Topic: First Soundboard Recording

[Josephine]

I'll be pulling my first soundboard recording New Year's Eve.
I'm a very inexperienced taper and this will be my first experience hooking up to a mixer.
Any hints or suggestions?  Something I should be aware of or look out for?
I'll be recording with my D100 and (thanks to Dustin's help) have all the necessary cables/adapters.
As always, your help is greatly appreciated.
 

[bodegahwy]

The world of digital may of changed things since I did a lot of soundboard stuff, but I kind of doubt it...  do you know if the board you are recording from has a separate eq for recording outputs or will you be receiving a duplicate of the P.A. (main or monitor)output? 

If you are receiving the P.A. or monitor outputs you might want to have a portable eq between the board and your recording unit to rebalance and a set of good headphones.  (maybe your recording unit has this feature,  I am not familiar with it)

If the board has a separate recording eq, can you get there during sound check?  A lot of the time the soundboard guys don't really pay much attention to the recording output unless they are recording also.

Good luck!

[hexyjones]

The first thing you need to determine is: Will all of the instruments will be in the mix? If not - dont waste your time...You need to check with the soundman or band  - if it is a larger venue or outdoors - you are safer to assume it will all be in the mix...But if it is a small PA in small bar or room...you might get just vocals and drums...

Another thing to watch out for is the band with one really loud guitar player...Sometimes the soundguy might mic everybody up...but one guy plays loud enough that he never really gets put in the mix...so you get a recording with a phantom guitarist....Lots of SDBs by Jerry Joseph's old band -Little Women- are like this...and a lot of the SBD mixes with the Jackmormons sound wimpy for this reason...Jerry is sort of an extreme example...but it happens...

Do you have good access to the soundman/soundboard?...like, is this a friends band or something...? Or do you just have to take what you can get?

[thierryhenry]

Good Luck!

[Josephine]

You guys have me wondering whether I'd be better off using my mics and getting an audience recording instead.  Or, I could do both:  I do have another D100 I could put in use.

I have no idea what kind of board this is.  It was referred to as a "small mixer."  Unfortunately, that's the extent of my knowledge.

The show is going to be in a small indoor venue.  I won't go so far as to say I'm a friend of the band's, but I do know the lead singer/guitar player and he has told me I'm welcome to plug in to the mixer so long as my equipment is compatable.  I got the impression he'd help me.

Gosh, what do you think, guys?  I really don't have the answers to any of the questions you asked above.  Should I forget about the soundboard and shoot for an audience recording instead?

As always, thanks so much for your imput and help.

[kfrinkle]

well, what i do with all the local venues when i pull soundboard is make sure i get an audience recording as well.  soundboard recordings by themselves really lack 'atmosphere', so its better to mix an audience and soundboard afterwards.  if all the instruments are not plugged into the soundboard, you can still the mix the 2 to get something interesting, which i did recently.  moral of the story, run the audience rig always, soundboard is extra.

You guys have me wondering whether I'd be better off using my mics and getting an audience recording instead.  Or, I could do both:  I do have another D100 I could put in use.

I have no idea what kind of board this is.  It was referred to as a "small mixer."  Unfortunately, that's the extent of my knowledge.

The show is going to be in a small indoor venue.  I won't go so far as to say I'm a friend of the band's, but I do know the lead singer/guitar player and he has told me I'm welcome to plug in to the mixer so long as my equipment is compatable.  I got the impression he'd help me.

Gosh, what do you think, guys?  I really don't have the answers to any of the questions you asked above.  Should I forget about the soundboard and shoot for an audience recording instead?

As always, thanks so much for your imput and help.

[mmedley.]

Always run both if you can. Sounds to me like if it is a small mixer, then it will be limited to what is going through it. As mentioned above, most likely vocals and drums. Check it out when you get there and make your decision then. You could always do a post show matrix if you run both.

[firmdragon]

yeah always run aud if you can.  getting a good decent mix on the board is hit or miss.  if there's more than one guitarist, one could be way louder than the other, vocals could drown out the instruments, etc.  i've even had an experience where all i got was vocal reverb!

[Josephine]

Thanks for the information, guys.  All stuff I didn't know.
Since I do have two recorders, I think I'll go ahead and record both ways, but . . . .
I'm going to put my efforts into trying to capture a good audience recording instead of focusing on the soundboard.
Thanks for all the help.

[kfrinkle]

well, to be honest, it doesnt take mch to get the soundboard recording.  just plug it in, chekc the levels during soundcheck and then leave it alone for the duration of the show.

[thierryhenry]

well, what i do with all the local venues when i pull soundboard is make sure i get an audience recording as well.  soundboard recordings by themselves really lack 'atmosphere', so its better to mix an audience and soundboard afterwards.  if all the instruments are not plugged into the soundboard, you can still the mix the 2 to get something interesting, which i did recently.  moral of the story, run the audience rig always, soundboard is extra.

You guys have me wondering whether I'd be better off using my mics and getting an audience recording instead.  Or, I could do both:  I do have another D100 I could put in use.

I have no idea what kind of board this is.  It was referred to as a "small mixer."  Unfortunately, that's the extent of my knowledge.

The show is going to be in a small indoor venue.  I won't go so far as to say I'm a friend of the band's, but I do know the lead singer/guitar player and he has told me I'm welcome to plug in to the mixer so long as my equipment is compatable.  I got the impression he'd help me.

Gosh, what do you think, guys?  I really don't have the answers to any of the questions you asked above.  Should I forget about the soundboard and shoot for an audience recording instead?

As always, thanks so much for your imput and help.

Very true, which means I need another Jb3.

[kfrinkle]

which is exactly why i have 2 nomad jukeboxes.

well, what i do with all the local venues when i pull soundboard is make sure i get an audience recording as well.  soundboard recordings by themselves really lack 'atmosphere', so its better to mix an audience and soundboard afterwards.  if all the instruments are not plugged into the soundboard, you can still the mix the 2 to get something interesting, which i did recently.  moral of the story, run the audience rig always, soundboard is extra.

You guys have me wondering whether I'd be better off using my mics and getting an audience recording instead.  Or, I could do both:  I do have another D100 I could put in use.

I have no idea what kind of board this is.  It was referred to as a "small mixer."  Unfortunately, that's the extent of my knowledge.

The show is going to be in a small indoor venue.  I won't go so far as to say I'm a friend of the band's, but I do know the lead singer/guitar player and he has told me I'm welcome to plug in to the mixer so long as my equipment is compatable.  I got the impression he'd help me.

Gosh, what do you think, guys?  I really don't have the answers to any of the questions you asked above.  Should I forget about the soundboard and shoot for an audience recording instead?

As always, thanks so much for your imput and help.

Very true, which means I need another Jb3.