kings Speech)
 
#47
Yes, you CAN try Linux without actually installing it. I haven't tried running a "Live distribution" off of a USB flash drive yet. Something I should try honestly...

I use Linux because I make my living with it. Fedora being part of Red Hat is going to take a little extra work getting .mp3 and related support enabled as they don't include the codecs for legal reasons. It's one of the biggest reasons that Ubuntu has taken off like it has comparatively to Red Hat or Fedora with AV creation.

From a systems administration point of view, I would MUCH rather deal with Red Hat / Fedora or, well just about any rpm based system, but that is because it is what I have been using for, well going on 20 years now...

I hadn't paid any attention to Lightworks as last time I looked at it (easily 8 years ago) it was still a VERY expensive proprietary application and it did not support my camera. I am still using my old JVC Everio G which the only editor I am aware of that will import BOTH the audio and video is PowerDirector. HOWEVER, LIghtWorks is a well known, pro level application that is worth knowing. I am going to have to slap it onto my laptop and give it a spin!
 
#49
I was in class today and my professor brought up a good question after telling him I was going to use Fedora. Are the drivers for the XENYX USB Behringers compatible and available for Linux? I wasn't sure if yours was plugged into a linux or windows.
 
#51
Okay here is the screenshot...
FWIW, my Ubuntu system HDD tanked. Good thing I have backups...

So in order to demo this for you....

I threw up a fresh VMWare Player CentOS 7 64 bit load, threw the EPEL repositories in it, threw the NUX desktop repositories in it, and ran a simple yum install audacity. Once audacity and the required libraries were installed, I plugged the U-control USB interface in, flipped the inputs in audacity, and tested. Works like a champ...

I am figuring possibly incorrectly (although I know someone that has the BIG brother Eurodesk SX2442, it shows up on his Ubuntu system

Audacity_On_CentOS7_VM_With_Behringer_U-Control_UCA222.png


I can't / won't advise on Fedora. Due to the nature of my work, I only work with the Enterprise / Extended release versions. I can't afford to have a new version come out every 6 months and come to EOL after 2 years... I am not sure of your field of study, but if you are going into IT / Computer Science type field, I would highly recommend you look into Windows dekstops / servers, and Enterprise Linux distributions. CentOS being tied directly to Red hat now, is an even better choice than it used to be...
 
#52
A lot of what you said went over my head :P I'm ignorant of a lot of the technical terms.

On the issue with Fedora, you said to either use RedHat official or cent0S correct? I'm going into forensics, taking evidence off of cellphones and computers and turning it over to either law enforcement or a corporation. In forensics, I need to get acquainted with all the systems in the long run.

In this circumstance, I just want barebones OS that I can run my editing and recording software as fast as possible. I don't have a reference in the Linux OS field outside of not wanting Ubuntu. In my research on it people were saying that it "especially with Unity" were real memory hogs like Windows.
 
#53
Boom762 said:
A lot of what you said went over my head :p I'm ignorant of a lot of the technical terms.

On the issue with Fedora, you said to either use RedHat official or cent0S correct? I'm going into forensics, taking evidence off of cellphones and computers and turning it over to either law enforcement or a corporation. In forensics, I need to get acquainted with all the systems in the long run.

In this circumstance, I just want barebones OS that I can run my editing and recording software as fast as possible. I don't have a reference in the Linux OS field outside of not wanting Ubuntu. In my research on it people were saying that it "especially with Unity" were real memory hogs like Windows.
Click to expand...

Well to put it into the simplest manner possible. Fedora is the "Community Development" branch of Red Hat Linux. It can be considered "beta" software, this is where Red Hat gets ideas from and tries stuff out. New releases come out on about a 6 month release cycle. Support in the form of patches etc... I was however incorrect in my assertion that Fedora is supported for 2 years. According to https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Fedora_Release_Life_Cycle#End_of_Life_.28EOL.29 Fedora is supported for 1 month following the successive release.

"We say maintained for approximately 13 months because the supported period for releases is dependent on the date the release under development goes final. As a result, Release X is supported until one month after the release of Release X+2.

This translates into:

  • Fedora 20 will be maintained until 1 month after the release of Fedora 22.
  • Fedora 21 will be maintained until 1 month after the release of Fedora 23."
That means in order to be running a current, supported, and security patchable operating system, you will be upgrading about once a year.

Red Hat Enterprise Linux is their "mature" or stable product. In order to be workable for just about any sort of "Enterprise" the operating system must be supported for a far greater period of time. In the case of RHEL 7, that period is 10 years from first release (this past summer). So no pressure to upgrade. But then again, you also won't have the freshest device drivers or applications as it is intended to be as stable as physically possible...

CentOS is what they call a "Binary compatible recompile distribution" that is basically the free variant of Red Hat Enterprise Linux. There is patching available, but none of the premium corporate support contracts normally associated with RHEL, and trust me, the neck tie crowd wants someone to blame when something breaks, so don't underestimate the value of a support contract!

Now on my prior post, to clarify terms...

FWIW, my Ubuntu system HDD (Hard Disk Drive) tanked. Good thing I have backups...

So in order to demo this for you....

I threw up a fresh [Invalid or Expired Link Removed] (Virtualization Technology) CentOS 7 64 bit load, threw the EPEL (Extra Packages for Enterprise Linux) repositories in it, threw the NUX desktop repositories in it, and ran a simple yum install audacity. Once audacity and the required libraries were installed, I plugged the [Invalid or Expired Link Removed] USB interface in, flipped the inputs in audacity, and tested. Works like a champ...

Link Removed is an unofficial site regarding what NUX! desktop is, and how to set it up.

As far as compatibility with your mixer is concerned, from what I can find on it, the USB chipset / driver, or in the case of Linux Kernel Module, is the same as the U-Control USB Audio interface. They basically took my mixer, added the fader sliders, and the USB interface into one housing... You should be good.
 
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#55
No. My suggestion is CentOS. Same thing basically as RHEL, but without the paid support contract. If you think $299.00 a year is expensive, try buying a support contract for Solaris or HP/UX. Now THAT's expensive!

Seriously, in large working enterprises, the Linux you will find for the most part is RHEL, and for all intents and purposes, CentOS is RHEL without the Red Hat branded artwork, or support contract. Neither of those things are going to matter to you if you are a home user, developer, or enterprise standing up a development or staging environment. It is production where the money / support count.

Ubuntu is very popular these days with end users, but honestly, for the most part you don't run into it too often in data centers. Too bloated. I hear of small businesses getting their stuff done with Ubuntu, but large corporations, and government organizations not so much. Of course if you are in Europe the shoe swaps to the other foot in regards to choices of distributions, where SuSe is king...

Part of the reason for RHELs popularity among enterprise customers, is it's the distribution most third party enterprise management application vendors write to. So for example Veritas / Symantec offer Netbackup, Storage Foundation, and Veritas Cluster Service for Red Hat Enterprise, but not Ubuntu, or Linux Mint or... well you get the idea. They aren't the only ones, there are far more enterprise apps written with RHEL compatibility / support in mind than any other Linux distribution, and for that reason, if you want to make your bread and butter with Linux, I recommend being proficient if not expert with Red Hat. The way to do that without going broke is with CentOS, and a mess of books...
 
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#56
Be careful not to put too many obstacles in your path. If you WANT to become a *nix admin, then there's a lot to learn. But having to learn another OS will slow down your other progress.

You can do what you need with the OS you're familiar with. Windows with REAPER is not what I'd consider to be a compromise. Yes, the OS runs processes that will take some CPU/memory, but this will only be apparent when rendering (i.e. a very small portion of the time you'll spend working on this), and even then, you may not notice. (e.g. if it takes 60 seconds vs. 30 seconds to render audio, that's 2x but it's still just 30 seconds in an overall production process that takes hours. Rendering video takes minutes instead of seconds, but is still a small percentage of the overall time) I guess my point is that the time spent learning a new OS will be much greater than the cumulative time saved from whatever performance benefit it gives you.


You don't need a pop filter with a shotgun microphone. Get a dead cat if you've got a lot of air moving, but the screen that comes with the microphone should suffice for indoors. I use my shotgun on a microphone boom arm with the supplied mount (not a shock mount) and don't have any problems. I place the microphone below and in front for video dialog because it doesn't get in the way of the lights. YMMV, there's more than one way to do it, etc.
 
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#57
Sorry, I was directing him on Linux as he had asked specifically about Linux. Honestly, for most of my audio / video work I do it on my Windows 8.1 laptop. Again I use both to make my living, As well as Solaris. I have done other *nix variants over the years... The one OS I have steered clear of has been MacOS. Yes it IS UNIX under the hood, it's what's on top I am avoiding. Not that it is bad, I just don't need the extra crap to learn on top of what I am already jamming into my crusty skull...

iOS same deal. Not that I have anything against it, but I get paid to support our Android efforts, so I stick with the OS that makes me money...

I must admit, I've not used Reaper. I use Audacity, and dabble a little teeny tiny bit into Tracktion as the license came with my Behringer USB device. I believe Mackie mixers also provide a Tracktion license.

Mind you, for musical performance, well.. I wouldn't worry too much about concealable / concealed microphones. Unless that is the aesthetic you are going for...
 
#58
My adviser/professor says we'll have to be proficient in Linux, Windows, Unix, and unfortunately IOS. So far we've just had to learn the different extension names and hex code beginnings but, it will get a lot more intensive later on. He had one of my classmates install Linux Ubuntu to give him a head start on it all. Ill to start researching CentOS.
 
#60
Big Hoss said:
Extension names?
Click to expand...
The endings of files like
.doc .jpg .png
Some of them can clue you into to what system is being used. When given a hard-drive that has been deleted to hide evidence, one of the first things we look at in our image of it is the files that are marked "deleted" and what extensions they have. If they don't open it's usually because someone renamed a file with the wrong extension to try and throw people off. Like in ProDiscover or FTK, the program gets confused and will take a video file and label it as a word document if it's name ends in .doc

It's rare though because most criminals are terrible about getting rid of evidence. Drug dealers keep phone numbers and sales, pedophiles collect pictures of their victims. Most of the time, they think just deleting the file is enough

When a new version of Fedora comes out, does that mean you have to uninstall the last one and install the new one and start from scratch or is it just a simple update process and you keep all your files?

I read up on CentOS and there were a lot of issues with software (like ardour) and hardware throughout some of the forums I read through. There's also a fear in the community that it might end up like Slackware, where when the few people developing most of Cent go away, the CentOS project would become a wreck. Some people scared me off of it by referring to the install process itself, saying that I could ruin the PC somehow if the wrong options were selected. Aye.

Even as I type this I was partly considering Ubunutu, but taking in all the advise given so far I'm thinking it might be worth it to just pay the $50 a year for Red Hat Enterprise Self Support. That way I'm getting a serviced product, has the tie in to the career field as you said being one of the more found systems in the corporate field, and still not have to download a grab bag of programs I don't need. Being that I'm not in the "black tie" crowd, the only finger I will point hopefully is the one touching the record button.

I hadn't thought about my mics getting in the lighting path. I had thought about buying a drum kick mic and recording from below, but I thought it might no work out well if I was speaking or doing a gear review. Something to ponder and test for sure. I wonder if a wool sock would work well as a dead cat.
 

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