recording live performance

davylee

how's it going?
just wondering if anyone can help me.
I'm trying to record a live performance but don't really no how.
Can i record direct onto cd?
Is there any kind of reasonably priced hardware i can buy to do it.
Any help would be great
Thanks

MilanPan!c

davylee wrote: »

how's it going?
just wondering if anyone can help me.
I'm trying to record a live performance but don't really no how.
Can i record direct onto cd?
Is there any kind of reasonably priced hardware i can buy to do it.
Any help would be great
Thanks

A better idea might be to look for a venue that has a history of doin this. It'll be cheaper and the results will be better!

And hey, consider NOT recording the vox; do them later in a cheap studio.

Basically free record.

artvandulet

davylee wrote: »

how's it going?
just wondering if anyone can help me.
I'm trying to record a live performance but don't really no how.
Can i record direct onto cd?
Is there any kind of reasonably priced hardware i can buy to do it.
Any help would be great
Thanks

It depends on what the performance is exactly. Can you expand a little so you can be pointed in the right direction. Is this a band? A singer? Whats the venue? Is there a PA system in use. Is everything getting mic'ed up?

nitromaster

Well basically you'll need microphones/audio recording equipment.

There's ones bootleggers use for recording concerts, like the Zoom H2. (And that family of devices)

The best quality would come from direct sound board feeds, straight into a device as the above or something else.
These sound files can then be edited with a laptop or computer.


More info about the set-up you're looking for (Venue/etc) would be needed to provide a more exact answer.

Savman

Any contraption that records Line-In direct to mp3. Then just take a stereo feed from the desk.

Einstein

we use an ALesis hard disk recorder.
Take a line from each of the channels from the desk and straight to the recorder.

Pull em all into pro tools later and mix to our hearts content

AndyTheDude

Savman wrote: »

Any contraption that records Line-In direct to mp3. Then just take a stereo feed from the desk.

-1

That would completely limit your options for editing the material later on...
Get a laptop and a semi-decent sound card with multiple inputs.
This one would do the job perfectly. You would have to mike the drums, obviously. Using a metronome would be a good idea too.

MilanPan!c

^^^^^^^

see all the answers?

This is why you shouldn't spend money buying gear.

Say you spent a couple grand on a 16 input soundcard, but the venue was using 20e mics and the house sound guy was ass, or the room was ass and everygthing was EQd to hell to compensate... Crap recording.

Either don't spend toooo much, record from an audience perspective and try a bunch of times or hire pros to do it or find an experienced venue and let them do it.

Otherwise you'll prolly just end up blowing a LOT of money for nothing.

Savman

AndyTheDude wrote: »

-1

That would completely limit your options for editing the material later on...
Get a laptop and a semi-decent sound card with multiple inputs.
This one would do the job perfectly. You would have to mike the drums, obviously. Using a metronome would be a good idea too.

Stereo mix is the quick and dirty method for recording mixes. If you're talking about maintaining separation, perhaps you can explain to the OP how he can do this without getting into a considerably more complex setup involving splitter boxes etc.

albis

I do live recordings for bands when they are looking to launch a live CD.

I mic the drums, mic/DI the amps & take a vocal feed using pro quality gear.

Competitive rates too.

PM me if this is a route you would like to explore.

MilanPan!c

albis wrote: »

I do live recordings for bands when they are looking to launch a live CD.

I mic the drums, mic/DI the amps & take a vocal feed using pro quality gear.

Competitive rates too.

PM me if this is a route you would like to explore.

Do bands get te seperate tracks (stems) or a final mix, or both?

Do you charge per show, per song or...?

Do you have samples?


OP - something like this will be much better than doing it yourself...

AndyTheDude

Savman wrote: »

Stereo mix is the quick and dirty method for recording mixes. If you're talking about maintaining separation, perhaps you can explain to the OP how he can do this without getting into a considerably more complex setup involving splitter boxes etc.

Well, I don't know what you would need splitter boxes for... A mixing desk with direct outs for each channel is all you need really.

AndyTheDude

MilanPan!c wrote: »

^^^^^^^

Say you spent a couple grand on a 16 input soundcard, but the venue was using 20e mics and the house sound guy was ass, or the room was ass and everygthing was EQd to hell to compensate... Crap recording.

Either don't spend toooo much, record from an audience perspective and try a bunch of times or hire pros to do it or find an experienced venue and let them do it.

Otherwise you'll prolly just end up blowing a LOT of money for nothing.

That's actually true, but assuming the OP is in a typical band (voc, guitar, bass & drums) I can't see a need for a 16 input interface. Even a 6 channel one would do, you can always mix down the drums to stereo feed before hitting the soundcard. All in all that would cost no more than E300, not a couple grand.

MilanPan!c

AndyTheDude wrote: »

That's actually true, but assuming the OP is in a typical band (voc, guitar, bass & drums) I can't see a need for a 16 input interface. Even a 6 channel one would do, you can always mix down the drums to stereo feed before hitting the soundcard. All in all that would cost no more than E300, not a couple grand.

2 guitars
bass
2-3vox

kick
snare
overhead

there's 9 (at least)

add a stereo pair for live ambience

10-11

my point is that is you're going to bother actually recording it, then do it right enough so that the results are useable.

So either pay to do it right or do it cheaply and often until you luck into something useable.

AndyTheDude

MilanPan!c wrote: »

2 guitars
bass
2-3vox

kick
snare
overhead

there's 9 (at least)

add a stereo pair for live ambience

10-11

my point is that is you're going to bother actually recording it, then do it right enough so that the results are useable.

So either pay to do it right or do it cheaply and often until you luck into something useable.

We can go on like this forever, Milan. I'll be giving examples of a small band setup and you'll be giving him/her advices on recording a 6 or 7-piece...
The truth is we still don't know what kind of band davylee is in, so our efforts are kinda pointless here.
I'm just saying that it can be done without selling your house and your car. The gear that has to be bought to do live recording is not that expensive (assuming they have a mixing console as most bands here in Ireland do) and it can be used in the future. The learning curve may be a bit steep, but IMO it's worth it and it can be a lot of fun. Sure, he/she can always shell out for a pro who will do it properly, I don't think it's his/her intention though, based on the opening post.
I'm from Eastern Europe, we have that DIY attitude, that's why I masturbated today instead of going on a date.:D

MilanPan!c

AndyTheDude wrote: »

We can go on like this forever, Milan. I'll be giving examples of a small band setup and you'll be giving him/her advices on recording a 6 or 7-piece...
The truth is we still don't know what kind of band davylee is in, so our efforts are kinda pointless here.
I'm just saying that it can be done without selling your house and your car. The gear that has to be bought to do live recording is not that expensive (assuming they have a mixing console as most bands here in Ireland do) and it can be used in the future. The learning curve may be a bit steep, but IMO it's worth it and it can be a lot of fun. Sure, he/she can always shell out for a pro who will do it properly, I don't think it's his/her intention though, based on the opening post.
I'm from Eastern Europe, we have that DIY attitude, that's why I masturbated today instead of going on a date.:D

Ha!

Funny.

I know what you mean; I've just seen so many bands waste so much money trying to SAVE money 8(

my attitude is simply that if you want to avoid heartbreak cough up the dough because there's not REALLY a cheap way to do it right.

If it's just for learning then you can do it relatively well for almost nothing, but if labels/fans/money is involved then don't fall at the last hurdle to try and save a tiny bit of money.

drumdrum

Tis gas to see engineers here overcomplicating things!

Only messing!


But to the OP I say the route you take depends on what you are looking for.
Few years back when I was playing, we used to get a recording straight from the master out bus from the live deck onto a MiniDisc recorded/player. All you need was a phono->jack lead and your MD player/recorder and you're sorted. The quality isn't too bad as what comes out of the PA is what gets recorded. You lose the "live" bleed of the stage instruments though and with the quality received .....put it this way, I wouldn't put it on a myspace.

The thing is though, is that is was a great way for us to get a jist of how tight or non-tight we were with the songs. Timing and pitches could be heard clearly enough to determine which songs we needed to work on in practices.

If you only want a live recording to judge yourselves then I recommend this simple route of output feed to recorder (doesn't necessarily have to be a mini disc!).
If you want something to stick on a myspace, then listen to the engineer guys here or the guys with experience!

Hope you find something that works for ya!

davylee

Thanks for all the replies everybody.
I should have been much more precise about what i am looking for so sorry about that.
Drum drum hit the nail on the head with that last post.
I find it impossible when, on stage, to know what the sound is like from out front. It's different when you're playing. It's much harder to judge how you sound, i find.
I'm just trying to get as good idea as possible to our true sound. We haven't got drums just acoustic, electric, bass and 3 vox.
We use a dynacord powermate 1000 desk with ev eliminators so everything can be DI'd.
I will get a mini disc and try that way so thanks drum drum
But does anyone know if i can burn straight onto cd from a line out on the desk?
Again thanks for all the replies

Savman

davylee wrote: »

But does anyone know if i can burn straight onto cd from a line out on the desk?

Philips CD Recorder but tbh they are crap units, I've owned 2 and both have frozen up with very little use. In a live gig scenario, I'd say the thing would disintegrate.

mp3 recorder is your best bet IMHO.

Mikeydb

Lads talk about overkill With the advice like!
Did ye ever hear of a minidisc? Im a professional sound engineer and do most of my live recording straight onto MD, either from a record out on the desk or a group send. Depends what type of desk you have but most will have at least one of these. If your desk does not happen to have these you can still connect it to the headphone jack instead to record from the prefade listen (PFL). However this has drawbacks. As it is PREfade you will have no control over volume of individual channels in the recording. and as you have no headphone jack you cant hear what you are recording.


Please contact me if you require any advice. Im sure i could arrange to record your band live depending on the area you're in, for a nominal charge


HTH
Mikey

davylee

cheers mikey but unless "nominal charge" really means "free" i can't afford it. But i will try the mini disk thing see what happens thanks

Savman

Mikeydb wrote: »

Did ye ever hear of a minidisc?

Better climb back on your dinosaur :D
Sure why not record straight onto cassette, add some warmth to the thing!!

MD's were great but their time on this earth was short lived unfortunately.

Mikeydb

Savman wrote: »

Sure why not record straight onto cassette, add some warmth to the thing!!

LMAO would you believe that have done exactly that!!!


i use MDs every day in theatres all over the country, outdated they aint my friend. They are the most reliable devices for playback that we've yet seen, so when something better comes along then they will be.

We're not talking studio recording quality here like, Going back to the OP it looks like €€€ might be a problem so recording to Logic or pro tools might just be out of the price().

All these hand held recorders are a gimmic i think anyway, just like a dictaphone for producers lol