Topic: Taping my first festival

[grawk]

make a triangle between the primary speakers left and right where you’re between 1 and 1.5x the distance between the speakers from the midpoint between them.

[bonghitwillie]

get close to a pa stack, but stay away from bass bins. gaff tape your mics to something ridgid close to the sound.

[breakonthru]

Here's an aerial view of the festival site. Where do you think I should position myself to get a good recording?

https://e.pcloud.link/publink/show?code=XZStqMZ8OokYMIgkEQ5eLCHsacOmVmus99V

if you are running 4060s with your new deity get where it is somewhat loud, like in front of one side of the PA. since they are omni you want to get to a plsce where the music is loud and the talkers dont want to talk there

you still might meet the heroic people with the superhuman ability to talk over a PA at full volume, they do exist, sadly

[Pieteker]

I'm reaching out to see which location you prefer for taping at an outdoor festival. Here are the options:

- Center Stage: 8-10 meters (24-30 feet) back from the stage center.

- In Front of the Speaker Stacks: About 3 meters (10 feet) in front of the Left or Right speaker stacks.

Looking forward to hear your take on this!

[grawk]

100% center stage 24-30 ft back, and depending on venue size, I'd decide which mics to use.

[rocksuitcase]

A few factors to consider whether stack or "stereo" taping outdoors.
1] Is the mix in stereo? if so, that leads toward center stage
2] Is the audience likely to be more or less loud at either spot? Stack taping generally reduces the nearby talkers, but it is situational for sure.
3] What type of blocking will you have to do at either position? If the center spot includes a bicycle barricade behind or in front of you, better protection, less blocking etc.
4] Is the band or fest "taper friendly". Makes a difference in how the crew and crowd will treat you, of course.

Have a great time!   

[Gutbucket]

Was typing this while Rock posted, conveying much the same idea.

The ideal recording position is the best sounding spot you can successfully manage to record from without stressing out.

Assess and adapt. The specific answer varies with each situation. Depends on the fest. Sometimes you can get a good idea of the best spot in advance- from what you see when first walking in, from listening to the background music through the PA before the show starts, from having been at that venue for similar past shows, from checking photos of the venue beforehand, from asking other tapers.  Given the two specific choices you mention with no other info, I'd setup next to Grawk.. unless there's a potential problem with recording from there that makes stack taping off to the side the better option, such as a super-unruly crowd, crazy moshing going down there, or any number of other things.

The fundamental constraint is being able to successfully record. Getting the best sound is dependent on that. But focusing on the sound alone, my 1st acoustic preference is to be centered and positioned at the forward-most edge of the 'sweet spot'.  The sweet spot being wherever the sound is clearest and most involving, with good balance.  That's frequently 20-30' back in the center, but it might be a further, it might be right up at the stage-lip/rail, or it might be off to one side in line with one PA stack if the sound there is clearer from a position closer to the stage than it is from an centered sweet spot that is too distant.  Also, there may be more than one sweet spot.  Sometimes the forward edge of the typical centered sweetspot is some distance back, and the sound gets muffled and less-clear forward of that.. until you get right up to the stage-lip or rail where fill speakers and the direct on-stage sources create another sweet spot.. which might be way better still.. or not.

If you get the chance during the performance, move around and listen with a critical ear to assess the situation at various positions. Mentally take note of the good potential recording spots, even if you're unable to act on that at present.  Doing that will better prepare you for future recording, even if its at an entirety different venue.

Your preference for the sound you like may differ from other tapers.  Maybe you crave a very dynamic and super lively up-front sound, or maybe you prefer a more evenly mixed but less dynamic sound from a bit further back where things gel more.

I'm now older, and the open rig I currently run is somewhat larger, but I used to run a rig I specifically designed for use right up front/center in the crazy heart of things, where the sound is most rich and impactful and the most enthusiastic audience packs in. This was back when most open rigs were bigger, heavier and bulkier. The rig was small and light enough that I could just grab the stand with small recording bag attached to it and bug out of there if necessary, or easily pick it up and shift over, forward or back while recording as necessary.

[wehideandseek]

Ideal = bring two rigs. (sorry for the obvious response, no snark intended)

[goodcooker]

If it's a big festival stage and the line arrays are hung high and wide you may want to move farther back if in the center.

If you imagine an equilateral triangle and the base of the triangle is the stage width (guess @ 80ft a typical large festival stage width) and use the calculator to determine the height of the triangle (the point of the triangle opposite the stage in the center) that point is 69.3 feet away. I'd go a little closer than that maybe 50 feet but I'd get in the spot and use my ears to determine the best sounding place.

If it's a madhouse I would get in line with a stack up close and wear earplugs.

Her's a link to the calculator to get height of the triangle based on the A length of one side of an equilateral triangle - https://www.omnicalculator.com/math/equilateral-triangle

[breakonthru]

Ideal = bring two rigs. (sorry for the obvious response, no snark intended)

This. When I’m at shows where I know there’s no other tapers I always try to bring a b-rig to hand off to somebody. Lesser spec’d gear in a better spot (which often isn’t determined by location relative to the PA at all, but more so by the people around you) wins everytime

[Pieteker]

Great advice. Thanks everyone!

[Pieteker]

A few factors to consider whether stack or "stereo" taping outdoors.
1] Is the mix in stereo? if so, that leads toward center stage
2] Is the audience likely to be more or less loud at either spot? Stack taping generally reduces the nearby talkers, but it is situational for sure.
3] What type of blocking will you have to do at either position? If the center spot includes a bicycle barricade behind or in front of you, better protection, less blocking etc.
4] Is the band or fest "taper friendly". Makes a difference in how the crew and crowd will treat you, of course.

Have a great time!   

This is an image of the festival site: https://e.pcloud.link/publink/show?code=XZStqMZ8OokYMIgkEQ5eLCHsacOmVmus99V

[jefflester]

Getting a sense of deja vu here...
https://taperssection.com/index.php?topic=204987.0;all

[Gutbucket]

Center rail from stage to soundboard splits the audience.  I don't really like it when they do that but it does offer good blocking protection for setting up against it, as long as the sound and light guys at the board don't mind your stand in their line of sight.. or professional video positioned back there, which is a bigger deal breaker.  Even then, you might be able to get away with running low at or just above head height.

I'd guess the best sounding centered position would be either all the way up front at the front-rail/center-rail junction if the front fill speakers are good, or about halfway back. Equilateral triangle point with the PA is probably about 3/4 of the way back to the board.

Safest bet for managing audience (both chatter and wildness) would be to setup all the way in back directly in front of the soundboard, and run the mic stand up as high as possible to get the mics up above the localized chatter.  12' up or more if you can.  You are far more likely to get away with going high like that back there.  The sound should be well balanced there but less impactful and in-your-face than upfront.  That will be the easiest place to open tape for a full festival day.  Although the audience back there will often be more chatty and less into the music than closer to the front.

Best non-centered closer stack-tape position is likely to be in-line with the left PA (stage right) up at the rail of what appears to be a front VIP section - if this fest is setup the same way as the one pictured.  Again, the rail helps block.

[Gutbucket]

Getting a sense of deja vu here...
https://taperssection.com/index.php?topic=204987.0;all

Hmm, yeah. Pieteker we're happy to help, but duplicate threads are frowned upon, and for good reason.  Wasted duplicate effort.  Best to keep it all together.  If splitting off to a different thread, post a link to the original. Thanks.