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How to record a live band?


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Coaster. I am very impressed with the sound of the guitars and bass in this filmed performance. Picture was pretty good too. So this was the audio from the camera and not a multitrack . Did the camera have a built in microphone that recorded this band? It must be awefully good camera cause I have heard alot of camera audio recorded at big time concerts like Alice Cooper on You tube and mostly sounds like sludge and mud. Were you filming the concert in the front row looks like it but I could hardly hear vocals because where you were positioned in relationship to the band. There must have been a sweet spot where you could have heard the vocals and drums and guitars and been able to pick it all up on the camera. I suppose you have to just go to every part of the room and find that sweet spot. What kind of camera you use? A band that was playing two weeks ago had a camera on a tripod filming with nobody behing the camera. It was back quite aways from the band. Its the band I want to make a recording with.

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Depending on the number of channels used and the board, you might be able to get pre fade direct outs from each channel to your recorder. That way you could create your own mix after the fact. Failing that, I would jut use a pair of mics in the room, or an H4.

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Coaster. I am very impressed with the sound of the guitars and bass in this filmed performance. Picture was pretty good too. So this was the audio from the camera and not a multitrack . Did the camera have a built in microphone that recorded this band? It must be awefully good camera cause I have heard alot of camera audio recorded at big time concerts like Alice Cooper on You tube and mostly sounds like sludge and mud. Were you filming the concert in the front row looks like it but I could hardly hear vocals because where you were positioned in relationship to the band. There must have been a sweet spot where you could have heard the vocals and drums and guitars and been able to pick it all up on the camera. I suppose you have to just go to every part of the room and find that sweet spot. What kind of camera you use? A band that was playing two weeks ago had a camera on a tripod filming with nobody behing the camera. It was back quite aways from the band. Its the band I want to make a recording with.

 

 

i didnt record it. i dont know who recorded it. i was at FOH, nearly 90' out in this medium/large size room. the camera person was located at the edge of the stage, out of the coverage of the PA system which was quite substantial. the vocals you hear are coming from the WEDGE! this show could have used front fill or else the folks could move back a few feet. it was a loud show, i had (6) qsc 3402's and they were HOT after the show. usually they are cold.

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MarkGifford said -1
"I would just use the pair of Oktavas at the console, or the best-sounding place in the room."

Mark .
When you say Oktavas at the console. Are you saying the Oktavas be hooked to my multitrack . So this way I will not have to bother the FOH with any hookups? I can sit quietly behind him and he will never notice I am here. I would have to get permission to set up mike stands and Octavas from the band and soundman. Or do you mean the Oktavas be hooked up at the FOH.
How about recording this way . Take two direct outs from the FOH to the Korg and set up Oktavas from the ceiling to capture the audience? Make it simple. Sound like a plan.

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MarkGifford said -1

"I would just use the pair of Oktavas at the console, or the best-sounding place in the room."


Mark .

When you say Oktavas at the console. Are you saying the Oktavas be hooked to my multitrack . So this way I will not have to bother the FOH with any hookups? I can sit quietly behind him and he will never notice I am here. I would have to get permission to set up mike stands and Octavas from the band and soundman. Or do you mean the Oktavas be hooked up at the FOH.

How about recording this way . Take two direct outs from the FOH to the Korg and set up Oktavas from the ceiling to capture the audience? Make it simple. Sound like a plan.

 

 

at this point this may be your best bet. you will pick up lots of crap and the ratio of audience to music will be totally out of your control; also anyone talking at FOH will be on the recording.

 

if you want a fun experiment that may surprise the hell out of you try this: find a brick wall or other hard surface near the middle to rear of the room. dont use the floor or ceiling. point an omni condensor right at the wall a short distance away, like 1cm or more/less; careful new years eve is a stupid, stupid night so keep the mics out of the way.

 

record that mic onto its own channel. if you did it right you will be shocked and appalled at the signal you got. you may walk around confused for a long time.

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Why don't you just try getting the hang of recording a band in your studio first? You can set up the whole band in your studio and record them "live" that way, without having to deal with all of the challenges the come along with doing a live location recording. Once you're good at recording in the studio, then try expanding to location work.

-Dan.


I am not going have a band set up in basement of the house .I don't have a studio in the real sense of the word. Just a fairly large carpeted basement that would could probably barely fit a 4 piece band. I suppose I would need to find where the band rehearses. Recording a rehearsal has its advantages I would not have to deal with a soundman right? Okay one less problem. I know the band uses the clubs PA system. So Erics band would probably not have PA available for rehearsal. Is this true? Most bands don't use PA system for rehearsals unless they own their own> Is this right? So would this mean I would be recording the vocalist with my Studio Project C1 large condenser vocal mike thru the Korg . No going thru a PA. I would set a Audix 5 to a guitar cab ,a Shure 57 to the other guitar cab. The bass DI or maybe recorded with another dynamic like shure 57. A mic on snare and kick drums and two overhead mics. I could just skip the mics on kick and drum and just use overhead. I would have to buy additional mics unless the band let me borrow them. I could get the band to know me better and we could hopefully develop a relationship. Okay watch for bleed and maybe isolate the guitar from the drums by recording the drums in one room and guitar in another. I know I would feel more comfortable starting recording a band rehearsal. At least I feel more confident about this than recording a live gig. Probably should read a good book on Live recording http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0240808916/ref=ord_cart_shr?ie=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER before I take the big step to recordin a live gig.

Brian

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where in iowa are you brian? i am familiar with the louis/atlantic area

 

Waterloo,Ia. I guess were most famous for the John Deere tracter facility and the University of Northern Iowa. Back in the 1940's Waterloo was one of the top 40 manufacturing centers in America. Believe it or not. Its certainly not anymore. Never heard of louis or atlantic

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Waterloo, home of the Waterloo Gasoline Engine CO, makers of the Waterloo Boy tractor that became part of JD in about 1918. This was a huge manufacuring base for the Waterloo area, worth thousands of jobs over many, many years.

(and this is what I remember from my ag. engineering degree... sheeh!)

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Why don't you just try getting the hang of recording a band in your studio first? You can set up the whole band in your studio and record them "live" that way, without having to deal with all of the challenges the come along with doing a live location recording. Once you're good at recording in the studio, then try expanding to location work.


-Dan.



I am not going have a band set up in basement of the house .I don't have a studio in the real sense of the word. Just a fairly large carpeted basement that would could probably barely fit a 4 piece band. I suppose I would need to find where the band rehearses. Recording a rehearsal has its advantages I would not have to deal with a soundman right? Okay one less problem. I know the band uses the clubs PA system. So Erics band would probably not have PA available for rehearsal. Is this true? Most bands don't use PA system for rehearsals unless they own their own> Is this right? So would this mean I would be recording the vocalist with my Studio Project C1 large condenser vocal mike thru the Korg . No going thru a PA. I would set a Audix 5 to a guitar cab ,a Shure 57 to the other guitar cab. The bass DI or maybe recorded with another dynamic like shure 57. A mic on snare and kick drums and two overhead mics. I could just skip the mics on kick and drum and just use overhead. I would have to buy additional mics unless the band let me borrow them. I could get the band to know me better and we could hopefully develop a relationship. Okay watch for bleed and maybe isolate the guitar from the drums by recording the drums in one room and guitar in another. I know I would feel more comfortable starting recording a band rehearsal. At least I feel more confident about this than recording a live gig. Probably should read a good book on Live recording
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0240808916/ref=ord_cart_shr?ie=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER
before I take the big step to recordin a live gig.


Brian



Brian, Whatever you do, don't give up, and don't let a few barriers interfere with your goal. It's all part of the learning process. You'll get there one way or the other.

Take your time; get to know the band a little better, and when the time is right, do your thing. When everybody sees a potential benefit, and if you remain diligent and professional in your approach, I'm certain you'll have a very positive result. I'm pulling for you, so hang in there and good luck. :thu:

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I've done it and it does require a lot of gear. I brought a rack with 16 channels of mic pres, two Delta 1010 interfaces, a pc running Ableton live 8. I also rented an 8 channel mic splitter plus another 4 separate mic splitters, and a 16 channel snake. I had to bring mic cables obviously and I put up two Realistic PZM's for the crowd. luckily it was just a rock band with two guitars, bass and drums. I simply put the splits right after each mic, one line to my snake, the other to the house snake. I had zero problems. we threw this together quickly and I was amazed at how good it turned out. I have the live DVD somewhere, I'll upload it if I find it.

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Many sound guys won't want to deal with ameatuer hour recording folks. It adds another layer of headache to the day and unless we are getting paid to do so, it's not going to happen. I always charge more for providing a split of any kind, unless it's part of a pro recording company where I will be compensated by getting paid for the additional time (pro guys will aleways come in much earlier) and the headaches are likely to be mitigated by the recording guys having their {censored} together.

 

Either way I am getting adequately compensated for the additional work and in most cases liability.

 

If somebody shows up to record and starts demanding this and that, it's a sure way that they do not record the evening. I also do not accept recording projects that have not been advanced with me.

 

Just something that the OP should be aware of IMO.

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okay. Very lively discussion . You have convinced me to not record the New Years gig. Instead lets talk about recording a band rehearsal. In what way will this be different than recording a live gig. Can you walk me thru the planning and equipment needed?

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I would just use the pair of Oktavas at the console, or the best-sounding place in the room.


You can find audience tapes of jam bands that sound very nice, if the band/PA are good.


Seriously, you're 2 days out, have no gear and haven't even asked the band's permission... You have neither the gear nor the experience to do anything more elaborate, and this is something you can't do halfway and expect any usable results.


Good luck,


MG

 

 

+1

Stick your Octavas up where it sounds best but look out for a table of loud talkers near by. This will give the band the truest recording of what they sound like in the room. I have also got pretty good results recording off of two aux sends from the FOH board. Once you have the band on board with your endeavors and have more time to get your ducks in a row you should be able to make that happen. If your end goal is to get high quality usable/sellable live recordings, then multitrack to disc or recorder for later mix down is the best option.

 

Good luck, Winston.

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Friday is here and New Years gig is tonight at 11 oclock. I can imagine all the drunks there and tomorrow hangovers. I don't go to taverns to celebrate New Years day but common sense there will be plenty of drunks. The band is second on a bill. A band is opening for them. Winter storm watch beginning at 11pm tonight run thru tommorrow Still have not contacted band about recording. I won't upset anybody by bringing a Korg mic and a couple mic stands will I. They encourage people to take pictures of the band those cameras will be flashing. One problem is the dance floor in front of the band. I can't stick a couple mike stands in the dance floor. This would make everybody mad. Looks like I could stick the mic stands in the corner or behind the sound man or hang from the ceiling. They should be equal distance from the band because sound arrives at different times. I'm thinking I should have notified the band at least a week in advance of my intentions. . Its almost too late. The worst they can do is say no to me on the telephone.

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Friday is here and New Years gig is tonight at 11 oclock. I can imagine all the drunks there and tomorrow hangovers. I don't go to taverns to celebrate New Years day but common sense there will be plenty of drunks. The band is second on a bill. A band is opening for them. Winter storm watch beginning at 11pm tonight run thru tommorrow
Still have not contacted band about recording. I won't upset anybody by bringing a Korg mic and a couple mic stands will I.
They encourage people to take pictures of the band those cameras will be flashing. One problem is the dance floor in front of the band. I can't stick a couple mike stands in the dance floor. This would make everybody mad. Looks like I could stick the mic stands in the corner or behind the sound man or hang from the ceiling. They should be equal distance from the band because sound arrives at different times. I'm thinking I should have notified the band at least a week in advance of my intentions. . Its almost too late. The worst they can do is say no to me on the telephone.

 

 

If you just showed up out of the blue to our gig wanting a live recording of the band, I'd hand you their live CD and ask for $10. If you were a friend of the band and we knew about it in advance and the band approved of your intended use then no problem, but you still better have advanced your needs with me (the soundguy) if you need any feeds from the board.

Even just sticking up your own mic in the room should be approved in advance just out of courtesy if nothing else.

 

Winston

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