Topic: Equipment for taping off sound board?

[morningnoonnight]

Hi all,

I've been filming shows for a few years now and I'm thinking of taking it to the next level. I've always used the audio captured by my camcorder's microphone because it usually sounds pretty good. However, I'd like to try my hand at taping off the sound board.

What kind of equipment would I need to achieve this? I'd like something that uses a harddrive that can capture several hours worth of sound, and also has a meter to check levels. Other than that, I'm not sure what else to look for.

Thanks a lot.

[acidjack]

Any basic recorder will do (Edirol R-0HR, Sony M10, Tascam DR-07 are probably the best-liked of the small recorders - they are solid state and don't require a bulky/unreliable HDD).  You also will need some patch cables.  Here's a thread that will get you started:

http://taperssection.com/index.php?topic=14253.0

It's worth noting that if you wanted to really take this to the next level, you could get a 4-track machine like an Edirol R-4/R-44 and run SBD+mics.  I think most would agree that the sound running straight off the board, especially in smaller rooms, is often not really adequate unless the house is producing a special mix specifically for direct recording.  Otherwise, a straight board feed is likely to have the instruments out of balance, since to be heard properly in the audience, different sounds need to be amplified more and less than others (e.g., vocals from a normal board feed TEND to be too high).

The easiest way to improve your sound might be to just get some better audience mics to run with your camera.

[willndmb]

depending on what you want the end product to be
i would also recommend checking out mics > camcorder or sbd > camcorder
leave the recorder out of the whole thing
thats assuming your camcorder has a mic in - and in most case will need to be attenuated