Killer 8-track board recording?

[Rottdoggie]

Wouldn't this work pretty well to record live "bar band" performances off of the main board?

http://www.samsontech.com/zoom/products/multi-track-recorders/r24/

Essentially grabbing an adequate signal from up to 8 FOH board channels (and/or AUXs) and remixing them later?

Is there a better unit for doing similar?  Or is there a better process to record live from typical 12/16/24/32-channel boards (ones w/out special recording features)?

Thanks!

[scoot13]

I don't know about this one but some of the multi-track Zoom's only allow you to record on two tracks at a time which wouldn't allow for a live 8 track recording.

[Rottdoggie]

Yeah...I have a Roland/Boss like that.  2 tracks at a time.

This looks like it records all eight.  Unless I'm missing someting?!?

[MrKnobs]

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Rottdoggie wrote:

Wouldn't this work pretty well to record live "bar band" performances off of the main board?

http://www.samsontech.com/zoom/products/multi-track-recorders/r24/

Essentially grabbing an adequate signal from up to 8 FOH board channels (and/or AUXs) and remixing them later?

Is there a better unit for doing similar?  Or is there a better process to record live from typical 12/16/24/32-channel boards (ones w/out special recording features)?

Thanks!

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Pretty much every unit does 44.1 kHz 24 bit .wav files now, so no problem there.   24 bit is important as you can set the input levels not so high and still get a good recording despite the levels coming from the FOH board fluctuating without giving you overs.

I'd say your biggest issue is getting the right feeds you need from FOH.  Your board will need to have line outs on each channel or sub (or inserts that do outs without breaking the signal path) and you'll need to choose your 8 tracks carefully.  In the case of drums you'll need a submix down to one or two channels and the FOH board will have to be set up to do that for you.

And of course if you HAVE eight free aux's you could do it that way.  But then you'll need a good set of closed headphones to hear your aux submixes and you'll irritate the soundguy if that's not you.

If your venue is small be especially sure that you have the instruments that don't normally get a lot of level added at FOH (guitars, bass, snare, cymbals) are on a separate track.  For instance if you just take the same stereo drum mix from the board that's going to the mains you're likely to find that there's not as much snare and cymbals in it as you thought since those are coming off the stage pretty loud.  Then again, the snare and cymbals will likely be in the front vocal mics too.

So it's best (from a technical standpoint) to do board recordings at outdoor shows or larger venues where what you hear is much closer to what's being recorded. 

Either way, if you plan your tracks carefully and set your levels conservatively you'll probably get a recording that's of some use to you.  Each time you try this, you'll get better at it.

To do this REALLY well it's nice to have a separate mixer split off from the FOH board at the inputs.  And it's so much easier if you have a 24 track recorder and just let it run.

Terry D.

[trevcda]

I have a little rack with a Tascam DA-38 and an ART MDM-8L which I use as an eight channel brickwall limiter and feed it with the direct outs off of sub groups. The limiter let's me mix for the room while still providing a consistent signal to the recorder and provided the sub group is mixed well some usable tracks to mix down later. Eventually the DA-38 will get replaced if I find I'm using the system more, but until I go to a digital mixer, the MDM-8L will still be in front of the recording device.

[maarkr]

I use a Zoom R16 for our band... use it as a mixer and recorder for 8 mono tracks.  One of the best things I ever bought.  I can take the card and drop all the tracks into a Sonar X2 project template with tracks setup for a standard mix, or if u setup a laptop/usb u can record right into your daw.