Hi Krister, Damon, and Others,
Gary wrote:
there is a free app that Blue microphone makess for the Mikey. it
is BlueFiRe. Pro field recorder is makde by the same company, but
costs $9.00 US. you can search for it in the Itunes store. it is
mostly accessible.
and Krister asked:
Is the professional recorder accessible? What does and doesn't work?
/Krister
The pro version of the free Blue FiRe app has just gone on sale ($5.99
down from $9.99) through to June 10 in celebration of SoundCloud's
millionth user and FiRe's anniversary as the first app to integrate
professional recording with uploading to SoundCloud. (Having this
sale during the week of the Worldwide Developers Conference probably
also doesn't hurt.) These apps are available internationally from the
iTunes App Store.
• Blue FiRe (free) by Blue Microphones:
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/blue-fire/id336713577?mt=8
• FiRe -- Field Recorder ($5.99 now through June 10, 2010; normally
$9.99) by Audiofile Engineering:
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/fire-field-recorder/id309378684?mt=8
I wrote a bit about the Blue FiRe and FiRe apps in this post that was
archived to macvisionaries vimacaudio lists:
<http://www.mail-archive.com/macvisionaries%40googlegroups.com/msg19089.html
>
(iPhone Recording Apps for Voice and Music [was Re: Voice Memos App])
That is a long post, and the first half covers Voice memos and Voxie
Pro Recorder, while the second half mentions Blue FiRe and the Amazing
Slow Downer, and gives (at the end) links to the apps, reviews of
FiRe, and where to order the Blue Mikey 2.
The quick answer to Krister's question about what works is that you
should try the free Blue FiRe app yourself and try placing and working
with markers, because that's where a lot of the capabilities and also
potential accessibility issues arise. The free app comes with a
QuickStart recording that explains the layout of the main screen and
how to use the app. (There's no QuickStart explanation with the pro
version, so you should really get the free version first.) For a long
answer to what's changed, and some of the features of the pro version
of the app, read below. For those who want to skip directly to online
information sources, check out Audiofile Engineering's support web
pages and forum, including the detailed FiRe Knowlege Book at:
<http://www.audiofile-engineering.com/support/helpdesk/index.php?pg=kb.book&id=40
>
The Pro version, FiRe, made a few simple changes and additions that
made placing and working with markers easier: instead of having to tap
on a "handle" at the base of the playhead to set markers you can now
tap anywhere around the center of the transport, above the point
midway between the record and stop buttons, to have your marker
register. (It was possible to do before by aiming just between and
slightly above the two buttons, but now it's much easier to do with
VoiceOver toggled off, since aiming anywhere in a strip along the
central vertical axis works to place markers.) There's a waveform
range finder strip that runs just below the waveform and above the
record and stop buttons that can be used for fast navigation within
the recording if you swipe horizontally left or right (with VoiceOver
off). This is basically the region of the "handle" that you had to
aim for to tap your markers in the free, Blue FiRe version of the app,
but extended into a horizontal strip. You can easily get control of
the position marker for the waveform range finder by stopping your
recording at the end, and then double tapping the at the right side of
center (which will mean that you're tapping at the right edge of the
central waveform strip). That moves the position marker to the right
edge of the waveform range strip, and if you move your finger down to
the waveform range strip after doing your double tap to the right of
center, you can slide from the right edge of the strip to quickly
change the current playback position anywhere from the start (left
edge) to the end (right edge) of the recording. If you want to check
the exact time you've moved to, toggle VoiceOver back on and read the
time at the top of the screen. Since you can also navigate through to
the next or previous marker near the current playhead time by double
tapping to the right or left of the central transport (and since you
can also set your recording to insert markers at fixed intervals if
you listened to the directions in the QuickStart for the free app),
you get a fair amount of precision. It's also possible to double tap
the left edge of the screen and then pick up the position marker for
the waveform range strip at the left edge of the strip and position
yourself by sliding to the right.
There are a few changes to the simple recording interface in the pro
version, FiRe: two of the five buttons at the bottom of the screen
have been renamed. They are:
1. Transport (the main working screen)
2. Info (list of recordings, their length, audio properties, creation
and modification dates, and size; you also edit the names here and
optionally lock recordings that you don't want to modify or record over)
3. Properties ("Markers" in the free version; in addition to listing
markers that you can label by name as well as time, the "Properties"
include the ability to supply metadata -- author, artist. composer,
title, take, comments, etc. -- either by referencing all fields, or by
selecting metadata entries appropriate to the kind of recording or
upload destination -- e.g."Broadcast WAVE", "Ogg Vorbis", "iXML",
"SoundCloud")
4. Settings (Pro version is set up under categories of Input,
Transport, Recording, and Playback; free version gives you a subset of
these on a single screen, like recording quality, time unit for
automatic marker placement, recording thresholds.)
5. Share ("FTP" in the free version; Pro version gives you additional
options for SoundCloud upload, and support for compressed formats like
AAC, Podcast, Apple Lossless, FLAC, and Ogg Vorbis; this screen also
tells you how much space is left available on your device)
The pro version also has an "Input Gain" button at the top right of
the main (Transport) screen. When you double tap this button, the
region of the "Record" and "Stop" buttons (above the 5 screen
selection buttons at the bottom, and below the central waveform
region) is overlaid with an input gain slider (0 to +24 dB) that you
can adjust by swiping up or down. Or, if you are starting from 0, you
can do a double tap and hold pass through gesture at the left edge of
the slider, and swipe right before lifting your finger to get finer
adjustment control. Double tap the "Input Gain" button at the top
right again to dismiss the gain control and regain access to the
"Record" and "Stop" buttons.
There are a lot more options under the different "Settings" button
menus to explore, and the iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad top level menu for
"Settings > FiRe" and "Settings > Blue FiRe" menus for these apps also
provides access to this information. (It may be unlikely that you
access these menus, at least for the Pro "FiRe" version, from the
device's main "Settings" menu unless you are using an iPad, due to the
complexity.)
Finally, I originally started composing this post to answer Ginny's
question about recording over material with the Voxie Pro Recorder app
(not possible with that app, but a feature, like overdubbing, that can
be done with FiRe). I'll paste in these comments, which describes
some of the different limitations for apps like Voice Memos and Voxie
Pro Recorder as well as the recording devices.
Ginnie asked:
Hello. Has anyone been successful editing Voxie recordings? I
attempted
this by pausing a recording at the point where I'd like to begin
recording
again, but Voxie puts me at the end of the original recording
instead. It
might not be possible to edit by recording over material...just
thought I'd
check.
Voxie Pro Recorder is designed to append to recording tracks or
quickly record new tracks on your iPhone or iPod Touch. I would handle
merging or joining the recorded tracks with programs on my computer
(e.g., with Amadeus Pro or similar program on a Mac). If you want an
iPhone app that can be used to edit over recordings, try the free Blue
FiRe app from Blue Microphones. Blue FiRe is a field recorder app
that's designed for professional music recording with input devices
that support stereo recording. Such devices, which include Blue
Microphones' own Blue Mikey 2 recorder, typically connect to the
iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad through the dock connector rather than
through the headphone jack, since the headphone jack only supports
mono recording. Blue FiRe can record from either the headphone jack
or through the dock connector. The difference between apps like Voxie
Pro Recorder and the default Voice Memos app on the iPhone or iPod
Touch and apps like Blue Microphones' Blue FiRe or the FiRe app by
Audiofile Engineering is that Voxie and the Voice Memos app are
designed to give you a simple and fast workflow for recording, with
Voxie in Express Mode letting you start and stop the recording just by
shaking the iPhone or iPod Touch.
With Blue FiRe and FiRe, music recording and editing is the main
activity, and the attention is on the details of the recording/
playback/editing process, displaying time in tenths or hundredths of
seconds, inserting markers, setting thresholds for the recording
level, having the ability to "lock" a recording, and having default
recording settings that are high bit rate -- as opposed to the 8 kHz
rate that is the only setting for Voice Memos, that is also the
recommended setting for simple voice recordings on Voxie. Similarly,
because the recordings are expected to encompass pro quality and
require more space, there's no email option (as in Voxie and Voice
Memos), but there's a dedicated file uploading capability. The "pro"
version of the Blue FiRe app, "FiRe -- Field Recorder" (currently
$5.95 for a limited time; usually $9.95) from Audiofile Engineers,
also supports many other settings such as:
SoundCloud integration
Compressed file creation
Metadata
Input Processing
Overdub
Playthrough
For example, you can play your recording back faster (1.5 times, 1.25
times) or slower (0.75 times, 0.5 times), optionally retaining pitch.
You can set this up so that double tapping scrolls you to your next
marker setting (with VoiceOver toggled off). You can set up
processing presets for hiss reduction, rumble reduction, live concerts
outdoors, bass boost, female voice enhancer, male voice enhancer, etc.
There's a detailed support page for FiRe as well as user forums at the
main Audiofile Engineering web page. The Knowledge Base (link
appended below) contains answers to detailed information on presets,
unique features compared to other recording program, links to
information on compatible recording devices, and a host of other items:
<http://www.audiofile-engineering.com/support/helpdesk/index.php?pg=kb.book&id=40
>
Ginny, since you have an iPad, it might be worth pointing out that
people have also successfully used Blue Micophone's Yeti mic (on sale
at Apple Stores, through Amazon at prices that have bounced around
from $105 to $140, and other sources) with the iPad's USB Camera kit
to record. (The Yeti stands taller than my Macbook, and weighs over a
pound -- almost as much your iPad.) You can find more info about this
through Google, or through the links and reviews at the Blue
Microphone site, e.g. their linked PDF article from AppleTell:
<http://www.bluemic.com/yeti/reviews/Appletell_iPadYeti.pdf>
Hope this answers your questions. I'm cc'ing this post to a number of
lists so as not to have to retype a lengthy post, especially for lists
that don't have easily searchable archives. Also credits to Scott
Howell and Dane Trethowan for originally starting this discussion of
possible apps for professional music recording on the iPhone back
around Christmas on the mac-access list. You now all know who to
blame for the contents of this post <smile>.
Cheers,
Esther
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