Need advice for recording a gig

[wheresgrant3]

Hi All,

 

 

I've been trying to esperiment recording our gigs for a live demo to send out to clubs. I'm just curious what you use and what are the best results. We are a cover band and where we gig it's 100% DIY. We have our own PA, lights... etc. We few weeks ago I recorded us for first time with this using a used 4 track Sony Mini Disk recorder I bought to capture some live stuff for a possible demo. Unfortunately I wasn't too prepared and I didn't really have a plan. After finally setting up and sound checking I didn't have any time to worry about mic'ing or checking levels. My initial plan was to record two tracks in seperate spots in the room and pan the mix left and right. Unfortunately Channel 1 didn't seem to recording any levels so instead I went with a single mic (Shure SM 58), out channel 2 about 8 feet out from the PA, dead center, about 9 feet off the floor (ceiling of the club was about 15ft). I basically crossed my fingers and hoped for the best.

 

Despite a few technical problems (the first set never finished writing to disk and I lost the recording) it turned out ok. But I know I can do better. I dressed this up with reverb and some eq in Sonar

 

Clip 1 w/ effects

 

Any ideas? Mic placement or should I go through our board? We don't have a sound guy so there are no way to control levels while recording.

[kerOseen]

Well, if you don't have the time to experiment or set levels, you're better off with the technique you're already using. Try using a large condensor mic, or two small ones in a stereo XY configuration, from the mix position (which will usually sound the best because, well, you're mixing from that point in the room). You'll need a phantom power source, and/or a seperate mini mixer to power the mics and mix the two mics.

 

If you have the time and the means, you could do a mono recording off an extra aux send, which you could mix specifically for a recording. Sometimes just patching into the house mix can sound unbalanced when just listening to it later (ie: you're not getting the "rest" of the audible mix which was comming from the stage and the room). That's my best effort to explain all this, hope it helps ya.

[B. Adams]

What I do most often is to grab my Sony portable minidisc recorder, plug in my Sony ECM-957 mic, and set a level. Works great. I've recorded a few orchestra concerts with it as well, and it sounds good. This is the easiest thing I think you can do.

[GrooveMonkey]

We use a couple of condenser mic's directly into a Yamaha minidisc recorder. It captures the room sound and is very basic.

 

Here's a sample: Live MP3

[PrActical_AV]

I use a Sony MD recorder with a mini-cardioid (uni-directional) stereo microphones (MM-MCSM-1) and battery filter module (MM-EBM-1) with 7 position bass roll-off from Microphone Madness. I roll off the bass at 180Hz (you won't miss the low end) and the battery filter module helps handle the high SPL's. I position the mics in a xy configuration and try to mount it as high as possible - the lower you mount it the more bass it picks up. From the battery filter box I plug into the mic jack for lower level sources and if it's a high SPL source then I use the line level (depends on how close and loud you are to the source).

 

When I really want to get "fancy", I also record directly off the mixer. Then I combine the two sources and balance it with software on the computer until it sounds "just right". Works great, you get the superior clarity from the mixer source and the reverberation and ambience the audience hears.

 

I've been told that if they were omni-directional mics they may work better. Can't afford to buy them yet, so haven't tried them.

[wheresgrant3]

 

Originally posted by PrActical_AV I use a Sony MD recorder with a mini-cardioid (uni-directional) stereo microphones (MM-MCSM-1) and battery filter module (MM-EBM-1) with 7 position bass roll-off from Microphone Madness. I roll off the bass at 180Hz (you won't miss the low end) and the battery filter module helps handle the high SPL's. I position the mics in a xy configuration and try to mount it as high as possible - the lower you mount it the more bass it picks up. From the battery filter box I plug into the mic jack for lower level sources and if it's a high SPL source then I use the line level (depends on how close and loud you are to the source). When I really want to get "fancy", I also record directly off the mixer. Then I combine the two sources and balance it with software on the computer until it sounds "just right". Works great, you get the superior clarity from the mixer source and the reverberation and ambience the audience hears. I've been told that if they were omni-directional mics they may work better. Can't afford to buy them yet, so haven't tried them.

 

 

 

Which Sony MD recorder do you use? Would that setup work for a load rock band?

[wheresgrant3]

 

Originally posted by GrooveMonkey We use a couple of condenser mic's directly into a Yamaha minidisc recorder. It captures the room sound and is very basic. Here's a sample: Live MP3

 

 

That mix isn't bad at all... drums are a little low, although I imagine they aren't mic'd at all.

[GrooveMonkey]

 

Originally posted by wheresgrant3 That mix isn't bad at all... drums are a little low, although I imagine they aren't mic'd at all.

 

 

Thanks.

 

He was using bundle sticks and trying to be quiet. We we're set up in a bay window type storefront and the drummer was jammed in the corner. No mics on the drums but there wer two condensers in the room, one in front of the band, and one behind the PA mains.