Because the setup for light audio recording is so, well, light, it’s easy to take it on adventures! So, I decided to record a song at some spots around the city. Because I can! This one is called Dawn and Tim, and its scratch track was recorded in Astoria Park. As in Dawn and Tim from The Office.
Now, this was recorded in a similar vein to I Promise You. But, instead of using my phone’s internal mic, I used an audio interface and actual microphone.
If you read the posts about best guitars and basses for summer recording sessions, they were for things like this!
Dawn and Tim: rig run down
- Samsung Galaxy S9 smartphone
- BandLab Link Digital audio interface
- Pig Hog 10ft XLR cable
- Pig Hog instrument cables
- MXL V67G microphone
- Beyerdynamic DT-240 Pro headphones
- Portastand Compact Mic Stand 2.0
- Samson PS01 pop shield
- Taylor TSBTe
- Acoustic guitar strings: Ernie Ball Earthwood Medium Light
- Dunlop Gator Grip 1.14mm picks
- Audio Evolution Mobile for Android DAW app
Recording Dawn and Tim scratch track – Astoria Park
Obviously, in tracking Dawn and Tim, Audio Evolution was my DAW. My intended studios would not have WiFi.
Essentially going to step two of my usual steps, I created a project in Audio Evolution from the comfort of home. So, when I hit up the exotic locations of NYC, I’d be ready to go.
Because of the nature of recording the track, the usual order of things went pretty much out the window.
Firstly, as always, I recorded a scratch track. To this end, I just went to my local park, just to keep it local to start with. Essentially to test my set up, now that it’s focused on mobility.
When I got there, I looked for the ideal spot: in the shade; far enough away from people not to bother anyone; and with a view of the Hell Gate Bridge for the camera.
Next, I largely followed the usual first step. But, on this occasion, it looked like this:
- Link Digital plugged into my phone
- DT-240 Pros plugged into the Link Digital
Then, I tapped out the tempo of what song using the B’Metronome app, and put that in Audio Evolution. Next, I plugged in my Taylor, got a level, and recorded the guitar for the scratch track.
When that was done, I set up my microphone, stand, and pop shield, and swapped the instrument cable for the XLR cable. I took another quick level, and lashed out a vocal track.
Conclusion
However, when I listened at home, both tracks were distorted.
But, I guessed it was because I messed with the settings. Remember when I said that the Link Digital and Audio Evolution would only record in the left ear? I tapped something other than the default settings to try and record it mono. But, obviously, it somehow backfired.
Although it wasn’t ideal, I could still work with it – as long as I figured it out before recording the actual guitar for the song.
But, that was the only real issue. I tested at home with the default settings, and apart from being in just the left ear, it was fine. Certainly, better than being distorted!
Lesson learned: don’t mess with the default settings!
But, just to keep things interesting, the distortion was only on playback within Audio Evolution.
Obviously, I exported to BandLab so I can embed it to share as I progress.
As you can hear, it sounds fine. How odd?
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