4 Track Phone Apps... Yes or No? Make a quick acoustic guitar recording using J4T multi-track recording software and a smartphone.
As someone who spends a lot of time recording sound and music, the question has been plaguing me: Is a smartphone a valuable tool for recording music?UPDATE: Listening to one track on spotify helps me keep this site alive!
I hope you like it!
Now, back to the matter at hand...
I used the J4t app to record this song. I used the vocal microphone which is inside the phone. I had to set the levels for each track I was recording- making sure that the sound source didn't go into the red. That is a nice feature, since it can be easy to overdrive any mic and preamp combo if you play loudly. Once the levels are set, just arm the track that you want to be your main rhythm track. In this case, I armed track one. After pressing record, I played the acoustic guitar rhythm track. After Dis-arming the track, I listened back.
I did the same thing for the second rhythm track. Arm the track. Press record. Play the part. Dis-arm and listen back.
All good? Yes.
Solo track. Go back and reset the levels for your acoustic guitar solo. You'll probably have to bring the level back up, as I did. (Acoustic guitar solos tend to be quieter than most acoustic strumming). Once the level is set, follow your procedure: Arm, Record, Dis-arm, playback.
Now you have a song, fully recorded on your Mobile smartphone device!
Now, lets discuss some major ideas- specifically intent and limitations, and perhaps that will determine if recording to a smartphone is the right medium for you.
So, what is your intent for using a smartphone as a recording device? Are you going to use it to record quick ideas, such as chord progressions or a lyric that's rattling around in your brain? If this is the case, a smartphone and a simple four track app is probably a good choice.
Most smartphones have pretty sophisticated preamplifiers, noise reduction, and microphones built directly into the units. With a simple four track application(often free or inexpensive), one can use the device which he is likely carrying around at all times to capture an idea and flesh it out, to some extent.
However, if you intend to use the smartphone to record a full album release, I think one will find that the limitations catch up to the device(and software) pretty quickly.
Before I continue to explain why I prefer not to use this combination of hardware/software to record important performances, of course I realize that some of us will embrace these limitations and create beautiful art in spite of my experiences. Great!
Now then, I feel there are a few obstacles stacked against the four track smartphone recording device. First and foremost, the sound quality is simply not up to the challenge. Again, there are a number of factors to consider- and every phone is different, but my experience with these devices is that they are designed to do one thing: to record the human voice at a close proximity. The microphones are generally small lavalier-style condenser mics. They will pick up most things in the room that are present, but won't really pick up extended highs or lows (bass guitar and drums, for example). The mics also lack presence or punch that a bigger, well designed musical microphone will bring to the mix.
Also, I've encountered my share of glitches and bugs in the software of these devices. If you encounter a glitch when recording, you often won't know until playback. Unlike a tape dropout, the timing of a glitch means that part of the take is totally gone. Now the timing of the take has been altered. Most often, this ruins what would otherwise be a great take. So, what do you do when you encounter a glitch like this? Open the wave editor function and punch in a new section- size the section and glue it in place? Not likely. If you're like me, after a period of cursing and increased blood pressure you put the phone away and chalk it up to a fun experiment. Then, dig out a proper recorder designed for the purpose.
Unfortunately, because of the glitches, I can't even recommend the 4 track smartphone combo as a field recorder. Find a better device. Even a four track tape recorder will give more reliable results. Perhaps the video function of the smartphone is more dependable, but the audio is generally compressed into a proprietary codec, and that's not helpful, is it?
However, if you plan to use your smartphone as a sketchpad, to jot down ideas, and get a quick sense for a song, then the device works just fine for that.
Anything more than that, and I say find a device that is better suited to the task at hand.
iPhone users, stay tuned- I'm planning a demo for you too, since I know there's a plethora of software available for your hardware!
Best!
