Topic: Goin' to Red Rocks for WSP

[leehookem]

I'll start by saying i've never been.

I'll be running AKG 480 > W Mod UA5 > JB3

Will I be ok with the 61's or should I go with 63's?  I don't have the 63's right now, but plan on buying them soon.  Don't know if I should make it a priority.

[Simp-Dawg]

it would be nice to try out diff caps on diff nights to see what you like best.  that's what i will be doing with my mbho's this year.  i'll be at all three nights, see ya in the section!

[Tim]

ck61's.... the sound at red rocks can really suffer from heavy wind phasing issues and I would be afraid that a more directional cap would just accentuate that problem.

[Simp-Dawg]

ck61's.... the sound at red rocks can really suffer from heavy wind phasing issues and I would be afraid that a more directional cap would just accentuate that problem.

this is a good point, although i am still going to give the hypers a try with some heavy duty windscreens

[Tim]

ck61's.... the sound at red rocks can really suffer from heavy wind phasing issues and I would be afraid that a more directional cap would just accentuate that problem.

this is a good point, although i am still going to give the hypers a try with some heavy duty windscreens

on a calm night I would think the hypers could sound really nice...

[plucks]

its a crap shoot at red rox. I have heard unbelieve able omnis & cards at red rox, never really a hyper.   It just comes down to the wind factor.  You know WSP is gonna be loud enough, but is it going to be directional enough?
I agree with Timmay on this..i wouldnt run hypers there if its gonna be windy. 

Baffled omnis could be the way to go to keep that au-natural acoustics of red rox represented.  When the conditions are right there, it sounds SO SO good inside

[leehookem]

good to know guys.

I do have the big ass shures though 

[Tim]

Richard Campbell's mk2/tubes tape from 03 red rocks was awful, it sounded like the mics were inside a toilet bowl

but then again I think Todd R has made some good omni tapes there... like phil said, it's a crap shoot

[marc0789]

good to know guys.

I do have the big ass shures though 

piece of advice, learned the hard way. run cards, run those shures, and either 1) run a stand or clamp in the first row, directly behind the board, or if you don't make it in that early, 2) get in the crowd behind the first row somewhere, to cut the wind, and run LOW. Like a dumbass I ran first row, but slightly off to the right, without the board blocking me, last year at ABB. Shit tapes, tons of wind. didn't matter cause I had a bad interconnect, but still sucked. jbk and ramsden laughed their asses off, I think, deservedly.

[Chuck]

I'll start by saying i've never been.

I'll be running AKG 480 > W Mod UA5 > JB3

Will I be ok with the 61's or should I go with 63's?  I don't have the 63's right now, but plan on buying them soon.  Don't know if I should make it a priority.

I'll be running 481> Mini-Me at the Saturday show.

Maybe we can clamp onto the same stand for a comparison.

[Nate]

good to know guys.

I do have the big ass shures though 

piece of advice, learned the hard way. run cards, run those shures, and either 1) run a stand or clamp in the first row, directly behind the board, or if you don't make it in that early, 2) get in the crowd behind the first row somewhere, to cut the wind, and run LOW. Like a dumbass I ran first row, but slightly off to the right, without the board blocking me, last year at ABB. Shit tapes, tons of wind. didn't matter cause I had a bad interconnect, but still sucked. jbk and ramsden laughed their asses off, I think, deservedly.

Cannot agree with you more.   Get some nice fat windscreens....run those cards low in the first few rows of the TS centered and blocked.   
Don't expect and super smoking tapes out of that place.....it takes a small miracle for everything to work out there.     

[ethan]

I'll start by saying i've never been.

I'll be running AKG 480 > W Mod UA5 > JB3

Will I be ok with the 61's or should I go with 63's?  I don't have the 63's right now, but plan on buying them soon.  Don't know if I should make it a priority.

Cards are great...what you'll need is phatty wind screens and nice weather.

[ehren]

It's all about the weather. Funny enough, my best tapes from there have always been from the back of the section, yet every year I struggle to get to the very front only to have shitty tapes. Wind is really the factor, and it seems to come on at night, usually my best tape of the 3 night run comes on Sunday when they start early. I think the ua5 w/mods sounds great for that venu, V3 seems to make all the nasties that much nastier. Warm sounding rigs do best in my opinion...

[plucks]

this is one venue where no matter if you have a $5 rig or a $5k rig, if the weathers bad, your tapes will SUCK

windscreens help for sure.  make sure to leave dead space between your capsule & the inside of the windscreen to avoid the wind acutally hitting your capsule making your recording even worse!

I will disagree about the V3 comment at the end there, but to each their own

[ethan]

so phil where can I get one of those $5 rigs?

 

[Simp-Dawg]

so phil where can I get one of those $5 rigs?

 

2 cans of beans @ $.79/ea = $1.58
Ball of twine = $2.78
there ya go, less than $5

[Nick Graham]

so phil where can I get one of those $5 rigs?

 

broken MD deck and a mono mini to mini cable

[Govt Mule]

I'll be there too Lee. 
I'll run the 63's for a comparison

[leehookem]

I'll be there too Lee.
I'll run the 63's for a comparison

sweetness!

[Chuck]

I'll be there too Lee.
I'll run the 63's for a comparison

sweetness!

Maybe we could make an AKG tree.
I would like to hear some comparisions...

[Simp-Dawg]

i think we should have a listening party on the m902 that weekend over at my place

[dmonterisi]

get there early (like midnight the night before) and run 62's split in the fourth row.

[dnsacks]

Thinking of trying blumlein from the section (with an LSD2) -- any experience/thoughts?

[JAH]

good to know guys.

I do have the big ass shures though 

piece of advice, learned the hard way. run cards, run those shures, and either 1) run a stand or clamp in the first row, directly behind the board, or if you don't make it in that early, 2) get in the crowd behind the first row somewhere, to cut the wind, and run LOW. Like a dumbass I ran first row, but slightly off to the right, without the board blocking me, last year at ABB. Shit tapes, tons of wind. didn't matter cause I had a bad interconnect, but still sucked. jbk and ramsden laughed their asses off, I think, deservedly.

 great advice...
run the cards...why because you are outside and reflection is minimal AND...as said earlier less susceptibility to wind phasing...I'm not talking about your screens (yes must use shures regardless) but the sound coming from the stack is what gets swirled/smeared.  Run your hypers at a different venue...it's only advice and you can learn for yourself which is a good thing BUT, you asked ;-)
have fun
jah

[Todd R]

Cards are great...what you'll need is phatty wind screens and nice weather.

And by nice weather, Ethan means pouring rain.   Seriously, the best tapes by far I've made in RR were for the Dead last year (split omnis) and for Trey a few years back.  Both days it absolutely poured rain the whole time.  Which means the stormfront was stalled overhead, which means there was no wind at all.  Personally, I'm almost hoping for shitty tapes, that'll probably mean a nice sunny, breezy day.

But I'd run the cards.  I ran hypers for last year's Dead shows and made some very nice tapes.  Would've chosen the cards, but my new caps hadn't shown up yet.  The cards will help in the wind compared to hypers, but outside with no major reflections (besides the rocks), cards are your best bet.

[junkbondking]

no need to run your mics anything over 7', if you can keep your stand on the same level as your feet,  if your stand is on the row above your head, then run it no more than 6'. 

i've run hypers from the front row of the section with better than average results, but only for the louder bands (mule & abb). 

[plucks]

cards baby!!

simp, how'd you know my rig

[Digital Quality]

Did someone say "Rain". I think I've been there 3 times when it didn't rain at all. Be ready for at least a little bit every day, usually right when they open the gates.

[Chuck]

I agree with what everybody else on the Colorado Crew is saying.
Red Rocks is a beautiful venue, but the vast majority of the shows I've seen and taped there are in less than ideal weather, read windy and or rainy.

As Todd said he made an excellent recording of the Dead in the rain with omnis last year. When I say rain, I don't mean a sprinkle or two, but straight down, everybody is soaked, pouring, unrelenting rain for the whole show.

I think there was good weather (meaning not raining hard) three days in a row for the September 1985 Grateful Dead shows.