What's in your "gig bag" for a hotel outing?

[reggind]

When I have time to think and pack... This is what I bring...

My notebook is always with me and I like to record to it. It takes AC power, and has an ultra quiet thermostatically controlled fan and line and mic inputs. It also has a built in mic.

My Ipod Touch 4. It has a built in mic and a mic level imput

A good small quality mic with about 15' of cable that will work with the notebook (might work with the pod, have not tried it)

My leatherman multitool

Bailing or coat hanger wire (for snaking the mic through vents or behind outlet boxes in walls etc)

Stethoscope

Black tape (holding stuff together in general)

Painters tape (holding mic's or bailing wire to walls etc)

Crappy little mic preamp that I bought (going to build a much much nicer one..)

Foam ear plugs (for ear on the wall listening)

Shielded stereo 3.3mm cable extenders (headphone ext's or mic ext's)

Comfortable in ear earbuds (can really crank the volume up w/o feedback) and if they do feedback it is not real audible like with a speaker)

Things I plan on adding are a really high end mic preamp with some AGC in it and a steep high pass filter. Better remote mics. Contact mics.

Perhaps make a few "throw away" low end FM wireless mic's that are just over the FM band.

What do you have in your gig bag?

[reggind]

One more thing I forgot to mention. A small spool of strong but thin nylon cord. This is good for tying things off. Last time I was in a hotel the room next door to mine shared a vent with my bathroom. I thought I ws being clever and moved a chair into the bathroom so I could get a look and I could see into their bathroom, through the grill on their side. Being the clever pup I am, I stuck my ipod between the slats on the grill on my side and left it recording. After a few hours when I went to get it back, I slipped and knocked it through the grate instead of pulling it back. It missed a piece of vent pipe going down to the rooms below by inches. So, from here on out, the rule is to tie a good strong piece of nylon lanyard around it, and tape it in place so if it does fall it can't go too far. That would have been a major clusterfuck if I lost it down there.

[JohnGypsy]

I'm not nearly as detailed as you - mainly because I very much want to stay as "legal looking" as possible in case things went wrong. In my opinion, people going at it loud enough that I can hear them in a public hallway do not have a "real expectation of privacy" and, therefore, recording should be allowed. I'm not sure that would hold up in court - but I think it is a reasonable argument.

As soon as you start snaking things through vents and such, then you're treading on thin ice, I think. Of course, you are welcome to do it - to each their own! I'm just explaining why my goody bag is a lot less than yours!

Here's what I bring:

1. Handful of USB voice recorders. These are my favorite things now and I can't see recording any other way any more. See my other recent posts for more details on why exactly.

2. Laptop with good headphones for listening/filtering/editing after the fact.

3. Surface-microphone (like this one). I don't record from this for a couple of reasons (it just doesn't sound that good in the end and because I think there are bigger legal issues as mentioned above). I just use it to listen in in real-time to the rooms next to me.

And that's about it, I guess. I basically just need my USB voice recorders and I'm all set. Throw one in my pocket and I'm good to go hunting in the hallways!

[Audio]

reggind

your list is amazing. i only use the following

1. Notebook with various Software (ableton, avs audio, mp3 direct cut)
2. Olympus LS3 Recorder
3. in-Ear headphones ("ulimate ears") for post-processing

[jinhui]

I (usually) have an olympus recorder and thats it. I use to have my notebook with me anyways, which has audacity on it.

@reggind: I never saw any recording added by you. Don't you upload them or did I just miss them? Would be a shame to have that kind of equipment and no results at all

best regards,
jinhui

[reggind]

I feel much safer behind a locked door in my own room, with the deadbolt set. I can crank up the tee vee and make some background noise while I get set up. I feel much safer like this than camping out in the hallways. These days you never know when they will have security cams in the hallways etc. You are much better off in your room, even though this does limit your scope.

[Cilli1]

So, um, what is the stethoscope good for and why would you wear foam earplugs when you want to hear stuff?