Hi, I’m trying to record a video of me playing a few riffs for others to see. I hear a lot about having to record audio on to software then syncing it up with an iPhone video etc but I’m wondering if anybody has any tips where I can just do a self tape of myself playing where the audio can be at least halfway decent.
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Do you have an audio interface? It might work with your mobile phone!
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Yeah I think it’s called iRig or something
Hey, you can do it through OBS (Streaming software). You add your camera source and your audio source, and it should work. In case you’re on Windows and use an audio interface, you will maybe need software called ASIO Link Pro. (It used to be paid; now, after the passing of the author, it’s free.) In case you don’t use an audio interface and are on Windows, you will probably encounter an issue with audio latency, because Windows routes audio through itself first, unlike external interfaces, which bypass Windows. (That’s why I mentioned ASIO Link Pro. This utility does a clever routing so UBS/Thunderbolt sources as available to other programs.)
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The ‘cleanest way to do this is to record yourself into GarageBand on your iPhone. To do this you will need to plug the bass into an audio interface - something like a Focusrite Scarlett Solo (I have a second hand, 3rd Gen one that cost me about £50 / £60). It’s fairly simple to use - plug the interface into the iPhone (it takes its power from the phone), plus the bass into the interface, open GarageBand, set to record and your ar pretty much away. I mention the Scarlett Solo, but I also have a multi-effects pedal that acys as a recording interface. I tend to use this most of the time.
For video, I actually use a second iPhone (I have 2, work and personal) and, errrm, video.
I then export the audio file from GarageBand, then import it into iMovie, along with the video. Synching it a bit trial and error, you need to work out where to crop the video - undo is you friend here - but eventually, you get there. Video and audio sync’ed.
Obviously, an alternate solution is just to video yourself straight into the iPhone, assuming you are playing through an amp. The results can be a bit hit and miss doing that and the quality not great.
I recently bought a Zoom H1 Essential (second hand). I used this last week in a band context - I wanted to get decent video and audio of us playing. The results, for a little device that cost me £60, were really good. Obviously, I needed to sync the video and audio - I actually did this on a MacBook, rather than my iPhone - but I am really happy with the result. See here.
If you want to do it the professional way, generate a time code signal and record to audio and video. Some units can literally generate an audio signal that encodes the time code.
Biggest problem with this is that you need to buy more equipment, but if you’re suffering from GAS, it feeds the addiction. 