Recording a live show...

Docaroo · 1 Jul 2006 at 09:28

NOTE: NOT ILLEGAL AS I'M RECORDING MY OWN BAND!!!!

Now that's out of the way, at our next gig I have someone recording a video of us playing but it (obviously) never records good audio...

I want to use my brother's iRivier to record the show but would need an external mic (small cardoid?) or something to get half decent audio!

Does anyone have any recommendations on what would be best to use?? Is it possible to make a "bootlegging" mic rig out of parts (IE from a high street electronics retailer) as I think I saw this done once on a website long long ago in a galaxy pretty far away!

I understand there would be a tradeoff between price/quality but it doesn't need to be insanely awesome, so err to the cheap side if possible!

Thanks in advance you lovely chaps!

penski · 1 Jul 2006 at 09:56

I always used to just plug my laptop into the sound desk and record away.

*n

Augmented · 1 Jul 2006 at 10:20

Yes, definitely speak to the engineer behind the desk. Some will just give you a straight line from the PA feed, some will do you a nice submix (for a few quid) and some won't.

Best scenario would be to take the direct desk feed, and then maybe hook up a second mic for some ambient room sound if you want to balance out the mix later on (guitars may be quieter in the direct mix because of stage amps etc.).

Docaroo · 1 Jul 2006 at 10:26

yeh i did think about doing that - I might just go with that option but I also wanted some "Live" noise to give it some warmth (crowd, etc)..

What's the best bet for capturing this?

Thanks chaps!

SexyGreyFox · 1 Jul 2006 at 10:56

The only problem with going out of the desk is that the volumes will be all over the place unless you can get on a sub mix channel with its own levels.
If I was to record my band straight out of the mixer all you would hear is vocals and drums because all the guitar sound comes from the backline. We don't even mic the guitar cabs up because they're so loud. Any guitar sound you hear out of the PA is being picked up by the other mic's.
The videos on my website in the MEDIA section were recorded with a Sony camcorder sitting on top of the mixer and even though its not amazing sound quality it isn't too bad either and I've sold at least 300 of the DVD's by word of mouth.
The best sound in the room should appear by the mixer so if you can set something up there then you won't be far off.

Augmented · 1 Jul 2006 at 11:13

Docaroo said:
yeh i did think about doing that - I might just go with that option but I also wanted some "Live" noise to give it some warmth (crowd, etc)..

What's the best bet for capturing this?

Thanks chaps!

On the cheap there's not much you can do other than placing whatever microphone you have at hand in the venue's sweet-spot (probably centre towards the back) and recording that pointing at the stage. Unless you're looking at creating a balanced stereo mix for release, then don't bother getting hung up on the technical fine points. The reason why the camcorder mic sounds so crappy is likely because it has a quite narrow field, and being mounted to the camera, will only pick up what's currently filling the lens - always go with a static/external microphone when recording with a camera.

Do you have any decent mics available? If you don't, see if you can borrow an SM-57 from the venue (as they'll almost definitely have a few) and use that. You'll need the right cable to connect to your recorder - which, I imagine, will be XLR-3.5mm jack. You can use much better, and more appropriate, condensor mics but they will be far too pricey and unecessary for your requirements.

Things to bear in mind - lots of crowd noise if the mic is positioned with the crowd, usually better to suspend it from the ceiling (not really possible, I know) and a possible slight delay if you're recording the direct mix and ambient mix together [but that only really happens in large venues]. I'd recommend getting separate recordings of direct and ambient (and the cam audio too!) and mix them later on.

Docaroo · 1 Jul 2006 at 13:06

eek this is kinda spiralling out of control - bit too complex for my needs!

It's not for professional release or anything, just for I guess promo stuff or for fans to hear what we are like live (lots of fans from far away who haven't seen us)...

I have a SM57 and a MXL V67 Large Diaph. Condenser that could be used as well as a XLR lead ...

Maybe I could put this mic on stage pointing out and connect it to the snake box on stage? That would be less fuss than having it in the crowd/ at the mixing desk... every instrument comes through the PA (the amps aren't used for volume so it should be ok..).

The only thing with a soundboard recording is that it's not really what you hear live which is why I'd rather go down the taping route via some simple mics... if you catch me!