Topic: Record Levels. -12 db?

[adrianf74]

+3.

-12dB, even though it's not a gold standard, gives you enough room to play with.  My example was on Tuesday night at an outdoor show for Canada Day.  I had set my recorder and levels accordingly (winged it) for the opening act [hovering around -12 to -14dB].  By the time the headliner went on, it started with peaks around -10dB (thought I was safe) but I could hear him progressively getting louder through the show.  By the time I got to looking, I was peaking around -7 to -6dB (steadily as he was compressing heavily).  Luckily I'd left that room.  If I'd have pooched myself.  With a 24-bit recording, you've got the flexibility to 'fix it in post.'

[Cobiwan]

+3.

-12dB, even though it's not a gold standard, gives you enough room to play with.  My example was on Tuesday night at an outdoor show for Canada Day.  I had set my recorder and levels accordingly (winged it) for the opening act [hovering around -12 to -14dB].  By the time the headliner went on, it started with peaks around -10dB (thought I was safe) but I could hear him progressively getting louder through the show.  By the time I got to looking, I was peaking around -7 to -6dB (steadily as he was compressing heavily).  Luckily I'd left that room.  If I'd have pooched myself.  With a 24-bit recording, you've got the flexibility to 'fix it in post.'

I agree with this statement.
I ran SBD and on stage cards on Sat and I and my friend were both "Running sound". Every time my friend came to the board he adjusted something and made my levels just a bit hotter. It was a little tough to keep track of because every time I thought things were set it would go up just a hint, after a few times my levels weren't where I like them (around -10db to -8 db at peak) and had to adjust the M-10 down a nudge.
I know....too many cooks in the kitchen....

[rockymtnryan]

Haha, love SmokinJoe's description.  Pretty much spot on.  I would say most of the time when I'm seeing a bigger name act with more skilled sound engineers I'm usually kissing the orange light on my V3 and running -6 on the recorder, but I keep an eye on it especially later in the set.  With better engineers I don't find many big swings in volume. If I'm seeing smaller bands with questionable engineers, or if I'm looking to just set it and forget it so I can hang with friends, I'll go -12 as a baseline.

[tim in jersey]

Helps to know the band's FOH guy too if they have one.

Railroad Earth's FOH, Mike, runs a consistent level during set 1. 2nd set is a bit louder once he has the room dialed in. And during the last few songs and encore he raises it yet again.

[F.O.Bean]

During the DAT days way back, we didn't have DAWs to boost your gain if needed. Since that was the case back then, I used to run my levels HOT. They we're peaking at around -2 back then. It was easy to go over maximizing your levels But since I went 24-Bit, in 2006, with an SD 722, I could reliably run my levels WAY more conservatively, and since DAWs were around then, I could make my recordings peak where I wanted them to, which was around -12 to -8 most of the time.

As someone already said, when recording these days with my m10, I start my levels around -12, that way I have headroom if the FOH raises the gain throughout the show. This is especially helpful if I'm at a festie and I'm recording for 16 hours that day straight. I also NEVER mess with my levels UNLESS its between songs, or I'm just matching levels. But I can honestly say my recordings have gotten much more consistent since switching to 24-Bit, because I can run my levels conservatively, and do all the normalizing in post. No more HOT DAT recordings. Now my recordings sound much more natural in 24-Bit, since I don't have to slam levels in 16-Bit

[Sloan Simpson]

During the DAT days way back, we didn't have DAWs to boost your gain if needed. Since that was the case back then, I used to run my levels HOT. They we're peaking at around -2 back then. It was easy to go over maximizing your levels But since I went 24-Bit, in 2006, with an SD 722, I could reliably run my levels WAY more conservatively, and since DAWs were around then, I could make my recordings peak where I wanted them to, which was around -12 to -8 most of the time.

How long have you been taping? I'm pretty sure I used a DAW to boost my first tapes in 1999.