Tips for recording your rehearsals easily

It goes without saying that recording and listening back to rehearsals and gigs is a fantastic tool for musicians and bands. We won’t dwell on why—there are already plenty of articles on the internet about it. Instead, we’re going to share our favorite way to record band rehearsals. Of course, not everyone will agree on every point below, and there are very good reasons to do things differently. But for the "standard" band, here is what we recommend.

We focus mostly on rehearsals in this article to keep things concise, but of course, all of this applies just as well to live gigs.

1. Record the entire rehearsal in one take, without interruptions

When you’re rehearsing with your band, the last thing you want is to waste time fiddling with recordings instead of focusing on the rehearsal itself! You're usually renting a rehearsal space by the hour, and every minute counts. That’s why we recommend starting the recording right at the beginning of practice, forgetting all about it for the rest of the session, and just playing like you normally would. You can deal with the long recording afterwards, rather than stopping and starting between every single song. Plus, this lets you capture the banter and discussions between takes, which often turn out to be genuinely useful.

2. Use a portable recorder instead of a phone

Many recent smartphones have decent microphones, and everyone has a voice memo app that works just fine. But haven't you ever needed your phone during practice for something else—like pulling up chord charts or replying to a text? On top of that, you need enough free storage and battery life to capture the whole session. For most people, that's just too many things to juggle. That's why we recommend investing around a hundred dollars/euros in a compact portable recorder like the Zoom H1essential or, slightly larger, the Tascam DR-05XP.

The absolute worst option is bringing a laptop, an audio interface, and an XLR mic to rehearsal! It can work in a pinch if you have no other choice (and the audio quality will easily beat a phone), but it means dealing with heavy, expensive gear that takes forever to set up. In comparison, a portable field recorder fits right in your pocket and starts rolling with the press of a single button.

3. Use rechargeable batteries with the recorder

Bringing a power adapter, hunting for an available wall outlet, keeping the recorder close by because the cable isn't long enough... nobody wants to deal with that. Buying standard alkaline batteries is better, but it means constantly buying (and throwing away) a lot of batteries. In fact, handheld recorders are all designed to run on NiMH rechargeable batteries, and that's what we recommend. What's more, their lifespan is fantastic: they can typically be recharged over 500 times! Just make sure to choose them wisely, as capacity varies wildly between models: look for at least 2,300 mAh for AA and 1,000 mAh for AAA.

4. Position the recorder properly in the room

There are a few ways to go about this. Setting it on a chair in the middle of the room usually works quite well. Alternatively, you can use a 1/4" to 3/8" adapter to mount your recorder directly onto a microphone stand. For a rock band, it’s best to keep the recorder away from the drum kit, avoid setting it on top of a guitar amp, and definitely never put it on the bass cab.

5. Record in WAV, not MP3

Why? Because even though WAV files take up much more storage space, they require far less processing power from your recorder. If your device is running on battery power, recording to WAV will give you noticeably longer battery life. You can always convert your WAV files into a lighter, compressed format later on your computer.

To our knowledge, every portable recorder on the market supports both WAV and MP3 formats. You can easily toggle between the two in the settings.

6. If possible, record in 32-bit float

32-bit float sounds like high-tech jargon, but the concept is simple: it eliminates the need to set input gain altogether, letting you hit record with a single button press without worrying about clipping or distorted audio! The catch is that only recent recorders support it (Zoom’s “essential” lineup does, for instance), and you must make sure the mode is enabled in the settings. We highly recommend it. Otherwise, make sure you take a moment to dial in your gain levels properly before starting the take.

7. Let Réécoute handle the rest

Now that rehearsal is over and you’ve got large WAV files sitting on your recorder’s SD card, we have something that might interest you: Réécoute. It’s a web app where you can simply upload your WAV files. After a few minutes of processing, Réécoute gives you a private link to listen to the rehearsal directly from your web browser. Anyone with this link can stream the recording immediately—no account creation required!

By sharing this link with your bandmates, you can all work together on the recording: tag songs, download specific sections, and even leave timestamped comments on exact moments. All of this anytime, anywhere—even on your phone on the subway. If you want to give it a try, click here 😉