1. Hello everyone

    U2start's work has always been all about sharing. Sharing concert recordings, sharing photographies, sharing knowledge and sharing our passion.

    We have been asked many times "what would I need to record a show?", "how can I share a recording?", etc. so we felt like it was time to share our knowledge about concert taping, so everyone can hop on the bandwagon and start taping on their own. Taping concerts is a beautiful hobby that makes many people happy, including the the taper and the people who went to the concert and can relive it by listening to a wonderful recording of it. It's a win-win situation.

    We have just started publishing a series of articles (part 1: Your Target & The Recorder) that will show you the basic concepts of taping: what you can expect, what do you need to start out, how much will it cost you and where can you get it.

    This forum topic will serve as a question-solving thread about these articles, and you can also provide your feedback here - everything is welcome.

    We hope you enjoy it, and we hope to light the taper's fire inside of you It would be great if some of you enjoyed the articles so much that you decide to tape some shows from the upcoming U2 tour and shared them with the world afterwards!

    U2start - Share your passion.

    Part 1: Your Target & The Recorder: http://www.u2start.com/content/article/11/Tapers-guide-part-1-Your-Target-The-Recorder/
    Part 2: Microphones: http://www.u2start.com/content/article/12/Tapers-guide-part-2-Microphones/
    Part 3: Get in, record & share: http://www.u2start.com/content/article/14/Tapers-guide-part-3-Get-in-record-share/

    Way to go
  2. Great work Sergio, very interesting and looking forward to part 2!
    With the number of shows we expect this year we need the entire community if we want to have all shows to be available as bootleg. I will definitely have a go, with either audio or video recording.
  3. Thanks Remy I hope everybody finds it interesting enough to have a look, and hopefully at least some of you will eventually become a taper because of this articles. That would be even better than the real thing for me Welcome to the taper world y'all
  4. Notes I would give:
    1. Do not rely on the internal mics of a recorder. Get a pair of microphones and lace them up in a hat--quality of recording will get *significantly* better.
    2. Expect to fail or have crummy recordings. If your focus is for one particular band--go tape some local shows and practice. Low stress and low stakes makes for better practice, allowing you to focus on your recording.
  5. Yep, both points are made abundantly clear on the article (although the internal mics issue will be on the second part, to be published next week)
    I agree on practicing with smaller, local (and cheaper) bands first, I will add that point to the text. Thank you for your feedback and support!
  6. Just thought I'd note that Chris Church makes good mics, but there have been a lot of complaints about his turn around time. Just an FYI for people that are looking to buy mics for first time from him.
  7. Curious--whats the next installment?
  8. Originally posted by hoserama:Just thought I'd note that Chris Church makes good mics, but there have been a lot of complaints about his turn around time. Just an FYI for people that are looking to buy mics for first time from him.
    What do you mean exactly by "his turn around time"? The time he spends building them?
  9. Various stuff (cables, windscreens, etc), the actual recording proccess (getting into the venue, setting the gear up, etc) and transferring/editing/publishing to finish
  10. From the moment that you place an order to the time that you receive them. Lots of stories of Chris stating "I'll have them out in two weeks" and then two-three months go by. My suggestion would be to make sure with him that the mics have already been constructed and are ready to ship.

    FYI I might suggest keeping the details of smuggling stuff past security to PM only.
  11. There are no precise details, don't worry Thanks anyway!

    Regarding the mics, yeah, that's part of the "handmade one by one" thing - Church Audio has his own life lol. But he often builds a couple of sets at once and then sells them directly, without building time, but customers with special requests often have to wait a little more indeed. I will reflect that in the article, thanks


    If you have any other suggestions or contributions feel free to PM me (or post them here) and we can discuss it so maybe we can improve the articles. It's not a personal work, it's just a general guide for getting people into taping - the more the better!