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Gear / Technical Help => Microphones & Setup => Topic started by: im hungover on January 23, 2009, 03:15:53 PM

Title: on-stage recording?
Post by: im hungover on January 23, 2009, 03:15:53 PM
so im taping a loud rock band at a small club in sf on monday and  was wondering if anyone ever runs cards split on-stage? i taped at this same venue last week DIN stage lip, ran the cards for the first set then omnis for the last 2.. i thought the cards sounded better (my omnis seem to distort)  and the band im taping this time has a very heavy hitting drummer so if i ran them further apart so they are closer to the bass/guitar cabs would that be my best bet? will also be getting a board feed so vocals/drums should be prominent in that mix so i will be looking to get more guitars from the on-stage mics... any input is appreciated 
Title: Re: on-stage recording?
Post by: 612 on January 23, 2009, 03:42:08 PM
I was always told that taping loud rock bands with vocals on-stage or stage lip is bad ju ju because the vocals end up so low in the mix. If it's as a last resort (no where else to set up) then that's cool but I usually save onstage/stage lip for instrumental bands or shows with no PA.
Title: Re: on-stage recording?
Post by: im hungover on January 23, 2009, 03:51:21 PM
I was always told that taping loud rock bands with vocals on-stage or stage lip is bad ju ju because the vocals end up so low in the mix. If it's as a last resort (no where else to set up) then that's cool but I usually save onstage/stage lip for instrumental bands or shows with no PA.
well it is but the sbd will have plenty of vocals in it and the band doesn't have that many vocals, and the only other place to set up is way in the back or somewhat in the center but by the loud drunken area of the bar, on-stage i dont have to kick it by my gear all night as well!
Title: Re: on-stage recording?
Post by: fobstl on January 23, 2009, 04:28:41 PM
so im taping a loud rock band at a small club in sf on monday and  was wondering if anyone ever runs cards split on-stage? i taped at this same venue last week DIN stage lip, ran the cards for the first set then omnis for the last 2.. i thought the cards sounded better (my omnis seem to distort)  and the band im taping this time has a very heavy hitting drummer so if i ran them further apart so they are closer to the bass/guitar cabs would that be my best bet? will also be getting a board feed so vocals/drums should be prominent in that mix so i will be looking to get more guitars from the on-stage mics... any input is appreciated 
I have done split cards onstage pointed at the guitar amps mixed with the SBD and had good results. Vocals & drums came in from the SBD and guitars loud and clear from the mics. YMMV
Title: Re: on-stage recording?
Post by: im hungover on January 23, 2009, 04:40:13 PM
I have done split cards onstage pointed at the guitar amps mixed with the SBD and had good results. Vocals & drums came in from the SBD and guitars loud and clear from the mics. YMMV
sounds like this is what i will do, i should be there for load-in/sound check so i should be able to test the waters first
Title: Re: on-stage recording?
Post by: kirk97132 on January 23, 2009, 05:11:56 PM
FWIW, What recording I do is usually an on stage mic/sbd matrix.  More often than not I'm running my LD @ 17cm ORTF stage lip center.  I try to get as close to center and yet as far from the stage monitors as I can.  You will usually find that the sbd mix has the vocals up front due to the volume of the band on stage...the smaller the club the more this rings true.  Mixing the two sources yeilds a nice finished product.  In the past I have done the matrix mix on the fly but going 4 track is way easier to get the mix right.    Kirk
Title: Re: on-stage recording?
Post by: Kush on January 23, 2009, 10:11:56 PM
I've botched a number of recordings in small chatty bars with onstage mics doing an "on the fly" matrix where the sbd feed was all vocals and drums and way overpowering, sometimes even brickwalling the vocal preamps on the sbd. And then again, I've made some of my best recordings using the same setup when the sbd mix was better, it's a crap shoot really. I think mixing the onstage mics and sbd post-recording would be best but that's not how I roll; it's all or nothing for me.
Title: Re: on-stage recording?
Post by: im hungover on January 24, 2009, 01:11:58 PM
yeah i will not be mixing on the fly, ive gotten sbd feeds from this venue a bunch of times and there normally always sound great but just lacking in guitar/bass at times... 
Title: Re: on-stage recording?
Post by: NOLAfishwater on January 24, 2009, 02:21:00 PM
I know it sounds crazy but you can run one mic on stage + one channel off the SBD. I know the mic source won't be stereo, but at least you won't have to mix on the fly and do it all in post. You can do a virtual split of a stereo track in Wavelab 5. Then it is just a matter of mixing the two mono tracks.
Title: Re: on-stage recording?
Post by: ArchivalAudio on February 05, 2009, 11:25:06 PM
I know it sounds crazy but you can run one mic on stage + one channel off the SBD. I know the mic source won't be stereo, but at least you won't have to mix on the fly and do it all in post. You can do a virtual split of a stereo track in Wavelab 5. Then it is just a matter of mixing the two mono tracks.

ahhh that's what Joe James - engineer for Little Women for 12+ years used to call a 3-D recording, though he was using his Nak cassette deck...
I got a few of his old LW tapes in 3-D
and yes you can mix em down later  dual mono

or if you can just run 4 track and mix in post

-- Ian
Title: Re: on-stage recording?
Post by: heyitsmejess on February 06, 2009, 01:58:58 PM
I know it sounds crazy but you can run one mic on stage + one channel off the SBD. I know the mic source won't be stereo, but at least you won't have to mix on the fly and do it all in post. You can do a virtual split of a stereo track in Wavelab 5. Then it is just a matter of mixing the two mono tracks.
ive done this before with a LDC ran figure 8 and a mono SBD.  i mixed it MS style, and came out beautifully