recording telephone sounds

[skratchadelic]

i would like to use my telephone as a musical instrument, for example, record my pushing of the buttons and incorporate it into a song. any suggestions as to how to get the audio from my telephone into my console?

[evan]

Well, firstly, you could just stick a mic up to the headset, right? But I suppose you don't want that.

I googled "recording telephone" and I came up with this thing from Radio Shack. Steep price, but Radio Shack has a decent return policy, if you catch my drift.

Another idea is to use a computer modem. There's recording software for modems I believe floating out there (try googling it), or you could turn on the volume for your modem so it outputs it through the soundcard and record it that way. It depends on the make an model of your modem, though, whether or not it can do this.

Or, you could call your answering machine, and if it's uses microcassette/cassette recording, then there you go.

[jca83]

and i believe a lot of cordless wallmount type phones have 1/8" headset outs on them. you could always get an 1/8" to 1/4" and just go from there.

[Rigsby]

I do this sometimes, though it's more using people's messages etc, i just put a mic up, play around with placement and go for it. If you're recording telephone sounds you're probably not going for the highest of fi anyway, but you can get a nice samply sound. I got a really good sound out of a mobile phone (cellphone?), made the whole of Zappa's Peaches En Regalia on the composer (minus the guitar solo-took about seven or eight hours as it was), 80 notes (or whatever the limit was) at a time and miced that up with a 57, editing it together afterwards. sounds pretty good to me. I'm sorting out web space and MP3s this weekend, i'll put it up and post a link.

[Family Hoof]

Cellphones have a mini jack, TRS for the mono headphone and mic. You could get some unbalanced TS adapters at Rat Shack = mini->1/8"->1/4". Not sure if I've tried this but it makes sense.

Also, for some telephone echo while you're playing the numbers...

Call your answering machine with a cell phone while in the same room. Get close enough and you'll hear what I'm talkin about. Nice controllable feedback loop with satalite delay.

[Family Hoof]

I should also mention that Rat Shack makes this suction cup mic for $7 or so that's designed for attaching to a telephone earpiece or something. Has an 1/8" jack at the output. It does the job alright but breaks pretty easily.

[wenzel.hellgren]

I should also mention that Rat Shack makes this suction cup mic for $7 or so that's designed for attaching to a telephone earpiece or something. Has an 1/8" jack at the output. It does the job alright but breaks pretty easily.

it's fun to put on other things too, like guitars and drums and turntables.

SPeaking of which, ever mic the stylus?

[j_howell]

I have a couple of the Radio Shack suction-cup $7 jobs, and they work well for recording from the phone, or recording from any kind of speaker or electro-magnetic output device (I use mine to pickup the tiny crappy speaker of a toy Kawasaki keyboard), but it definitely does not record guitar or drums or anything acoustic...it's actually a crappy electromagnetic pickup, not a "contact microphone", which I think Radio Shack used to sell...anyway, to use these for drums or anything like that, you'd have to re-amp a drum track and use the suction-cup pickup on the speaker of the amp you're using....just thought I'd clarify. I was pretty disappointed when I tried micing drums with them!

[NewYorkDave]

You can couple right to the phone line with an isolation transformer. Radio Shack used to sell a 1:1 transformer that worked just fine for coupling to a phone line. I used it in a homemade remote IFB system when I worked at a TV station. The transformer will "seize" the line, though, so be sure to disconnect it from the line when you're done; otherwise it'll be as if you left your phone off the hook.

[wenzel.hellgren]

I have one that is a microphone in the suction cup. But I have another that is just a peice of metal attached to a wire. I guess that is what you are talking about.