Topic: Live Matrix Equipment List

[bagtagsell]

It's been a long time since I've hung out here and I'm a little out of touch with equipment these days.  I thought maybe you guys could help.

My company is hosting a charity concert and we want to record and master the performance.  We have complete access and can do anything we want, but it is my responsibility to get it done.  The performance will be four singer songwriters playing acoustic instruments.  It will be at the Sheldon Concert Hall ][bhttp://thesheldon.org/[/b].  I was thinking one set of mics on the lip, one set by the board, and one feed from the soundboard.  I could each individual source and synchronize in post, but without a timeclock that will take me a while.  What would be the best solution to record from the three locations and make editing easier in post.

[yltfan]

If you are able to run the stage lip mics thru the house snake back to the board, you could run all three sources into a Tascam DR-680, SD788T, or some other 6 or 8 track recorder.

[bagtagsell]

The SD788T looks amazing. 

If we only record the board and from the lip, would an Edirol R-44 work?

[ScoobieKW]

The R44 is well suited for this. Remember, many board mixes are in mono. I'd consider 1 channel board, 1 channel audience (for ambience), and a stereo pair onstage.

If the engineer is mixing stereo then onstage + stereo board feed will do nicely.

The ambience channel could also be onstage aimed at the audience.

[SmokinJoe]

Easiest... try to find another taper in the area with a 4, 6, 8 channel deck and invite him to join you.  Like he said, run the stage mics through the house snake, so they all meet in the back.

Better... find someone with more channels, like 12 or 16...  4 vocal mics + 4 instruments + SBD matrix + 4 room mics... or something like that.   There are lots of computer interfaces that will handle that easily, as well is bigger gear like an HD24.  It's amazing how much better you can do with individuals channels than you can do with a simple AUD + SBD.

If all else fails, run what you've got... your good rig on stage lip, and put the mics a little higher, like waist high on the musicians and closer, so they are getting a mixture of direct and monitors.
Check this one out.... that what he did and it came out pretty damn good.  http://archive.org/details/AOD2010-02-28.early.baker.xy.stagelip
Then scrape up a couple of other sets of gear, and run your 6 channels.  Chances are you can find 2AUD + 2 SBD, and align them, and you'll decide you can live without the 2nd pair of auds.  But run both sets of auds, because you don't know for sure which will be the best 2 until you get home.

[brad.bartels]

Easiest... try to find another taper in the area with a 4, 6, 8 channel deck and invite him to join you.  Like he said, run the stage mics through the house snake, so they all meet in the back.

Better... find someone with more channels, like 12 or 16...  4 vocal mics + 4 instruments + SBD matrix + 4 room mics... or something like that.   There are lots of computer interfaces that will handle that easily, as well is bigger gear like an HD24.  It's amazing how much better you can do with individuals channels than you can do with a simple AUD + SBD.

If all else fails, run what you've got... your good rig on stage lip, and put the mics a little higher, like waist high on the musicians and closer, so they are getting a mixture of direct and monitors.
Check this one out.... that what he did and it came out pretty damn good.  http://archive.org/details/AOD2010-02-28.early.baker.xy.stagelip
Then scrape up a couple of other sets of gear, and run your 6 channels.  Chances are you can find 2AUD + 2 SBD, and align them, and you'll decide you can live without the 2nd pair of auds.  But run both sets of auds, because you don't know for sure which will be the best 2 until you get home.

I agree with Joe - I'd run as many sets of mics as I possibly could with as many of them and the soundboard into the same recorder as is feasible (based on proximity and number of channels available). I'd also try to find local tapers who have recorded there for any local knowledge (try searching the Venue section for Sheldon or the Kickdown for any shows from there or even from the St. Louis area in general and try contacting anyone who's recorded there before or might have some knowledge). Been to the Sheldon once, years ago to see the Cowboy Junkies. Was before I started recording shows, but remember thinking that the front of the balcony would be a good spot as well - I don't remember where the SBD was, we were in the balcony.

I'd also try posting something in one of the forums with the specifics (date, location, the artists and type of music if the artists aren't well known) and see if anyone else would be willing to help you out (assuming you can get them free admission). If the music was remotely interesting and I wasn't busy that night, I'd probably be willing to do it just for the experience if somebody was asking (and I lived in St. Louis).

The more choices / sources you can give yourself, the better off you'll be - you can use as many or few of them as you like. Good luck!

[chinariderstl]

PM sent, I'm in STL, might be able to assist.

[bagtagsell]

Great suggestions.  I'll get working on it and see what I can come up with.