Topic: stealth recordings from bad positions

[porphyry]

i'm going to a few gigs where i could only get seats, and i know that the seats aren't located anywhere near the centre axis of the stage but are kind of off to the side.

will being much closer to the left channel speakers than the right affect the sound of the recording? are cards or omnis better in this situation?

[greenone]

Depends if the venue/band runs a stereo mix. If it's a mono mix, point your mics straight at whichever stack you're in front of, and you'll get all of the instruments, no problems. If it's a stereo mix, then yes, you'll likely hear more of whichever instruments are on the side of the stage you're on, though sound engineers tend to send drums out of both sides since they're typically in the middle. You may benefit from pointing towards the middle of the stage to at least get some of the sound from the other channel but it'll likely sound imbalanced. How imbalanced depends on your configuration, your location and your direction though...