Recording demos with iPhone

[JoeWeb10]

Good evening all.

I'm just wanting to record my first demo, and wanted some opinions on if using my iPhone would be sufficient enough for something like this.

Thanks in advance!

[Jon Chelesnik]

Hi Joe -- the iPhone has terrific recording ability. What I've never tested is recording in an unusually loud environment, like a basketball gym. I'm eager to see what other folks suggest.

[Steve Carney]

Hi Joe,

I've used my iPhone as my main sound gathering tool while reporting for years (since getting my iPhone 5...now on the 7 Plus), and I think that I can give you a little bit of advice on it.

The iPhone is also a great tool for recording demos (I've used mine for everything from mock PBP to recording spec features to try and sell sponsorship to recording interviews on the field from the College Football Playoff National Championship as well as the MLB and NHL Playoffs), but there are a couple of things you may want to invest in before going for it.

1) The microphone on the iPhone is omnidirectional and as such in loud settings you can get lost in the background. For that reason I always use a stick microphone to record (I'm currently using a Behringer Ultravoice XM8500. I think it's under $20 on Amazon), and to connect it to the iPhone, I use a iRig Pre mic interface (about $30 at Guitar Center or B&H), which also allows me to adjust the gain on the mic in case I'm a little far away from the subject. If you have an iPhone 7, you'll also need the 3.5 mm to lightning dongle that came with your phone to connect it.

2) The Voice Memos app that comes with the iPhone works OK, but it has two downfalls: it only allows for an 8:00 maximum length before you have to split the file, and it records in m4a format. For that reason I used the TwistedWave Recorder app for the last year (free in app store) because it records in MP3, allows you to monitor levels on headphones (which you can connect to the iRig) and you can then email it from the phone to yourself for editing. About a month ago, the upgrade to TwistedWave Audio Editor was available for free and I upgraded to it, which allows you to edit directly on the phone and upload to a number of different services (like Dropbox, SoundCloud etc.). I believe it's back to $9.99 for the upgrade.

All in all, I've found it to be an extremely inexpensive investment that has served me amazingly well. Good luck!

[Jon Chelesnik]

Hi Steve, this is outstanding advice. Thanks a TON for sharing it. It is going to be very helpful to many people, including myself. Thank you again.