How best to record direct from an Edison phonograph

[Swing Band Heaven]

I have an opportunity to record a number of edison cylinders direct from an Edison external horn phonograph (a fireside model to be precise) and I was wondering the best way of going about this. I intend to make some youtube videos featuring them and will be using a video camera and possibly and external microphone.

Should I bother with an external microphone or will the sound be loud enough from the machine itself not to make it worth while with a separate microphone. Is it best to have the horn facing the microphone or pointing slightly away from it so that it doesn't blast the microphone. Should I put a sock in the horn to mute the sound a bit?

Rather than spend ages experimenting I wondered if anyone else was able to share their tips on how to get the best sound. The cylinders I have access to where I am staying vary alot in type. All BAs but contain a selection of strauss waltzes, opera, comic opera, military band, popular songs, partiotic songs, resitations etc.

Any thoughts would be very welcome.

S-B-H

[martinola]

Hi SBH!

An external mic is the way to go. Put it on a stand close enough to get a good level without being in the way of the camera. That will solve the annoying "change of level and quality" that pops up with mics mounted on the camera (not to mention the noise from manipulating the camera). I've gotten good results by aiming the mic from below, pointing up towards the top of the horn. Avoid pointing it straight into the throat of the horn to lessen distortion. Try monitoring it from a few different positions with earphones that cover your ears. I think you'll readily find the "sweet spot". Good luck!

Martin

[Shane]

When I've transferred cylinders, I put the mic in front of the horn right at the widest point of it's opening. Then I pointed the mic off center about 45 degrees. Just as you are thinking, I didn't want the sound to blast directly into the mic and distort. It seemed to yield good results.

[WDC]

From time to time I have done microphone recordings over the last decade. I used a simple Shure studio mic with a Behringer MIC100 external pre-amplifier. The pre-amp provides you with a great dynamic range that you can adjust.
This setup works just perfectly. I use a mic stand and adjust the microphone to stuck into the horn just where bell begins (talking of a 24" brass horn).

If you go further into the horn, the sound might get distorted especially because of the reflections caused by the microphone's body. The sound still needs space to escape properly.

However, if your microphone is positioned in front of the horn or even with greater distance, you will record a great portion of the room reflections instead of the machine itself. The sound will become quite tinny.

A different way, that I started to use recently, is a field recorder with a good built-in microphone. That way, you'll have the mic, amplifier, and the recording device in one piece. I now use it for digitizing cylinder electrically but it also works wonders with live recordings at 24 bits. There are many different models and brands and I decided for the Tascam DR-2d which came on the market this March and now only sells for about $220-250. I capture everything at the same time and later synchronize the camera's video with the better sound track.

Whatever you do, just be sure to use a professional microphone, it does make a world of difference:

[youtubehq]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YVRlAgx7yk[/youtubehq]

Too bad, that YouTube still does not offer a sufficient sound quality encoding. They have HD videos but still 126 Kbit/s AAC encoding. My ears remain insulted.

[Swing Band Heaven]

Thanks for the tip. I am gooing to have an experiment over the weekend and see how I get on with sound quality. Provided I can get them to sound ok then I will upload them to you tube.

WDC - thats a great (and very late!) BA - and is that a Home its being played on? You captured the sound very nicely on that one.

S-B-H