[musictlk] more mixer thoughts

[Peter Donahue]

Hello Kevin and listers,

After reading your response to my latest post I would say that options 1 and
3 on your list are the directions we'd want to go with the mixer purchase.
There are situations in which we may only need to produce digital
recordings. A device like the Boss BR-600 could fit the bill quite nicely
provided accessibility isn't a major issue with this particular unit. The
only access booby-trap I saw with this unit thus far deals with the knob
that allows you to select the different demo songs loaded in the unit. It's
a click knob, but does not click a particular number of times before you're
required to turn it counter-clockwise allowing you to select music styles by
counting the clicks. I'll need to read the documentation for these devices
and examine them further before settling on a particular mixer.

    Using the mixer/workstation as a stand-alone unit in some situations
would work for us fine given we can transfer the files to a PC and can save
them in an open source format. In situations were we will need to stream the
meeting to the Internet recording via the computer would be the way to go in
that instance. Hence options 2 and 3 on your list are the direction we want
to go with a mixer purchase.

    Thanks for the information as I'm slowly falling in to the capacity of
webmaster for the Web portal for the NFB's Webmasters group. We've received
lots of questions concerning digital recording of conventions and other
federation activities for archival purposes, inclusion on affiliate Web
sites, and live streaming of these events. Don't be surprised if I call on
you for more information we can include on the group Web site on this topic.

Peter Donahue


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Kevin Reeves" <lists at kevinreeves.net>
To: "NFBnet Music Talk Mailing List" <musictlk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Wednesday, December 13, 2006 8:20 PM
Subject: Re: [musictlk] more mixer thoughts


Peter. So that I can better help you, can you give me a rundown on how the
mixer will be used? Are you planning on using it to run into a computer and
record on the computer itself, or, are you indeed looking for an all in 1
hard disk recording system? There are 4 main sanarios that folks use for
recording.

1. Microphones connected to an analog mixer, and the mixer connected to the
computer via the line in on the sound card. The computer does all the
recording with such programs as Sound Forge, Audasity, Sonar, etc.

2. Microphones connected to a digital mixer/sound card. In the past few
years, several sound card companies have made devices that iliminate the use
of a mixer. Some of these devices look like a mixer with faders and knobs,
while others are just a box with inputs and the levels are controled by the
computer using programs like Sound Forge or Sonar. Again, the audio will be
recorded via recording software, but this illiminates some excess hooking up
of cables to an internal soundcard on the computer. Also, the quality of
these devices are very professional, and can give you great results.

3. All in 1 hard disk recording system. This is what you were discussing.
The problem I have with these devices is that you now have an extra step  in
that you record all the data, then you have to transfer it to a computer.
Some of these hard disk recorders have usb ports and allow you to access
them just like another hard drive, while others require you to export the
audio to a non-proprietary format that your computer can read before you
transfer. Also, accessibility becomes the big  deal here, as you are having
to deal with there u i, and have to determine whether it is workable for
you.

4. Portable recording systems connected to a mixer or small condenser mics.
Many blind folks have found this to be an incredibly workable solution
because these devices, such as the eteral r 09, are easy on, easy off
recording systems. They're about the size of a deck of cards, and record to
open formats such as mp3. These devices can be accessed via usb and show up
as an external drive, where you just grabb the file and move it over. Again,
it's that extra step, but the portability is amazing. Just thought I'd throw
those ideas out there to give you a big picture view of the many ways we go
about the recording process. Hope that helps.

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