Topic: Seeking recommendations for a band-owned taping setup for on-stage use

[seabrook]

A friend of mine who plays in a blues band which travels across the US extensively from night club to night club would like to start taping their shows.  Asking for board patches is too difficult as every night club's setup and policies are different.  He's asking me for advice for an on-stage recording approach and I'm thinking in general terms a flash recorder with built-in omni mics that can be easily mounted on a mic stand and relatively easy to run.  Then, after each gig, he's transfer the show to a portable hard-drive (w/built-in card reader).  Reseting the flash memory card for the next gig would be the last step.  Possible re-sale of cd-rs to the public are also being considered.

What models should I recommend?  Any alternative approaches would also be appreciated.  Thanks.

[Belexes]

The Edirol R-09 is a nice flash recorder with omni's built-in that you may want to investigate.  It can be mounted to a stand.  The quality of the built-in's is average at best though. 

[guysonic]

Sony's new PMD-D50 is also a candidate costing almost double R-09, but with likely better mics/preamp recording quality for doing the same as suggested.   

[seabrook]

The Sony's mics are uni-directional which possible presents a setup problem.  Omni mics would be easier to manage, at least on surface.

[Brian Skalinder]

What's the budget?

I think for sale to the public, the R-09 alone won't provide good enough quality.  For re-sale, I'd want to use independent mics + preamp/ADC/recorder.

Does the band have vocals?  If so, the vocals may come out poorly on the recording if made from on-stage.

[Roving Sign]

Does the band have vocals?  If so, the vocals may come out poorly on the recording if made from on-stage.

Which makes me wonder about the Zoom H2 - I wonder if its rear facing capsules could record the stage monitors in such a fashion to re-enforce the vocals?

[Ozpeter]

The H2's mic arrangement does allow for considerable flexibility, especially if you record front and rear to separate stereo files so you can remix later, treating front and rear width separately for best results.  Mic noise level is pretty low and with a bit of EQ you can get a sound that belies the compact size and low cost.  Only problem would be if the band is so loud that it overloads the little H2 even on its "L" sensitivity setting.

[seabrook]

The budget is $1000 to $1500.  Since posting I'm wondering about this combo:

M-Audio MicroTrack 24/96 recorder along with the SP-Microtrack-Mic (and internal  12 volt power upgrade) external mic unit.  (See: http://www.soundprofessionals.com/cgi-bin/gold/item/SP-MICROTRACK-MIC)
This would allow on stage SPL levels up to 113 dB and yet still be an all-in-one solution.  It would end up recording using the deck's 1/4" jacks in line-in mode.  I'd use the mic stand adapter for the Edirol R-09 to help mount it.

One review of the SP-Microtrack-Mic: http://taperssection.com/index.php/topic,68012.msg911177.html#msg911177

No doubt the vocals would suffer without a board patch.
If I was there I'd always first seek out a board patch but I can't be there so it has to be kept simple.

Any recommendations for a portable hard drive w/card reader?

[guysonic]

The budget is $1000 to $1500.  Since posting I'm wondering about this combo:

M-Audio MicroTrack 24/96 recorder along with the SP-Microtrack-Mic (and internal  12 volt power upgrade) external mic unit.  (See: http://www.soundprofessionals.com/cgi-bin/gold/item/SP-MICROTRACK-MIC)
This would allow on stage SPL levels up to 113 dB and yet still be an all-in-one solution.  It would end up recording using the deck's 1/4" jacks in line-in mode.  I'd use the mic stand adapter for the Edirol R-09 to help mount it.

One review of the SP-Microtrack-Mic: http://taperssection.com/index.php/topic,68012.msg911177.html#msg911177

No doubt the vocals would suffer without a board patch.
If I was there I'd always first seek out a board patch but I can't be there so it has to be kept simple.

Any recommendations for a portable hard drive w/card reader?

There's a thread about portable hardrives and other devices for reading and storing flash at: http://taperssection.com/index.php/topic,65298.0/all.html

[AlexG]

The budget is $1000 to $1500.  Since posting I'm wondering about this combo:

M-Audio MicroTrack 24/96 recorder along with the SP-Microtrack-Mic (and internal  12 volt power upgrade) external mic unit.  (See: http://www.soundprofessionals.com/cgi-bin/gold/item/SP-MICROTRACK-MIC)
This would allow on stage SPL levels up to 113 dB and yet still be an all-in-one solution.  It would end up recording using the deck's 1/4" jacks in line-in mode.  I'd use the mic stand adapter for the Edirol R-09 to help mount it.

One review of the SP-Microtrack-Mic: http://taperssection.com/index.php/topic,68012.msg911177.html#msg911177

No doubt the vocals would suffer without a board patch.
If I was there I'd always first seek out a board patch but I can't be there so it has to be kept simple.

Any recommendations for a portable hard drive w/card reader?

What about a
R-4 $850-1000
A pair of good cheap mics (C4s, CK-1s) $250-350
couple of xlr splits to run into the extra channels for vocals.  30-40 bucks

[seabrook]

What about a
R-4 $850-1000
A pair of good cheap mics (C4s, CK-1s) $250-350
couple of xlr splits to run into the extra channels for vocals.  30-40 bucks

That would be the sonic ticket if someone could set it up and run it but my friend will be too busy performing to take on the task.  Something simpler - a load-and-go solution - will be required.