Board
- Thread starter Sawra
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SMuir
Well-known member
Depends what board you're getting it from.
That said, here are a few things to keep in mind when recording event audio from a PA, front-of-house mixer, or press bridge:
Talk to the mixer before-hand to make sure he/she can provide you with a suitable feed.
Get a line-level feed (usually from an aux).
Set up well in advance, preferabbly prior to the mixer's own mic test.
Keep an ear out for line hums and distortion.
A front-of-house or PA mixer will usually EQ the sound to fit the acoustics of the venue, so what they give you may not be exactly what you want. For that reason, you may want to get a pre-EQ feed.
Always monitor the recording using good headphones (the video's sound is your responisbility, not the mixer's). Keeping an eye on the meter levels is not enough, you have to actually listen to the sound to detect problems.
Bring your own XLR cables, and bring plenty of spares.
Bring a variety of adapters to handle a range of interconnect issues (ballanced 1/4" TRS, unballanced 1/4", unballanced 1/8" stereo, unballanced 1/4" stereo, unballanced RCA stereo etc. to XLR).
Have a backup plan (eg. mics on the PA system, podium) in case you can't get the mixer feed working to your satisfaction.
Mic the audience (preferably with a stereo pair) to catch their reactions, and soften up the "dry" sound of the mixer feed.
Carefully tape down or otherwise secure all your cables to prevent people for tripping over them.
That said, here are a few things to keep in mind when recording event audio from a PA, front-of-house mixer, or press bridge:
Talk to the mixer before-hand to make sure he/she can provide you with a suitable feed.
Get a line-level feed (usually from an aux).
Set up well in advance, preferabbly prior to the mixer's own mic test.
Keep an ear out for line hums and distortion.
A front-of-house or PA mixer will usually EQ the sound to fit the acoustics of the venue, so what they give you may not be exactly what you want. For that reason, you may want to get a pre-EQ feed.
Always monitor the recording using good headphones (the video's sound is your responisbility, not the mixer's). Keeping an eye on the meter levels is not enough, you have to actually listen to the sound to detect problems.
Bring your own XLR cables, and bring plenty of spares.
Bring a variety of adapters to handle a range of interconnect issues (ballanced 1/4" TRS, unballanced 1/4", unballanced 1/8" stereo, unballanced 1/4" stereo, unballanced RCA stereo etc. to XLR).
Have a backup plan (eg. mics on the PA system, podium) in case you can't get the mixer feed working to your satisfaction.
Mic the audience (preferably with a stereo pair) to catch their reactions, and soften up the "dry" sound of the mixer feed.
Carefully tape down or otherwise secure all your cables to prevent people for tripping over them.
venuestudios
Member
you can't beat mic splitters when it comes to live events. You don't say how many channels but they come in all flavors and channel counts. You can get them with ground lifts (especially handy in case of hummmm). Be aware they are not cheap but they are indispensible in getting clean signal (assuming the mics are of some quality).
SMuir
Well-known member
No, it isn't.
That is to say that you can suit yourself, but auto gain control will give you audio results comparable to allowing automatic exposure to change your F-stop midway through a shot. Auto gain will cause your audio levels to swing wildly every time things get quieter or louder.
If you're that uncomfortable recording the sound yourself, why not just hire an experienced production sound mixer?
SMuir
Well-known member
It sounds as though you should start looking for an additional technician to handle video side of the audio (as opposed to the sound reinforcement side).
If your sound crew limited to one person, their priority will have to either be sound reinforcement or production sound. For best results, you really need a second sound person, a second mixing board, and a strategy for getting the production mixer all the mic feeds that they need (eg. Kent's mic splitters).
If your sound crew limited to one person, their priority will have to either be sound reinforcement or production sound. For best results, you really need a second sound person, a second mixing board, and a strategy for getting the production mixer all the mic feeds that they need (eg. Kent's mic splitters).
venuestudios
Member
SMuir is right here, you need another set of hands. One person can't do both. If this is going to be released, you need the sound to be as good as the video. My first video I was the FOH sound engineer and audio recording engineer as well as setting up the stage audio before the show. Even with two cameramen handling the video, it was a lot to chew (48 channels of audio). You need to monitor the recording as it comes in which doesn't leave many hands left over to film. I would also suggest finding someone with recording vice sound reinforcement experience. Running a PA and getting a good recording are not the same thing though they share the same equipment.
You should be there for soundcheck to get levels before the show and convey anything specific to the rest of the crew and the band. Definately check to see what type of outputs the board has well ahead of the show, some have XLR outputs but you will more likely see 1/4" TRS outputs for direct channel feeds. I ask for the board make and model weell in advance of the show and then go online and look at the board manual to see if the outputs are pre or post fader/eq/processing. Don't expect the sound guy to know the answer (the experienced ones will, but not all of them). You need to know this. Not all boards have direct outs on the channels. If you are taking aux sends, remember you are going to be limited, most live boards have 4 to 6 aux sends so plan accordingly. Chances are the sound engineer will use some of those as sends for effects or all of them if they run monitors from the FOH position.
As you can see, getting sound from the board may not be possible, hence SMuir's suggestion to have a backup plan...
You should be there for soundcheck to get levels before the show and convey anything specific to the rest of the crew and the band. Definately check to see what type of outputs the board has well ahead of the show, some have XLR outputs but you will more likely see 1/4" TRS outputs for direct channel feeds. I ask for the board make and model weell in advance of the show and then go online and look at the board manual to see if the outputs are pre or post fader/eq/processing. Don't expect the sound guy to know the answer (the experienced ones will, but not all of them). You need to know this. Not all boards have direct outs on the channels. If you are taking aux sends, remember you are going to be limited, most live boards have 4 to 6 aux sends so plan accordingly. Chances are the sound engineer will use some of those as sends for effects or all of them if they run monitors from the FOH position.
As you can see, getting sound from the board may not be possible, hence SMuir's suggestion to have a backup plan...
Ok, I have a quick question.
Last minute thing, testing my zoom H4, life music, I asked the sound guy to give me a feed, he tried but I was getting no signal, he was going out to amplifier plus he didn't know how to find out how to fix it right there, SO, he gave me feed out of the headphone output I belive. I haven't check the recordings yet in detailed but I was wondering...what is the quality like of the headphone outputs? is that much bad? unusable? I listnen to it fast and it sound ok..I haven't recorded better sound to compare to.
Thanks for sharing with us and sorry for jumping into this thread.
Osmany
Last minute thing, testing my zoom H4, life music, I asked the sound guy to give me a feed, he tried but I was getting no signal, he was going out to amplifier plus he didn't know how to find out how to fix it right there, SO, he gave me feed out of the headphone output I belive. I haven't check the recordings yet in detailed but I was wondering...what is the quality like of the headphone outputs? is that much bad? unusable? I listnen to it fast and it sound ok..I haven't recorded better sound to compare to.
Thanks for sharing with us and sorry for jumping into this thread.
Osmany