Do you simply use the iPad “camera” feature that comes by default with a new iPad or do you use some other app for the video?
Do you use a DAW or simply the iPad camera feature with the iPad default microphone for the video and audio?
If you use iPad camera along with an external microphone, what type of mic do you use? A USB mic of some kind?
Can an iPad record video WHILE using the display to monitor music text (such as Ultimate Guitar) simultaneously? Or would you need 2 iPads to do this?
These questions come from a perspective of hopefully being able to, relatively simply, capture a quality audio/video without going crazy on learning new DAWs and/or unnecessarily buying complicated equipment that would only marginally enhance the audio.
Also, using a very easily portable equipment so as to be able to record outdoors on nice days.
It would help to know more - are you singing? are you playing un-aided acoustic, amplified acoustic, electric? What is your goal for the video?
A personal nitpick:
The DAW term is sort of a catch-all acronym I see in the community. DAW - digital audio workstation - suggests a way to digitize your audio, run it through a piece of software to manipulate it, and create a final music file. This may also merge it with video. It sounds like you just want to record audio with video and not do anything to it other than create the file.
I think I would probably avoid using the iPad mic. it will pick up all kinds of surrounding sounds and will not likely be in an optimal position to get the best sound.
I would also probably avoid recording separate audio and video unless I wanted to manipulate the audio before combining. Combining the two would be a step I’d avoid because it would mean additional process and software I’d need.
When I have recorded myself, I have done it with my 2013 MacBook. It sits on a table in front of me and uses the USB port on my modeler for input. I do not sing. I manipulate the camera to view what I want it to record and use QuickTime for the recording. I think on one recording, I needed to save the file in a specific way for it to play on YouTube.
Personally, I find tablet apps restrictive. Partially due to the input options, and partially due to the human interface limitations. There are folks here that do use iPads for recording, so hopefully they will add their experiences.
My situation would be acoustic guitar with vocals. No amp.
I am used to using Audacity on my laptop via an audio interface (Focusrite). At first (when I posted this) I thought perhaps I would not need to manipulate the audio. But on second thought I think I’d like to be able to add a bit of reverb or alter the bass/treble relationship or some other fairly minor changes. So I’m rethinking that.
Perhaps on an iPad that limits me to Garage Band (not sure). I’m use to Audacity but it’s not compatible with iPad I believe.
So maybe my primary question has changed a bit.
Can a single iPad record video while using GarageBand to record the audio? Maybe as you suggest, using the iPhone to do the video and the iPad to do the audio is the easiest way to do this. Then,of course, I’d have to sync and combine them.
I think I’m just getting a bit worn out. I want to be able to record outdoors but I want to do it as easily as possible. If I have just a little bit of time I’d like to be able to get setup in just a couple of minutes and be able to breakdown just as quickly. But if the iPad alone produces a compromised audio product it’s all not worth the trouble.
The question that comes to mind is why do you want to record it? By that I mean is it just to have recordings for your reference, is it to share with friends/family, or maybe for something like a YouTube channel? Perhaps it’s to learn how to mix vocals and guitar on a DAW? Once you have that answer it will guide your approach.
For example, for me, I only do quick recordings to get a sense of how I’m sounding and so I can get feedback from this community. For this purpose a standard video recording from my iPhone is good enough. It wouldn’t be good enough if I wanted to document my journey as a YouTube channel.
Recording outdoors seems to increase the level of complexity greatly if you want any sort of high quality recording.
Have you considered an acoustic amp such as those from either Fishman or Yamaha? There’s some that can run from batteries. They typically have effects on board
HI Matt, good question. I think for me, the reason I want to record is to have some kind of a archive/legacy of my work. So, the answer is perhaps a YouTube channel with number of recordings. I find I struggle to play in front of others in any way live. Perhaps it’s because I am still relatively new (3yrs now) compared to many others.
I’m not too worried about “high” quality but I would like the recordings to be at least of some level of “good or improved” quality. I recall when beginning I used my laptop built in mic and quickly discovered it sounded truly awful. I purchased a relative inexpensive “Sampson” mic (probably more of a podcast type usb mic) and I discovered I didn’t sound quite as awful as I thought. Which help my confidence a little bit.
I also have discovered that my posts here are not viewed as much as others (comparatively speaking). I at least partially attribute that to my almost always posting audio only. It seems people here prefer to see audio/video, understandable so. For that (as you suggest) I could use a simple setup if just looking to get feedback. However, I have grown accustomed to the improved sound quality using a mic and perhaps a DAW to adjust things like bass/treble.
Well, yes, but a DAW tends to have certain specific capabilities including non-destructive editing, multiple tracks and busses with routing, and MIDI support, including MIDI editing, and virtual instruments.
Garageband is a DAW, whilst Audacity is not; it’s a digital audio editor.
Granted there’s a fair bit of cross-over but there’s also functionality in both tools that won’t be in the other. For instance, Audacity doesn’t support MIDI or non-destructive editing, whilst Garageband doesn’t support editing the values of individual samples in the audio file.
Both are usable for basic recording, mixing, and editing tasks, but a DAW will be much more set up to meet the needs of a recording studio engineer in terms of capabilities and workflow.
For simple recording, just prop a smartphone or tablet up against something, or get an adjustable stand for it. Just use the microphone and camera in the device with a simple recording app.
There are a number of limitations to this approach, but it has a huge advantage of simplicity and immediacy and there’s a fair number of people on the forum use this approach very effectively.
If you want more sophisticated, polished results, then you need to look at DAWs, and tools like video editors, OBS, etc. and that can be a rabbit hole.
I use an old iPhone as a video camera. That’s its only use. I’m not sure it would still function as a phone. When I’m ready to produce a movie I “air drop” the video to the iPad and import it to iMovie. I have the phone in a grip type attachment to a mic stand.
My audio route is guitar, pedals, amp in a box pedal (so still a pedal), Audio interface, iPad. I use a DAW (Logic Pro) in the iPad. I used Garage band as my DAW for years until it stopped working the day before a recording session with my band’s singer. It started working again a couple of months later. As a “keep it simple” DAW GarageBand is good.
I only use a mic for vocals (Shure SM58) and piano (a condenser mic that came with a drum mic kit, so one intended for overheads). They go to the DAW via the audio interface. Electric guitar and bass are as described above. Acoustic guitar is via its onboard preamp to the Audio Interface.
The audio interface is powered by the iPad so that bit is portable with only a short USB cable. The rest of it would be a bit of a faff to move outside. You could use an Amp and effects within the DAW though for portability.
Maybe not really what you are looking for, but it does do the quality audio bit, and the video is pretty good.
This helps me quite a bit. I don’t know why I didn’t think of simply using my iPhone alone for the video. I guess something just was telling me it wouldn’t work.
Question: any recording session for as a still a relatively newbie (3yrs) can require many takes. Is there anything preventing me from just having the iPhone recording for say 20-30 minutes at a time in the background, then edit out all the rejected takes once I feel I have a take?
Also, why do you use an old iPhone? Why not just use your regular use iPhone?
Many takes is normal. I don’t think it has much to do with being a newbie (a bass coach I use, fessed-up the other day to taking dozens of takes for one video she did).
I guess you could keep it running. I never have as I’d forget to write down the time of the good takes. If you start it each take, it’s usually fairly easy to work out which take you need due to the length of each take.
I don’t have a regular iPhone - I have always used Android for my regular phones. The one i use was in a drawer and not being used. As I’m using iPad for the recording and video editing, it’s (probably) a better solution than my Android phone or my GoPro (i.e.the video camera GoPro rather than the recording device someone mentioned earlier).
From a technology perspective there isn’t any reason not to use your regular use iPhone, that i can think of. It may be better as the camera lense and app have hopefully improved. I would think you probably want to avoid being phoned during the session, but that’s something you can decide on and work out the best way to manage it. Maybe also you want to avoid any notifications coming through.