Devices and software for posting our videos

Yes, I would be interested in details of the overhead camera setup Hayden, when you have time. Thank you.

  1. I don’t have an ipad. I have 10 yr old laptop(windows only)
  2. Would the direct line in or midi in recording be the better audio quality option overall ? I’m told it cancels out the keyboard noise (haven’t got the cables or interface to connect to PC yet)
    Thanks again.
    Niall.

Hey Niall

Not sure of what youd like to do . If just for yourself and improving your piano playing and if you have nothing more than your old 10 years laptop (no smartphone ? no need of an ipad to record nicely or no camera ? )

take one smartphone around you :slight_smile: becoming rare those days nobody with those devices

otherwise maybe some old smartphone will be the easiest way
because even editing on old laptop will be complex and time consuming

keep it simple especially if you are not a high technology fan … that is my advice.

the best quality will be to plug a cable between the output of your piano if it is a digital one - no keys noise… as heard in Hayden recordings he gives as example

midi recording will need a DAW and a piano sampled like Native Instruments …

But most of all : Ask you yourself before buying anything what is your goal about the recordings you will do.

Take care …

Absolutely, I will create a separate post on this outing the equipment, where to buy from online, and how to set it up.

As Pierre says, the most efficient and convenient way to capture a performance if from a smart phone. It also makes it very easy to share the video once created.

Yes without expensive audio equipment, midi is the best because there is no distortion or interference. However, you would then need to sync it with the performance which would be an additional step.

Here is the basics you would need:

  • sturdy supporting equipment (tripod & extendible arm)
  • camera mount
  • midi to USB cable
  • A DAW (digital audio workstation) - I use Logic Pro
  • A piano sample
  • Video editing software to layer everything together

You might need a newer PC too for running the software as DAW’s and editing software can be quite demanding.

Cheers!

really ? not sure of this statment … the output audio signal of the piano will have neither interference and because we react to the sound of the piano we are playing, i think it will sound much better. Midi output will have more "interference " because the signal will be transformed again through an interface and samplings , not ? .

probably thinking midi or audio output

I’ll be honest I don’t know too much about this stuff Pierre… I fumbled my way through Logic when I started PianoGroove :grinning:

I will pass your comments onto our audio guy and see what he thinks.

I do love the sound of the new Logic setup we have though - you can hear this in our latest tutorials. The piano sound is beautifully clean and crisp.

We record midi and then run it through the Ravenscroft virtual piano -have a read/listen on their website:

https://www.vilabsaudio.com/Ravenscroft-By-VI-Labs

If just capturing an audio output signal, would the piano sound need to come from an onboard sound on the keyboard you are playing?

With midi it gives the option to change to any instrument or sample after recording which gives that extra flexibility.

That’s from my limited knowledge so please correct me if I’m wrong here :+1::+1:

Cheers!

for sure about this possibility of changing instrument
but with a decent piano the audio output signal should be good enough and with a good one much better than midi , and above all so less time consuming .

It seems Niall not very familiar will all audio stuff , and by experience if not needed i will not encourage him ( her) to go this way . Even celting meaning of Niall is champion ! :wink:

i really encourage to spend more money on a piano than on samplings or other stuff like this …

but thats only my point of view… and my experience .
cheers

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you mean the piano output should go through a preamp before being capture from the computer ?

better for sure anyway to have a good soundcard in all the equipment , its not the more expensive but crucial element in the chain of the recording. And the soundcard will have this preamp to do that .
but again it is so easy with just a smartphone … :grinning:

I was thinking the audio would capture a sound from the keyboard, For example my Roland RD700 has maybe 20 or so different piano sounds.

I don’t really understand this stuff! :grinning:

Agreed!!

not sure to understand what you mean
most digital piano have

  • an audio output so if you record this way you will have of course the piano sound you are playing, no need of anything else it will record a mp3 or wav file.

  • midi output so you can record the notes (the height of the note , the aftertouch , the sustain pedal on or off)
    so you can record the midi of what you are playing and this can be played on a computer and you can choose the sound you like ( piano , rhodes , organ , flute … whatever )

  • often a midi input which enable the piano to play a midi file , even the midi file of yourself , you have recorded .

theres often an inside recorder on the digital piano
which can record audio and sometimes even midi too.

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i just discover windows 10 have is own camera recorder “Camera” which record my soundcard and either the sound outcoming from the computer
No need of OBS any more which was a bit painful setting up . The cons are that the software is is very basic and the video quality is not as good .

maybe this will help me posting a bit easily though

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Yep! correct. I got my wording wrong.

Hi @niall there is actually a zoom device that captures audio and video in answer to your question and it seems quite compact and versatile from the quick search I’ve just done…
https://www.zoom-na.com/products/field-video-recording/video-recording/zoom-q2n-handy-video-recorder
I personally haven’t used one of these Zoom products but my guess is that the audio technology will be top quality the only issue I can think of is that you won’t be able to position the mic in an alternative place to where the video is being captured.

It’s worth looking into as it would provide a very quick and efficient workflow to recording with a simple file to upload straight to YouTube etc.

I’ll look into it further and get back to you.

Thanks
Dan

Even its not really done for that . It have an 3.5 jack input for micing.
It seems to be a cheap , easy setup very small camera . quite impressive.

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Hi Niall

Now i better see what you are looking for , after you email

niall:

So, recording piano in stereo preferably Direct input , so I can hear the playback with no key noise .

yes when possible always best choice for digital piano

just to know : its direct OUPUT - (whats getting OUT of your piano that is recorded) not input.

The iphone 4s have a nice camera and sound should be already great but you need to transfer the video each time and no input.
But if you have decent amplification and speakers and with a pretty high volume level i m pretty sure you would n t have any keys noises. So you have all the device for what you are looking for i think

Of course recent camera like zoom Q2n seems great too and they are now quite affordable 150 euros (wow really impressive) for nice (not great ) video and audio … really cool . I am discovering this camera in fact with you :wink: and his quality price seems pretty awesome.

It seems really done for the job you are looking for This camera is designed to be set up in one place and left alone. not handheld .
Second they have some stereo input for pluging your piano in .

For editing i recommand you to try Reaper it is a really cheap DAW (50 euros) with the greatest possibility . You can even try it for free life long .https://www.reaper.fm/ and above it is all not too much data consumming . It is done for audio but if you add free addon it can do simple edit video (croping , cutting…) too .

But again dont know what time youd like to spend on this . And for editing, even simple one, we have to be patient at the begining.
So simple editing can be probably done directly on the iphone or the Q2n,

Hope all this help you

Cheers

Hello all: I apologize if I missed this piece of info that I would like in any of the posts. Namely, I am not happy with VIDEO RECORDING apps I have on my Android cell phone and the Apple iPad Mini Tablet. Would you suggest some/any, especially for the Apple mini iPad/Tablet.

The video recordings I made with the Android cell phone, when hooked to the PC, are fine but I would prefer using the iPad since the screen is bigger, I can use it for the lessons, with iRealPro and to store the recordings, too. So, I guess, I am asking for video recording apps (preferably free but will buy, too, if recommended) recommendations. [It is time that I add another source of disgust in the form of watching myself playing what I think I am doing on the Casio Privia]. Thanks much, Smole

Hi Smole :wave:

There will be lots of different camera apps in Apple App Store.

Is the iPad’s default ‘Camera’ app not suitable?

I have used the default ‘Camera’ app on my iPad Mini to share a few videos in the forum, and whilst the visual quality was not amazing, the audio quality sounded fine to my ears.

If you want to send anything over to me I will happily take a look/listen and let you know what I think of the recording quality.

Cheers, Hayden

Hello Hayden: the camera app on my mini iPad does a good job and the audio quality with the pic that Dan suggested is fine. When I play it on the iPad itself, the sound is weak which is not the case when I transfer the final product to my PC where both the video and audio are fine.

However, I am not ready, as yet, to send any recordings to anyone; besides, I cannot ask you to spend time on this problem. Thank you very kindly for offering.

I will check to see what Apple Store offers, thank you for the suggestion. Best, Smole

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I apologize if this problem has been discussed in the above thread and I missed it; if it was, would you kindly point me to the response(s)?

I would like to make a video recording on my iPad directly from the digital piano (Privia PX 150) without an external mic. I found this Youtube video as a guide:

It did not work, that is, Voice Record Pro does not get the audio via the cable connections. It appears that I have to find cables that meet some CTIA standard (I really do not understand this staff) for Apple products (iPad in this case), especially for the splitter that goes into the iPad and that should allow me to record the sound directly from Privia but also plug into the splitter the earphones (not to disturb anyone while playing). Also, I seem to understand that the cables I am using should have TRRS connectors for proper link. [Did I explain clearly what I am asking? Hope so. Oh, and I am not ready for MIDI route, way beyond my understanding at this point].

Any help? Please?

Thanks much, Smole