How to record a loud live band?

B

bikesmusic

New member
Hi All!

I like to record band's shows. In the past I used my sony trv900 and it's internal microphone turned way down and it worked really well.

Now with my 200a I am finding that using it's internal mic turned way down I still get clipping.

I have tried my sennheiser me66 turned way down, still clips, probably not a surprise.

Right now I have an sm57 on top of the camera with the intake volume set at about 10:30 for a level(on both channels). This seems to be the best solution so far, but the range of the microphone is not that great. It's mostly picking up guitar frequencies and not that much bass and drums.
Anyone know of a mic that can record high levels of sound with full range that I can attach to the 200a??
I usally stand right up front close to the band, as close as I can get. Sometimes only about 5-10 feet from the amps and drums.

here's a link to a friends band I recorded using my sony trv900 and it's internal mic. I would like to similar stuff with my 200a in HD and have good sound... is it possible?http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzihs2xMRO8

Thanks for any info!
 
I would suggest a couple of things....

1. move further away if possible so as not to saturate the mic preamps and to allow capturing a wider range of sounds
2. turn the input volume down even further and monitor the recorded sound with headphones...if it does not sound distorted there, it should be acceptable on the recording.
3. grab a live line level feed from the mixing console if at all possible (although you won't capture the crowd noise if doing this). You can obtain the full mix and often times with EQ that you can modify for the sound you want.

You should be able to get a decent signal level without clipping by using the input pots, with either the onboard mic or an external mic. The SM57 is a decent vocal mic but you can invest in a condenser instrument mic that will have a better frequency response at the low end. Audio-Technica and Shure both make fairly good mics for this. Check out Shure's Beta series microphones.
 
Thanks for the replies! I will try out these suggestions. I will also check out the shure VP88.
Any other mics that might be a bit cheaper, say in the $300-400 dollar range that might work?
I was thinking an sm81, it's not stereo but might work good with the high sound levels and has a good frequency range?
 
what youre looking for is a mike with a high sound pressure tolerance. thats why i chose the vp88. it had the highest SPL tolerance for the money. the stereo bit was really just gravy.
 
many condensers have a -10dB switch to cut down the sensitivity for this kind of thing, but if you want something that just 'works' like the 57, but sounds better, then the condenser 86/87s are pretty good. Any hand held type mic will be designed with somebody yelling into it, so few handhelds are that sensitive. Condensers are much more sensitive, being used mainly for more distant pickup, so have extra gain that is causing you so many problems.

Find a mic with a switchable pad, and you have the best of both worlds.
 
I plug my radio mic into the Record outs (usually RCA's use a stereo to mono adapter)of the mixer desk, attenuate the transmitter right down and all is good to go.. use your cam mic for live sound and mix in the edit room later to suit your taste... works for me.. Only constant quibble is that lots of bands really don't know how to get a great sound out of their systems, most just ramp it all up and it does become garbled because it's over the upper limits..
If they have a guy who knows how to set their levels then all is great..most don't, they are just happy to push the some noise out the speakers.

Cheers
Tom k
olinevideo.com.au
 
I just recorded a live band with an hvx200 and a sennheiser me66, when I look at the audios levels on the timeline they LOOK like they should be OK .. they are not clipped... when you listen to them the mic is obviously overdriven, I'm not familiar with the mic but i was hoping there was some kind of internal gain that can be turned down for future events like this.

The lesson learned is always check your levels with headphones even if the levels look normal.
 
ME66 is the wrong kind of mic, it's a condensor and it's going to be overly sensitive to loud sound pressure levels. You would be better off with a dynamic mic for a job like this.
 
Imaginate said:
I just recorded a live band with an hvx200 and a sennheiser me66, when I look at the audios levels on the timeline they LOOK like they should be OK .. they are not clipped... when you listen to them the mic is obviously overdriven, I'm not familiar with the mic but i was hoping there was some kind of internal gain that can be turned down for future events like this.

The lesson learned is always check your levels with headphones even if the levels look normal.
Click to expand...

The same thing happened to me regarding the levels looking ok and then upon play back I was getting clipping (using my me66). That's why I started this thread.
It's hard to use headphones when recording a live band because the sound level is so high outside of the headphones and inside that I can't get a good idea if the levels are clipping or not...

Many thanks for the replies!
 
I use a Sony stereo electret condenser mic mounted on the camera. The secret is that I use a 15 db pad (attenuator) on each mic input (A barrel on the mic output cables X2) This way the loud signal is cut way down before it ever reaches the mic pre. You can't rely on the -50 camera setting alone, it's not enough.

If you are working with a good club sound mixer the wireless is a great way to go. Usually mono though. If he can give you a stereo mix on a CD that might work also, but you have to keep re-syncing usually between each song.
 
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