But i set out to mount the sound set on the back. I needed a sturdy rucksack or something else to serve as a basis. I decided that a baby carrier (with a metal racking) would be the best for my purposes. I bought a second hand baby carrier (Hema Rugdrager) and took it apart so i was left with only the backside. Sorry for the baby

The Ingredients

• 1 Megavox or any sound set (35 mm hole)
• 1 baby carrier
• 35 mm tubing
• 1 extra 12V lead-gel batterij
• wiring, switch + plugs
• nuts & bolts and metal plates
• two creative hands and lots of tools

Creating the contraption
The Megavox has a standard speaker mount hole of 35 mm, so i needed a tube of 35 mm to mount on the baby carrier. I found this in a local vacuum cleaner shop. They sell tubing of 35 mm width and 500mm long. I bought 2 pieces that fitted together and attached it to the baby carrier. Since the tubing would need to hold the weight of the megavox (6.9 kg incl battery) i made sure it was connected securely. The bottom end rests on the baby carrier and is secured by a bolt. The upper part was fixed with one large bolt and a metal screw. The tube was fixed in a slight angle compared to the baby carrier. In that way the weight will be properly balanced when the sound set is mounted on top. (Something that proved to be very necessary!).

On the bottom of the baby carrier i fixed a metal plate. On top of this “platform” will be the battery compartment mounted. The Megavox has an internal battery, but i decided to take it out to decrease the weight and to stabilize the contraption. I’m adding also a 2nd battery to increase the playing time, and this battery does not fit in the megavox. The weight of both batteries (3+ kg) will be a counterweight to the megavox on top. From some scrap metal i made a metal housing for the batteries and mounted a battery switch. Electric wiring was put inside the tube up to the megavox. Here you can see the wires from the tube and from the megavox. I did not drill a hole in the megavox. When the screws from the metal battery retainer are removed (see our battery replacement article) you can use these holes for the wiring.

I removed the internal battery from the megavox. To keep all the wires original and intact i connected the extra wire to the internal battery wire as you can see from the photos. This extra wire leads outside of the megavox and has a plug to connect to the carrier down to the battery compartment. Since i did not change any of the original wiring i can charge both batteries simply by using the battery switch. When i don’t use the carrier i can reinstall the internal battery and remove the extra wiring easily to restore it. In that way i don’t mess with the 6-year warranty that comes with the megavox.

The first time i put on the carrier i still had the internal battery inside the megavox. It was very unstable and i tended to tumble over with the megavox. Since the megavox is mounted on the tube using only the speaker stand mount hole i was afraid that it might pop out. So i secured the megavox with a big bolt. For this i needed to drill a hole in the base of the megavox. This is the only adjustment i had to make. I don’t think it will void the warranty.

After the first try i decided to take the internal battery out. With the batteries on the bottom of the carrier the contraption was more stable. The carrier needs to be strapped tightly around the waists and upper back to improve the stability. The whole weight will be held by the waists, as it should, so your back will be spared. After tightening it to my back i tried it again. It has quite some weight but i think it will OK. Although it looks quite silly i think it will serve its purpose on queensday. I don’t think this is suited for a smaller harinam! The megavox might also be too loud for that. We don’t want the police to stop us!

Field tests @ Queensday harinam
During Queensday i had the opportunity to test my contraption. As you can see from the photos the contraption worked very well. I discovered a design flaw. The battery switch is mounted on the outside of the casing. So a few smart people pushed the switch to turn the sound off. So next time i will remove the switch or cover it properly. Secondly some drunk guy try to stop me during harinam. He grabbed the contraption by the metal tubing. I must say that he could have easily pulled me down to the street since the contraption is already heavy (around 12 kg). So better not be around angry and drunk people

I walked around with this thing for 3-4 hours and it was a heavy toll on my back. Be sure to share the burden and ask others to also carry it around for some time. The following three days i had some serious back problems.  But then again, i am quite a thin guy.

And also be sure to wear earplugs!!!! The megavox is very close to your poor ears..

If the internal battery is getting older and the capacity has decreased you could change it. The battery inside the megavox has the following specs according to Anchor : 12 V 5.4 Amp (Leoch DJW-12). But when i opened the megavox there was a different battery inside : PowerSonic PSH-1255F2-FR, 12 V 6.0 Amp (www.power-sonic.com). The dimensions are the same with 90x70x102 mm (HxWxD).

Anchor created a nice guide to replace the battery yourself. You can visit their  blog or watch the slideshow.  I have listed the necessary steps below with photos.

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

Step 4

Step 5

Step 7

Step 7

Step 8

(Copyright Anchor Audio)

Anchor HBM-60 Headband mic

The supplied headband microphone that comes with the Megavox Pro is not really sturdy and when you move a lot the microphone moves up and down. Secondly the whole headband construction is really flimpsy. So i set out to replace the headband mic.

The wireless receiver (WBM-6000) uses a 4-pin mini XLR male plug for the microphone input although only 3 wires are used to power the mic. I don’t know the reason why Anchor Audio uses a 4-pin plug, but this certainly limits the available headband microphones that can be connected. And also the wiring is different than most other plugs, so you need to be carefull.

So i went on internet and found this headband microphone from monacar that uses a 4-pin XLR plug. I could buy it from a local dealer in the Netherlands since Monacor does not sell to end customers. The price was 125 euro. When i received it by mail i tried it out for a quick test to see if it would work on the receiver. It didnt…. Be

Monacor HSE-130 Headband mic

carefull what you do here because when the wiring is different it could fry the microphone. So i needed to change the wiring of the 4-pin XLR plug on the headband mic. I e-mailed Anchor audio to find out the wiring schema of the WBM-6000 and also found the wiring schema of the Monacor mic (HSE-130) (see images). Then i resoldered the wires to the correct positions (see image below). Afterwards i tested the microphone and it worked!. I was really impressed by the sensitivity of the monacor mic compared to the supplied headband mic. It really picks up your voice more clearly and more loudly.

Here are some instructions with photos to show you how to do it:

Open the mini-XLR plug and locate the wiring of your HSE-130. It should be like this :

Wiring of the HSE-130 Headband mic on the Belt Pack

The wiring of the WBM-6000 Belt pack is different as you can see from this image:

Wiring of the WBM-Belt pack

So to get the HSE-130 working on the WBM-6000 belt pack we need to change the wiring:

HSE-130 -> WBM-6000

- The powersupply wire (on pin 4) needs to be soldered on pin 3

- The Audio in wire (on pin 3) needs to be soldered on pin 2

- The Mass (ground) wire (on pin 1&2) needs to be soldered on pin 1

Rewiring from HSE-130 -> WBM-6000

So with this guide i hope you can change your headband microphone for another type. I attached the wiring schema files for your conveinance:

• Manual of the Monacor TXS88HSE Wireless Belt Pack
• Wiring schema of the Anchor Audio WBM-6000 Wireless Belt pack

Just like with audio recording, there is a trade-off between money, the amount of time you are willing to devote to processing the video, and the quality of the resultant video.  Finally, consider your final product.  If the target is just a youtube clip, then lower quality will probably be fine.  If you intend to produce DVDs then higher quality is a must.

Quick and Easy

A new camcorder format has recently picked up in popularity.  These are typified by the Flip Video series ($130-$180). It is very small, the quality isn’t perfect but is good enough, and records in a format that is suitable for uploading to youtube.  Most people do not edit the content produced by this recorder. 

The New York Times has a great review of this unit.  This would be great to grab clips of your harinam party, temple kirtans, and other events where a short clip is sufficient. 

Since it is flash based, copying the video to your computer is faster than real-time — a big problem with tape-based camcorders. 

DV Camcorder

The next step up is a mini-DV tape based camcorder.  These camcorders have been around for years and are very reliable.  The quality should be better than the flip, but not as good as an HD camcorder.  Price should be in the $250-$500 range.  In general I don’t recommend these anymore.  Technology is moving forward to the next generation of camcorders.  On the other side, if you are on a budget, you might be able to pick up a used one cheap at a garage sale, Craigslist, or eBay.  You’ll also need some video editing software and a firewire connector on your computer.  A decent model would be the Canon ZR950 ($250).

Do not buy any DVD based camcorder.  The quality is substandard and the media is pricey.  I’d only recommend one for someone that has no intention of editing the video after recording. 

HD Camcorder

The next step up is an HD camcorder.  I shoot all my current video using a Sony HDR-SR11 ($1100).  This records in full HD (1920x1080i) to a 60gig hard drive (or to a memory stick if you want).  The low-light performance is fairly good.  You can also manually adjust the exposure to increase the brightness in a darker space.  The camcorder also has the option of using an external mic, a headphone jack, and an external zoom control.  I’ve been very pleased with this camcorder.  The only thing I don’t like about this camcorder (and is common with the last Sony HD camcorder I used) is that it is slow to focus in low light.  This can be frustrating when out on a night harinam. Oh, and there is no native progressive recording mode so I have to convert to progressive as part of the editing process.  But, for 90% of what I record, this camera is perfect. 

Flash HD Camcorder

I mentioned above that Canon makes a very good competitor to the Sony including better low-light performance.  The Canon Vixia HF10 ($820).  This is a flash based camcorder with 16Gig built-in and a expansion SDHC slot for additional space.  I used to use a flash based Sony camcorder (Sony HDR-CX7) and definitely appreciated the small size and low weight.  The drawback is that if the class goes long and you are recording at high quality, then you have to stop and change the flash card  part-way through the class.  The CX7 used 8gig cards — perhaps the 16gig cards reduce the possibility of running out during a long class, kirtan or other performance.  The flash memory would still be limiting for all-day events like Rathayatra or Janmastami. 

Semi-Pro Camcorders

The next step up from the regular HD camcorders are the semi-pro HD camcorders.  Most are tape-based and record to HDV which is a variant of mini-DV.  These camcorders tend to be physically larger and perform VERY good in low-light conditions. 

No matter which camcorder you are interested in, research the camera online.  A very good website for camcorder reviews is at camcorderinfo.com. 

Also remember that each step up in quality requires a more powerful computer to edit and render the final video with the exception of HDV.  Computer resources go up from flip->minidv->HDV->AVCHD (flash and hard drive based HD).  If you do not have access to a high performance PC or Mac, then stick with the flip or minidv type camcorders.

Next week?  Lighting.

I usually have my bhajans setup with 1 mono vocal mic, 1 harmonium mic, 2 drum mics and perhaps a backup vocal mic.  I also use a stereo room microphone.  All but the room mic are then mixed down to two channels and recorded to my digital recorder.  The stereo room mic is recorded on my camcorder. 

So, what mixer to use?  Mackie makes some of the best mixers — if a bit pricey.  I like the Mackie VLZ3 series of mixers.  Pick the one that has the right number of XLR connectors for your expected count of microphones.  A good size model in that series is the 1402-VLZ3.  This has 6 XLR connectors for future growth, very good quality pre-amps, and nice controls.  If you are always recording bhajans in the temple room, this would also make a great mixer for the temple PA system.

There are smaller mixers in the VLZ3 series which might be better suited to your budget.

If you looked at my equipment list, you’ll notice that I don’t use this mixer for my own recordings.  Since I record at many different locations (home programs, indoors, outdoors, etc) I cannot always rely on power being available so I needed a mixer that could be battery powered.  Other than the Behringer that I ended up purchasing, I could only find very expensive field mixers in the $2500+ range (eg: Sound Devices 442).

The mixer I use is a Behringer Eurorack UBB1002 portable mixer ($99).  Behringer doesn’t generally get very good reviews for the quality of their pre-amps.   Behringer claims that (at least) for the first 2 channels on the mixer the quality is very good.  My experience is that for recording bhajans it has been good enough.  If someone can show me an alternative to this I’d appreciate it. 

The unit itself works as expected.  It is powered either an AC adaptor or by 2 9-volt batteries that last about 4hours.  The phantom power is provided by a third 9-volt battery.  I use rechargeable batteries so I don’t keep throwing away batteries.  The battery compartment is a pain to deal with.  It is a metal plate that is screwed on.  The opening for the 9v batteries is cramped.  It works, but could be better designed.  It has 5 XLR connectors which is just right for my normal setup. 

Like any decent mixer, you adjust the initial volume using the gain knobs at the top.  You can then do fine tuning adjustments using the faders.  You can also adjust the pan (left/right mix) of each channel.  There is a 3 channel EQ as well.  There are 4 outputs — each using standard 1/4″ jacks.  A stereo out which I feed into my digital recorder.  There is a mono monitor jack which I feed to my powered PA speaker if we’re at a home program and using amplification.  A mono FX jack — I don’t use it.  And a stereo headphone jack which can be used to monitor your mix.  I generally monitor at the recorder not the mixer so…  that is not used either.

Each channel has a clip light so you can see if any particular instrument’s gain is too high.  And there is a overall level meter for the final output mix. 

I’ve been pleased with this mixer.  Nothing fancy and gets the job done.

Next week?  I’ll start covering video equipment starting with camcorders…

In the first half of this article, I answered one of the most common questions in recording, “How do I get rid of background noise?” I shared some simple ways to capture clean audio to begin with, so you don’t have to hassle with software noise reduction and other “fix it in the mix” hacks later. My strategy, in other words, is to fix it before the mix. This time, I’ll address another common question by going deeper into the equipment side. Below, I’ll share my personal gear recommendations — microphones, mixers, power conditioners, compressors, and other recording equipment that’s worked well for me. I’ll also explain how you can soundproof your home studio inexpensively and effectively.

You can read part 2 here.

First some basic terminology.  There is a great article on microhones on Wikipedia. 

There are two basic types of microphones.  Dynamic and Condenser.  Most temples use dynamic microphones for the PA system.  These microphones are generally very durable — a quality that is very important for a temple microphone.  Dynamic microphones are generally less responsive than a condenser microphone.  A Condenser microphone generally has better quality but are delicate.  Condenser microphones also require a power source — either provided by a built-in battery or through phantom power provided by your pre-amp. 

Another characteristic that is important to consider is the pickup pattern of the microphone.  A cardoid microphone is directional — it’ll pick up what you point at and will not pick up sound that is coming from a different direction.  An omnidirection microphone is just that — it’ll pick up sound from any direction. 

Lecture microphones

The Audio-Technica Pro-70 ($99) is a great cardoid condenser microphone.  The length of the cord is 6 feet (1.8m).  This is just right to put the microphone right next to the main temple microphone and have the battery box sit on the floor.  The cable is not removable so you can’t easily extend the cable.  If you are handy with a soldering iron, you could cut the cable and extend it yourself with the appropriate cable.  The box includes an XLR connector to connect to a microphone cable to your recording equipment.  The box also has a ‘low-cut’ roll-of switch which, when enabled, should minimize the handling noise when the speaker adjusts the microphone or accidentally touches the microphone or cord.

Normally I use my wireless recording equipment for lectures.  This minimizes the time to setup/tear down and also gives me more flexibility in where to place my equipment.  I’ll do a full review of the wireless equipment I use (Audio-Technica 1800 Series) in a later article. The microphone I use is the Audio Technica 831cW ($75).  This microphone is the wireless (rough) equivalent of the Pro-70 mentioned above.  It is a cardoid condenser microphone.  It comes with a very nice tie-clip — nicer than the one that comes with the Pro-70.

Kirtan microphone

I have been very pleased with the Sony ECM-MS957 ($190) Stereo microphone.  This is a condenser “Mid-Side” microphone.  It handles loud kirtans well and has a switch that converts between a 90 degree pattern (narrow) and a 120 degree pattern (wide).  The microphone can also be rotated up and down so you can point the mic properly.  The microphone does not use phantom power.  Instead it uses a single AA battery to provide power.  I’ve not had to replace the battery in the last year (but keep a spare anyway!).  It comes with two cables.  One is a 5pin XLR -> 1/8″ mini jack.  This would be used with the cheaper recorders that do not have XLR connectors.  The other is a 5pin XLR -> 2 3pin XLRs.  It is a pigtail cable so it is fairly short.  If you want to run the cable some distance, then either use 2 regular XLR cables, or you can purchase a 5pin XLR cable of the appropriate length.  They are fairly expensive though, about $50 for a 25 foot cable.  Sony also makes a lower end version of this microphone that only terminates in a 1/8″ mini jack.

Bhajan microphones

You can certainly use the above Sony microphone to record a bhajan.  You’ll eventually find that the vocals are quiet compared to the instruments or the drums are not crisp and clear.  The next step is to use separate microphones for the different instruments and record each on a separate track (ideal) or use a mixer to mix the microphone levels live and then record to your 2-track recorder.

I currently use a  Sennheiser e825S ($80) Vocal cardoid dynamic microphone.  It is fairly low end and will be replaced at sometime with something better but has served me well.  It has a on/off switch which the leader will probably appreciate.

For the drums, I use a pair of Audix i5 ($100) microphones.  One for the small head and one for the big head.  These are also cardoid dynamic microphones that can handle significant volumes (what you need for a drum).  Be careful not to put them too close to the large head though.  Even these will distort at high volume.

For the harmonium, I use the Audio Technica Pro-70 listed above.  I affix the microphone using either the tie clip or the (included) guitar clip.  Just find a place that gets it close to the reeds and then affix it so that the microphone will be steady. 

Finally, I use the Sony microphone listed in the Kirtan section to capture a stereo “room” mix.  I record this separately from the instrument/vocal mix.  In my case, the camcorder accepts a microphone input, so I feed the signal to the camcorder.

Alternatives

For lectures, the key is use a microphone.  It can by any microphone, but lapel or lavalier microphones are the easiest to place close to the speaker.   Be sure to get a cardoid or directional microphone.  This will ensure that room noise will be ignored.  Unfortunately, it will also make recording the questions difficult — I’ll cover possible solutions in a future article for dealing with that.

For bhajans and kirtans, again, most good microphones will do.  Just be sure to choose cardoid (directional) microphones for your instrument mics so that you only pick up that instrument and not the rest of the room.  For recording the overall sound mix of the bhajan or kirtan, use a stereo microphone.  These are either Mid Side (like the sony above) or XY microphones.  Eit
her will do, though XY will generally be in a fixed pattern and so can’t be adjusted to capture just the sound of the bhajan party.

Next week?  I’ll cover mixers.

First, what I like about the recorder:

• Records to Compact Flash
• XLR Inputs
• Analog level adjustments
• Powered by AA batteries
• Bright LED level meters

What I don’t like about the recorder:

• A bit bulky
• Record time could be longer
• Built-in Microphones are useless
• Left and Right levels are hard to adjust independently.

This recorder has very good quality MIC Pre-amplifiers through the XLR inputs.  I hear very little noise when the levels are cranked way up.  I will go into more detail on XLR inputs when I cover microphones, but almost all good microphones use XLR connectors.  You can convert to mini-jacks used by other recorders, but the resulting quality probably is not as good as using a good pre-amplifier like one that is built into the Marantz.  The recorder also supports built-in phantom power which can be used to power condenser microphones.

You can also record line-in through a 1/8″ jack — might be useful if you want to hook up through the temple’s PA system or a mixing board. 

The analog level adjustment feature is very important.  Most recorders (including this one) support some sort of automatic gain control.  This feature will allow the recorder automatically adjust the levels as the speaker or bhajan becomes louder and softer.  This may seem like a good feature at first, but the end result will often end up with a recording that is not natural sounding.  Instead, one should disable the automatic gain control and use the manual control.  Many of the smaller recorders bury the level controls pretty deep in the menu system.  Better recorders provide a nice analog knob or slider that can be used to adjust the level.  In combination with the bright LED level meters, one can ensure that the recording isn’t too loud (distortion) or too quiet.  This unit allows you to adjust the left/right levels independently.  This is useful to record the speaker with one microphone and to have another microphone for recording questions from the audience.

The recorder has many options that I really don’t bother using.  I always record in WAV format at 48Khz (to match the sampling done by my video camera).  This gives me about 6 hours on a 4 gig card if recording in stereo or 12 hours if recording in mono.  It does support recording as MP3, but only at 128Kbps.  If you plan on doing any post processing of the audio, just record in WAV format.

Record time is about 4 hours on 4 AA batteries.  I use rechargeable and tend to change them out at the 3hr mark.  One severe flaw in this device is that if you are actively recording and the battery runs out then it is likely that the track that is being recorded will be lost.  This hasn’t been an issue since I normally recharge after every use and don’t generally record for longer than 2hrs at a run anyway.

Alternatives:

I highly recommend this Marantz PMD660, but it is a bit bulky compared to some other recorders.  If you are looking for something smaller and are not going to use nice microphones, there are other alternatives.

I have generally recommended the Roland R-09HR ($350).  This is a small recorder that has good built-in microphones.  You can also use an external microphone that uses 1/8″ jacks. 

Another recorder that looks promising is the Tascam DR-1 ($250).  A friend of mine just took it to the New York Rathayatra and it seems to have worked out for him.

If you need something that supports more than two tracks, Roland just came out with the Roland R-44 ($895).  It can be linked with another unit for synchronized 8 track recording.  This would be great for recording live bhajans.

Next week?  A quick review of microphones.

One of the most common questions posed by beginning and intermediate recordists is “How do I get rid of background noise in my recording?” It’s all too easy for 60-cycle hum, air conditioner drone, mic cable crackle, traffic noise, and many other ugly artifacts of modern life to sneak into our pure audio signals.

You can read part 1 here.

While it is certainly possible to record classes in a quick and easy manner, the results will often be lower quality than desired. It takes an investment in time and equipment to produce high quality content.

Ok, so where do we go from here? This post is a quick introduction of myself and what I intend to cover. I’ll first write an article on each piece (or category) of equipment that I use and then wrap up with a series of how-to articles.

So, without further introduction:

Recording equipment:

• Marantz PMD 660 2-track digital recorder
• Microphones
  • Audio Technica Pro-70 Lavalier / Instrument Microphone
  • Audio Technica 1800 Series Wireless microphone System
  • Audio Technica AT831R Lavalier microphone for wireless system
  • AUDIX i5 Instrument Dynamic
  • Sennheiser e825S Vocal dynamic
  • Sony ECM-MS957 Stereo
• Behringer Eurorack UBB1002 portable mixer
• Sony HDR-SR12 Camcorder
• Square Perfect SP2700 Light kit

Software:

• Sony Vegas Video Pro (will discuss free alternatives for audio only)
• Wave Arts Power Suite 5 VST Plug-in
• dBpoweramp music converter
• DiVX Pro

Ok, that looks like a lot doesn’t it? Future articles will cover each item, why I use it and possible alternatives. Also, keep in mind that recording a class is much easier than a bhajan and requires less equipment. If you are doing audio only then some of this will also not be relevant.

Next week? In depth coverage on the Marantz PMD 660 as well as some alternatives.