Topic: Recording an outdoor concert (without it becoming a field recording)

[Andrea]

Hi there,

I am new to the list.  I have experience with field recording, but I was just asked by a band to experiment with recording their outdoor concert this Saturday.  They are playing off of a generator in a local park into I assume a PA system, and there are vocals and keyboard by one performer, drums for the other performer. They said that they are not playing in through a mixer. I would like to mic it properly, recording into a Sound Devices.  I know that to receive detailed advice I would need to provide more details, so just any general advice on proper setup would be much appreciated.  I have access to lots of equipment and could probably find/match whatever suggestions you may offer in terms of good mics/gear.

Ultimately they will have something recorded as I'll bring my zoom recorders for backup.

Thanks!

Andrea
 

[johnw]

Envision an equilateral triangle with the 2 PA speaker stacks being 2 corners, then position your stand in the 3rd corner of that triangle. Elevate the microphone stand to 6-8 feet. Using 2 cardioid microphones (ideally a matched pair) orient the microphones so that the capsules are 17cm apart and the included angle between them is 110 degrees. Connect them to the input of your Sound Devices Recorder. If you have a SD744 or 788, also connect 2 omni microphones that are 3-6 feet apart from the same position and height as you cardioid pair and record all 4 channels. That should get you going. FWIW, there is a lot of information on this website on this very topic if you'll take time to read through the site. In fact, there is a stickied thread right at the very top of this page that will answer this question in more detail.

[Andrea]

Thanks for your reply, johnw.  This setup is what I had envisioned as I use this method to record performers for indoor concerts, but I thought that recording a band outdoors might be different with all of the continual ambient noise.  I had briefly read through and searched for variations on 'outdoor recording setup' with nothing coming up.   cheers, ~A
 

[datbrad]

Thanks for your reply, johnw.  This setup is what I had envisioned as I use this method to record performers for indoor concerts, but I thought that recording a band outdoors might be different with all of the continual ambient noise.  I had briefly read through and searched for variations on 'outdoor recording setup' with nothing coming up.   cheers, ~A

Actually, for outdoor concerts, using traditional near-coincident stereo setups like ORTF, DIN, and NOS really work great because of the lack of reflected sound, and the combination of intensity stereo and time delay stereo. Good luck!

[raymonda]

Putting all those instruments through a PA and not using a mixer is impossible. I assume you meant that not all instruments will be fed through the mixer and P.A., ie., bass, drums and guitar. My suggestion is to look into what type of mixer they are using. Often you can configure the mixer the way you want to and use one of the monitor mixes for the PA, while using the mains for the recording mix. If this is so, then I would suggest that you mic all instruments, place a stereo pair of ambeint mics in the field, pan the instrument to their natural place on stage and mix a live recording. This will give you the best possible recording.

If they are using a cheap headamp mixer and there is no flexibility then do as suggested above. But just be aware that the vocals will sounds as if they are coming through some cheap ass speakers.

[splumer]

Often you can configure the mixer the way you want to and use one of the monitor mixes for the PA, while using the mains for the recording mix. If this is so, then I would suggest that you mic all instruments, place a stereo pair of ambeint mics in the field, pan the instrument to their natural place on stage and mix a live recording. This will give you the best possible recording.

With my friend's band I've always done it the opposite way: the main outs go to the PA, and I get a right and left aux out for recording. Well, actually, it's a Mackie 16-channel, and they give me aux 1 and 2, which I use as right and left. Gotta have good headphones to get the mix right, though.

[Andrea]

Thanks, All.  We ended up using 2 KM 184s in ORTF recording into a Sound Devices.  We also mic'd/sent all instruments into the mixing board and recorded stereo out from the board into a digital recorder, live EQing on the board.  Both recordings sound pretty good or are easy adjustable in ProTools, except for that the vocals are somewhat low in the Sound Devices recording.