Question for those more experienced in recording

[russtcb]

I used my Zoom H1 in Detroit and the recording turned out ok, but I bet I could do better. I have a windscreen for the mics that I didn't use so I wanted to find out some info on it prior to Youngstown tomorrow. For those of you with more experience recording shows; would it be a good idea for me to use the windscreen or will it not make a difference?

[Limulus]

get some nice external mic, place it somewhere in the top of yourself, avoid loud people near to you, if possible go near the soundboard in the crowd in the middle. watch out that you dont record too loud (over 0db its clipping, HAS TO BE AVOIDED!!), compared to your Detroit its a little too low in volume, record it a little louder.
it takes some shows and experience to do a proper recording.

[eragon]

On the upperside of a baseballcap is a small metal "ball" attached. Replace that with a small mic and i bet you will have great recordings.

[ROSE]

You dont need a windscreen for indoor shows, only outdoor.

I use a Zoom H1 Recorder myself and have recorded about 11 shows in various venues, various sizes, various bands since I got it. You will not get a very good recording with the Zoom H1 on its own. The internal mics cannot handle loud sounds very good. You will need a decent set of external mics and a battery box to get a very good recording. I have a pair of Church Audio CA14 mics and a Sound Professional Battery box. I just attach the mics to the front of my jacket about chest height. I 've got some nice recordings this way. My best recordings have been when I was standing in front of the soundboard, in general this will be where the sound is best in a venue. If not get as close to a speaker stack as you can, but not too close.

Settings I use on the recorder is:

Auto Level: Off
Low Cut: On
Format: Wav
Record Level: Set it to about 20 to avoid distortion. You can increase the volume later with several programs.
Record in 24/96 format

For more help you should check out www.taperssection.com

Best of luck with your recording.

[russtcb]

I appreciate all the advice/help everyone's offered, both here and on the other forums. I can't afford to upgrade the mics prior to this evening so I'm going to just do the best with what I've got. I also have no clue where my seats are but again, I'll do my best to get a good recording for everyone