Topic: Arena taping : where's the best spot ?

[fandelive]

Hi,

I'd like to tape a loud rock show in an arena. There are only a limited number of tickets left to buy, thus a limited choice of where to stand.



I have the choice between sitting in the 416 or 210 section, or standing somewhere in the orange area, in front of the stage.
The 416 section has 2 type of tickets, so I assume the higher price/the better place

I use cardioid mics (MM-HLSC-1).
What would you do ?

EDIT : I'd say 416 (higher price seat) and trying to find a good mic config to get the best stereo effect...

[setboy]

you want to be in the orange

[su6oxone]

you want to be in the orange

Agree, somewhere in the middle of the orange.  Depending on the overall size of the venue (looks like a basketball size arena), if I had to choose between the two I would pick 210 since at least you'll be in front of the speakers rather than off to the side.  Neither are really ideal though.

[Big Perm]

Orange you glad you ask?

[page]

you want to be in the orange

Agree, somewhere in the middle of the orange.  Depending on the overall size of the venue (looks like a basketball size arena), if I had to choose between the two I would pick 210 since at least you'll be in front of the speakers rather than off to the side.  Neither are really ideal though.

I concur, go for the middle of the orange for the best sound, and if you arn't going to do that, then 210 is as good as it gets in a seat with what you have remaining.

[Belexes]

416 would be the worst.  Orange is the best and I have taped in the 210 area of an arena...results can be decent there but not optimal.

[sleepypedro]

i've done some arena recording in the equivalent of your section 213 with very nice results.

[DisturbedPyro]

i agree with the majority, go for the orange floor. however my opinion differs from the majority on where to stand on the floor. personally, i like stack taping. it picks up more of the music being pumped out of the pa and tends to drown out more crowd noise. i personally hate hearing clapping, yelling, screaming, etc during a song. in between songs, sure, but not while the song is playing. however, some ppl prefer the 'full concert atmosphere' in their recordings and like all the crowd noise mixed in. so it depends on what youre after. but if it were me, i would try to get right in front of the pa so the recording picks up most of the audio directly from the pa. just curious, who are you taping? best of luck

[setboy]

i agree with the majority, go for the orange floor. however my opinion differs from the majority on where to stand on the floor. personally, i like stack taping. it picks up more of the music being pumped out of the pa and tends to drown out more crowd noise. i personally hate hearing clapping, yelling, screaming, etc during a song. in between songs, sure, but not while the song is playing. however, some ppl prefer the 'full concert atmosphere' in their recordings and like all the crowd noise mixed in. so it depends on what youre after. but if it were me, i would try to get right in front of the pa so the recording picks up most of the audio directly from the pa. just curious, who are you taping? best of luck

I have no problem with stack taping just as long as the mix is mono.

[su6oxone]

personally, i like stack taping. it picks up more of the music being pumped out of the pa and tends to drown out more crowd noise. i personally hate hearing clapping, yelling, screaming, etc during a song.

I am with you on that.  I just hate clapping, talking, whistling, and any other type of crowd noise except for crowd cheering (not chatting) from a distance.  But the few times I've done stack tapes I've not been pleased with the results because it sounds very 'two dimensional' and without any depth, which is not surprising since it's basically a mono tape.  Bottom line, is that it's tough to get a good stealth tape (the only time I would do a stack tape) that sounds good and is low on the crowd noise.

[Belexes]

I have no problem with stack taping just as long as the mix is mono.

I agree. If it's a small club and you are getting a mono mix, stack taping is fine.  However a large arena show is likely to be a stereo mix, so FOB on the floor center is where I'd be.

[itook2much]

In the end, the answer is "it all depends on..." unfortunately.

In general, I would say the floor is your best bet.  The size of the arena comes into play a lot too.  In an arena that's probably a bit smaller than this, I've made great recordings on about your 203/206 line as well as 207/208.  It depends on the sound (like always) & more so on how/where the stacks are arranged.

So go for the orange floor to have the best choice as far as location (since you can move).  Otherwise, not knowing the venue, I would go for 210.

[optimisticpessimist]

I just have to chime in that I encountered a very similar situation earlier this summer, taping a loud rock concert in a large arena in San Antonio.  I was sitting near the back of a section similar to 210, and as it turned out, another taper (running the same type of cardioid mics that I was, coincidentally) was taping from a section similar to your 416.  In this case, some of the large flown speakers were actually pointed sideways/diagonally out from the stage, in addition to the main stacks pointing directly out.  As a result, I prefer his tape, because he was basically twice as close to the sound source compared to me.

So if you can't secure a floor ticket, I'm going to contradict most of the answers here and go with 416, based on that actual experience.

[su6oxone]

So if you can't secure a floor ticket, I'm going to contradict most of the answers here and go with 416, based on that actual experience.

That's a good point in arenas that have speakers oriented towards to sides.

[Belexes]

So if you can't secure a floor ticket, I'm going to contradict most of the answers here and go with 416, based on that actual experience.

That's a good point in arenas that have speakers oriented towards to sides.

It's probably going to be a stereo mix in a large hall.  Not being center can have its disadvantages.  I am not a big fan of stack taping if it can be avoided.