Category Archives: Reviews

Recording drums with the Fostex AR-4i (Review)

Posted on by

I recently purchased the Fostex AR-4i audio interface for my iPhone 4s. Even though it came out a few years ago it still had the best reviews for a recording interface in it’s price range.  I wanted something under $100 that’s really quick to set up and portable so I can take iPhone video recordings of myself and my drum students.

Fostex AR-4i

Fostex AR-4i

Basically, it’s a mini-interface that attaches to the iPhone 4 or 4s. (They make a similar model for iPhone 5-see link below.) The interface is also an iPhone doc connecter with built-in AD/DA converters and three 1/8″ mic jacks (only two can be used simultaneously for either horizontal or vertical orientation). It also has some nice features including:

  • LED level meter (with three green and one red, for clipping)
  • Input level control
  • An external headphone jack

It also comes with a nifty grip handle, but since I already own a mini tripod stand I don’t have a use for it. There is a free app you can download from the app store which gives you the ability to set some recording parameters including input mode (mono or stereo), low cut filter, limiter, and clipping reducer. Once I started recording the drums, it took me a good amount of time to find the correct input level where the drums were not distorting. Although, to be honest, my drum space is currently much too acoustically live sounding to get any decent recording.

Anyway, without further ado here is the clip of playing with the built-in iPhone mic:

Here is the take with the Fostex AR-4i:

If you listen to the clips with a pair of decent headphones you can hear that the AR-4i mic captures more low-end and slightly less white noise than the built-in iPhone mic. Also, the cymbals sound more like cymbals with the AR-4i, as the mic captures more of their tonal characteristics. Overall, I’m quite pleased with the results; however, I do prefer the compressed snare sound with the iPhone mic over the the cleaner snare sound of the AR-4i. Amazon had the best price when I bought it. You can purchase it from Amazon here: Fostex AR-4i Audio Interface for iPhone 4/4S/iPod Touch 4G, Battery Powered

If you have an iPhone 5 you can get a similar model here: Fostex AR101 USB Powered Audio Interface for iPhone 4/4S/5, DSLR Camera, and PC

KickPort Bass Drum Support

Posted on by

KickPortI needed to add some low end to my 20 inch kick drum so I decided to give the Kickport KP1GO Bass Drum Enhancer a try. For those of you not familiar with the KickPort, it’s a small plastic tube that gets inserted into the kick drum’s resonant head. Attached to the tube is a rubber flap that is used to seal the KickPort once it’s inserted. It’s claim to fame is that it boosts the kick drum in the same manner as a bass reflex speaker cabinet boosts low frequencies.

I decided to go to Guitar Center to pick one up. It comes with a 5 and 1/4 reinforcement ring; however, I was told that it works better if you cut a 5″ diameter hole instead.

rubber_band_kickportMy resonant head had no port, so I decided to make the 5″ hole for the kickport. I have to admit, it made the process a little challenging since the kickport itself is almost 5″ in diameter. I had to remove the resonant head from the drum and place heavy duty rubber bands around the cumbersome rubber flap of the KickPort in order to nudge it into place. The 5″ hole creates a really tight fit for the Kickport, which gives it solid stability.

Using my iPhone, I did a lofi recording with and without the Kickport using the same resonant head.

Here is the audio using a REMO Emperor coated resonant head with a 5 and 1/4″ hole without the KickPort :

And here is the audio using REMO Emperor resonant head with a 5″ hole and KickPort:

You can hear the KickPort takes away some boom and adds punch and low end.

The only downside is that I don’t hear as much tone as before. KickPort’s documentation states that it increases tone, while other websites are stating that different resonant heads yield different results. If you want to know more, check out the blog post from recordinghacks.com.

I think the KickPort has a solid look. Artist and fellow Changing Modes bandmate Grace Pulliam did a fine job painting the 20″ head shown below -I have to admit, the KickPort fits right in:).

Artwork with Kickport

Musician Earplugs

Posted on by

Musician Earplugs with Etymotic Research Attenuators

Twelve years ago, I bought a pair of custom molded musician earplugs with Etymotic Research filters. I remember liking them a lot because they were comfortable and evenly reduced low, mid, and high frequencies. As luck would have it, I only wore them for a few years because I carelessly lost them after playing a show in upstate New York.

Since then I have tried every non-custom type of earplug. The foam plugs turned sound into mush. Hearos were a little better, but were not comfortable to wear for long periods of time. I’ve used in-ear monitors, which helped manage the sound. However, without that technology, I constantly found myself playing without ear protection during rehearsals and gigs.

A few months ago, I decided it was time to purchase another pair of custom musician earplugs. Since I was happy with my first pair of ER filters, I didn’t have to spend time researching what I wanted. However, I did have to decide between ordering a do-it-yourself “impression kit” for the ear molds or having professional audiologist do it.

I decided to go to an audiologist because I was also way overdue for a hearing test. It’s more expensive to go this route but Etymotic Research claims to get more accurate molds from the pros.

Ear Mold for Custom Fit Earplugs

Musicians Earplugs have interchangeable attenuator buttons that come in three levels–9db, 15db, and 25db. I went with the 9db and the 15db–both seem to cut down enough of the dangerous levels. If I’m singing and playing drums I need the 9db so I can hear myself better. For everything else I’ve been using the 15db. The molds plus the filters cost about $180 for the pair. Add another $40 if you want to get more than one pair of filters. If you’ve never wore them but are interested in getting a pair, then I recommend the 15db as a good baseline.

Here’s the link to their site: http://www.etymotic.com/hp/erme.html