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Gear / Technical Help => Ask The Tapers => Topic started by: Arglebargle on August 23, 2003, 08:48:46 PM
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At the Mahawai Theater in Great Barrington, small old wooden theater with a balcony, signs everywhere that proclaimed boldly, NO TAPING ALLOWED, which I didn't expect really because David Bromberg has tons of recordings out there, so it must be the theater's deal. I used my new HEBs into my inbox into D8. Arlo Guthrie was a suprise special guest who sat in for most of the show, as well as a dobro player I never heard of. I sat in the third row in the center. Great show, nice clear sound, very respectful crowd.
However, between songs the applause was so damned loud it caused mad clipping, while the music only peaked at 12 or maybe once or twice 10. :P So I've been going through it with Soundforge knocking down the wild applause to 2 decibles. The music sounds perfect, until the thunderous applause just blows up all over the place. The big problem is when the applause happens in the music. I can isolate each clipping clap and dim it, and it still sounds great to me, but is this an acceptable practice? And I also noticed that even though the levels of the two mics were congruent during the music, during the applause portions one channel clips a whole lot more than the other. This really concerns me, perhaps it's a mic issue and they are not really matched as well as they should be. Maybe it's all good.
It should be interesting to hear my next experiment, Little Feat at another taper unfriendly venue, the Cape Cod Melody Tent. The sound there is about the worst I've ever heard anywhere. I'll probably be stuck way in the back, the stage revolves! Should be interesting.
Peace!
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Congrats on your first stealth tape! I just stealthed BB King for the first time with my new equipment - a little stressful, but turned out well.
For my Jorma show recently - not stealth but similar challenges b/c it was an amplified acoustic show - I adjusted my levels to the music, not the applause. As a result, some (most) of the applause clipped. In post, I limited the thunderous applause between songs to around -6dB (or was it -9dB). At any rate, it makes the recording much more listenable: quieter applause relative to the music. Because the crowd was so attentive, they generally applauded only between songs, which means I didn't have to tweak any applause during music playing.
Anyway, at a show like Bromberg the PA just isn't going to be cranking out the SPLs, just like at Jorma. My personal philosophy is: do whatever you like to the recording so it sounds good to you when you listen to it. BUT, document the changes so people know about them, and always archive the original, unedited master in case you or someone else wants to go back to it.
The reason your levels appeared to clip harder on one side vs. the other is likely because someone near you was clapping louder on one side vs. the other. I wouldn't sweat it.
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good luck guys, don't get busted like me.. i mean if you stealth your gonna get busted at one point or another, but keep going, last weekend was my first stealth bust, but no harm done... its not gonna stop me...
peace
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Seems to me like the reason one channel clips more is because the gain was set a little higher on that side. It's very hard to get the Inbox levels perfectly even, and the louder parts of the recording demonstrate that.