Recording Live Performances

DCERVENKA

DCERVENKA

Well-known member
I'm trying to find an econmical way to record audio for a live performance that does not use the camera. I normally have my laptop in tow (to dump P2 cards) so I was wondering if it's possible to connect my laptop to the soundboard (using the 1/8 stereo or perhaps a USB/XLR break out box) combined with software that will allow me to do this?
 
Yes you can. I would not use the built in sound card though because they just aren't that good. You should be able to find a two channel (or more) interface for not too much. Alesis makes a series of mixers that have a FireWire out. If your on a Mac (PC someone else will have to talk about) then the Alesis mixer for $300 or so and Boom Recorder ($20 for the two channel version and ~~$260 I think for the version that goes to 64 tracks) will give you 8-16 line inputs and 2-8 mic inputs (depending on the mixer and the version of Boom Recorder. I've used this combo with a Mac Book Pro on a bunch of shoots including a Doobie Bro's concert and it has worked like a dream.
 
Thanks Noiz2! I'm using a PC that has USB 2.0 connections, but it looks like most of these mixers come with USB or Firewire options.

I did a search on Alesis Mixer and found this: "Alesis Multimix 8USB2 Mixer With USB 2.0 Audio". This looks like some serious equipment.

If I want to just record the final output (no need to mix multiple channels) can I use something like this?

http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/FastTrackUSB-main.html

http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/FastTrackPro-main.html


I like the idea of the USB powered device because that means one-less thing to plug in when setting up my laptop.
 
The problem with pulling your feed from the sound board is the end result might not sound very good. The sound board is balanced for the speakers and acoustics of the room. The feed you get might be heavy on the vocals, very light on the instruments -- or any one of a dozen different variations that will be hard to fix in post. At least, that's been my experience.
 
chapelgrovefilms said:
The problem with pulling your feed from the sound board is the end result might not sound very good. The sound board is balanced for the speakers and acoustics of the room. The feed you get might be heavy on the vocals, very light on the instruments -- or any one of a dozen different variations that will be hard to fix in post. At least, that's been my experience.
Click to expand...


Good point.... I've had that happen to me before
 
Best is to use a multichannel interface and get as many separate feeds from the mixing board as possible. This will enable you to mix later and get a better balanced result. The MOTU (www.motu.com) product line is a good place to start. The 828MKII (about $750) can record up to 10 channels of line-in from a mixer to a laptop via firewire at once. As far as I know there are no USB audio interfaces that have more than two channels, so firewire will be necessary to do this. You'll need a PC compatible DAW front end to do it too, and I'm not sure which might be the best bang for the buck there. I'm a strictly Mac audio guy.

Any firewire equipped Mac laptop and an 828MKII will do the job. The 828 includes Mac DAW software ("AudioDesk") too.

Best of luck to you.
 
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Since I can't afford to rent nor buy a stand-alone mixer for video audio, what I'm doing is running a mono board feed and a mic on a stand (condenser or SM57 instrument mic...whichever is available).

But for non-camera recording, I have a TASCAM US-122 that has two inputs (XLR or 1/4") with on-board levelers + phantom power. It's relatively cheap. I know it interfaces with most Apple products, haven't tried any of the Adobe stuff with it yet.
 
This should be a good, fair price option.

The Zoom H4,

http://www.samsontech.com/products/productpage.cfm?prodID=1901

I love mine, it can do so much, and was made for what you want to do.

1. Built-in Mics.
2. Has TWO XLR/ 1/4" jack inputs.
3. ACTS as a good sound interface on eg. your laptop (two channels).
4. Stand alone recorder (onto SD Cards).

check it out I LOVE this product. and OH, it runs off two AA batteries (for a long time!), so no additional power needed. VERY PORTABLE.

so you can record on the device itself, dump the files to pc later (which I use with great success), so it leaves your laptop free to dump P2 cards. because the HDD won't keep up capturing audio and dumping p2 cards at the same time.

- Derrick
 
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The Zoom H4 is a good device. I use mine for recording audio seperately on film (video) shoots, as well as recording SFX, ADR, etc. And I used it to do what the OP wants to do -- connected to a sound board to record a live band performance. (Which is where I learned that the feed straight from the sound board isn't always good.)

The Zoom H2 is actually a nice little device as well, and easier to use than the H4, not to mention cheaper. But it lacks the XLR-1/4" inputs (only has 1/8" mini jack) and the phantom power.

Both are inexpensive and versatile tools for audio recording. Well worth checking out.
 
I never even thought about using a stand alone recorder... Since I still need my laptop to dump the P2 cards a stand alone unit is a great suggestion!

As for pluggin directly into the soundboard... I'm mainly shooting DJ's spinning, so I don't really have to worry about vocals, the drummer, bass player, etc.. Do you think I will still run into any issue plugging into the soundboard?

With the Zoom, can you record two independent inputs into seperate audio files? Or does it blend it into one audio file? The reason I ask is because I would like the option to record the crowd's reaction to one track and keep the actual music on another.
 
No, with the Zoom it records only one audio file at a time. You could mix the output from the sound board into one input, and mix a mic or two into the other input. Or use a mixer to mix everything, then output from the mixer to the Zoom.

If it's just a DJ spinning, then you may be safe going through the sound board. Try it out and see how it works for you.

Good luck!
 
it does have a 4 track multitrack mode, I'm testing it quickly to confirm if it is multiple files, will report back shortly.

- Derrick
 
hmmm. the book says you can record 2 tracks, and playback 4. Have not successfully done it yet, could only arm 1 track in 4-track mode, it's midnight now, and I'm on the road tomorrow, so when I'm at my destination I'll continue my test if someone else has not given a clear report by then,

- Derrick
 
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