Cheap Recording using Phone in Live Situation (DIY)

zoommultifx

New member
Majority of us don't want to spend on expensive recording device and we would like to use our smartphones to do "good-enough" recording in live situations. But most phones can not handle the loudness especially if you are very near the performers. If you faced the same situation, continue to read.

I had been using bootlegmic, ( http://www.openmusiclabs.com/projects/bootlegmic/ , the schematic and part lists are available on the web as well) and I was able to obtain all the parts in less than 10SGD.

At first I was skeptical but on my first trial assembly of the bootleg mic. Then I recorded 1 band in Oleary's Singapore Flyer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZrrXEwztes (raw recording, no editing)

I removed the bootlegmic on 0:01 and you can hear that my phone (Samsung Galaxy Note 2) can not handle the loudness. @ 0:07 I put back the bootleg mic and now it is more pleasant than the previous one.

The sound is not perfect, but it is not bad either. It is very portable and handy. I am using it to record band practice sessions and I always put it on my wallet so I can do recording whenever I go to malls or some bars.


(Now my bootlegmic was modified further. I placed a potentiometer to be able to adjust on the fly.)
 
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Very cool! Definitely can save a lot of handphone gig videographers.
 
The bootlegmic doesnt need a separate software. The built in voice recording or camera recording of an android phone will do. If you want to further enhance the sound, you can use audacity, which is a free software.
 
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