[OhRightSF]

Any tips for where to place my Roland R-07 handheld recorder during a performance tomorrow?

It’s a quintet with me on tenor sax, piano, bass, drums and guitar, jazz standards in a club setting. (But a workshop recital, not a pro gig.)

I’ve seen one sax player put the recorder at his feet on stage. Seems better than on music stand in front of me, but any suggestions?

 

[littlewailer]

Bring a set of headphones so you can listen back right away. This is always a must when doing these kinds of gorilla recordings.

Looks like a nice recorder. I'm just looking at the specs online now.

What you need to realize is that the recorder is going to pick up sounds that are close to it much better than sounds that are further away. Because of this I find that drums and bass often become too quiet in the mix. That's why I'll stand next to the bass player and place my recorder about 4 feet away from where I'll be standing and then the drums and bass don't get lost in the mix.

You have to "mix" by the theory of gain staging basically. Your device should have a certain setting in it to record for the situation. The scene.

Also if you are playing acoustic that's the easiest situation. If you're using a PA of any sort than can create its own problems when picking up a stage recording using a little recorder.

Your recorder looks cool though. Just make sure that you aren't clipping the signal. record some snippets and adjust the gain and you should be fine by the time you go to record. Might take 10 mins but it will be worth it.

 

[OhRightSF]

Wow, thanks! I never thought about taking the headphones.

Also, that video link is awesome. I want to have as much fun as you seem to be! And great sound.

 

[Pete Thomas]

Any tips for where to place my Roland R-07 handheld recorder during a performance tomorrow?

It’s a quintet with me on tenor sax, piano, bass, drums and guitar, jazz standards in a club setting. (But a workshop recital, not a pro gig.)

I’ve seen one sax player put the recorder at his feet on stage. Seems better than on music stand in front of me, but any suggestions?

what little wailer said plus:

It can all depend on the size of stage and room. The best balance of the band should be somewhere central in front of the stage. The further back the more you will possibly get a good balance, but there would be more room ambience and audience noise. Whether that's good or bad depends on the sound of the room and whether you want audience.

Putting it at your feet or close to yourself would probably get a recording with saxophone higher in the balance, maybe that is what you want.

 

[Davevadave]

Depends a lot on the room! Keeping the mic a decent distance from the band can help you get a decent balance.

I use a portable recorder like that for some of my gigs - so long as I keep my distance from the drums, it usually turns out fine. Just make sure your gain (if it's adjustable) is set low enough that you don't get distortion!

 

[ToomanyTenors]

Somewhere close where it can't be stolen while your're groovin' high!