How Do I Record Mic Audio from the Soundboard to a Computer - PLEASE HELP

[Christian Bay]

Hi, I don't know where to start.

My pastor wants to record his sermon messages to a Mac preferably (or PC) from our Macke 1604 TLZ Pro to a Mac.

1. Where from the soundboard to the Mac/PC do I run the cable? ( I have read to hook it into the headphone jack on the board to the microphone jack on the Mac????)

2. Do I need some kind of recording software to capture the audio into the Mac/PC? Any recommendations?

Sorry for such dumb questions. Any help is greatly appreciated.

Blessings

[milepost13]

I would recommend you purchase a digital recorder and then transfer to the computer from there.

Nate

[Christian Bay]

I would recommend you purchase a digital recorder and then transfer to the computer from there.

Nate

Are you suggesting to bypass ALL of the current equipment--- or to hook up the digital recorder to the soundboard? Also, do you mean a digital recorder--- like a very small digital "tape recorder" that fits into the pastor's pocket with an external lavalier mic?

My concerns:
1. There is no budget (bet you've never heard that one before) for a digital recorder, and
2. He is already wearing a wireless belt-pack mic and adding more "stuff" would not work for him.

Please elaborate and, of course, thank you for your reply.

[milepost13]

We use a digital recorder that receives a direct feed from the sound board. It's basically a glorified external hard drive.

Nate

[Christian Bay]

Thanks again. Is it possible to tell me:
1. the manufacturer and model of the digital recorder you are using, and
2. where specifically on your soundboard do you plug it in?

[efrisch]

To feed either a computer or recorder, you should be able to use the tape output on your mixer - that output should basically duplicate the master mix. You could also feed it from an aux send or a sub group, but the tape out is definitely the simplest way for what you're trying to do. On a Mac, you could use Garage Band to record, we use Audacity (which is free) on a PC at our church for this purpose.

If you have a computer available to dedicate to this, then that's a pretty easy set up. If not, then I agree with Nate - a small digital recorder is a simple solution, and then you could transfer and edit the files at home.

[Christian Bay]

Eric,

I found out that Audacity is free for Mac OS X users, too. Please let me know if I am correct..

(1.) I need to go from TAPE OUT on the Macke (with RCA plugs) to the Microphone jack on the Mac (with a 3.5 mm connector) , then (2.) Launch Audacity and set it to Record. (I believe the WAV format is preferred for later editing/clean up.)

Does this process take up a lot of CPU power? Can I run PowerPoint AND Audacity -- or should the recording be on a dedicated computer? Since all we are recording is the sermon, PowerPoint will not be used during the sermon, or very minimally (a few slides, at most).

Lastly, if we cannot obtain the quality we need, can you please:
(1.) recommend a digital recorder (manufacturer / model) and
(2.) would the hook up be the same as for the computer? In other words... from the TAPE OUT (RCA) to the Microphone jack on the digital recorder (3.5 mm)?

Thank you sooooooo very much for your feedback. I really appreciate it. Blessings.

[fmckinnon]

Hey
Yes - simply run from the tape out of the Mackie into the microphone in jack on your Mac. Open up Garageband and set your audio preferences to use the external line in (mic) jack. You can get a little RCA -> 1/8 jack Y cable adapter at Radio Shack or probably even at WalMart --- it takes the L&R RCA cables and merges them to a male 1/8" jack that goes into the Mac.

GarageBand doesn't take much CPU, so yes, you should be able to do both. Do a few tests first. You'll probably want to get an external hard drive to save the sermons to.

[Christian Bay]

Hi,

I just want to thank all of you for all of your help... and showing grace to those (like me) who really need it. This forum has truly been a blessing and I thank you all for sharing so generously your time and expertise with me and the others who need it. This is the best resource I have found -- by far.

I'm going to try this out later today. I now feel confident that I can make things "work."
May God bless you, your ministries and TWC! Peace

[efrisch]

Eric,

I found out that Audacity is free for Mac OS X users, too. Please let me know if I am correct

Yes! I completely forgot that Audacity was available on Mac, as well. That said, if you have GarageBand, I would still use it - it's a cleaner, simpler interface than Audacity. Other than that, everything Fred said should have you covered! I would definitely test ahead of time to make sure you can run both programs simultaneously before you try it in a service - if the CPU gets too bogged down, it could mess up your audio. We have a machine dedicated to this - an old laptop that somebody donated to the church.