Shooting a concert

M

momentfilms

Member
Hey Guys,

So I'm going to be shooting a band opening for a much larger band this weekend. They're going to want me on stage with them and probably right in front of them in the pit. My first question is about sound:

I've done this before (with a gs500) realize it's not going to be any good because I'll be so close to huge speakers, but I am just handing a tape over to them so I want them to have something they can use if they need the sound. Would it make a huge difference if I turned the levels down on my dvx to maybe the lowest or second lowest notch? Or maybe setting my mic gain(s) from -50db to -60db?

Second:
What settings do you recommend? Not sure about 24p and if they even have software that can edit it. Scene file settings, anyone?

thanks!:dankk2:
 
If they are serious about the video they should have someone multitrack the audio and mix / master for use in the video.If they are semi serious about the vid they should at least have someone doing a 2 track stereo mix recording of the show The onboard mic wont cut it for final output in the pit plus you will be all over the place and you dont want to be tethered to a mix feed.
The onboard mic should make a decent enough recording for them to sync the recorded track to in post however.

Ive shot lots of footage of a pretty well known band form the pit/ stage and the best results we ever had was doing a 16 track multitrack recording from direct feeds prefade of the monitor mix.
 
You have wandered into an area that can be very complicated, capturing live high energy sound.

It is possible to take a feed from the FOH board, however, while it may be easy, it can leave a lot to be desired for the following reasons:

1) The concept of sound reinforcement is to "mix" the signals coming from each instrument or vocal on the stage that go to the main PA so that the audience hears them in the correct proportion.

What the average Joe doesn't take into account is what the stage volume is for each of those instruments/vocals and what the venue size & type is.

2) Venue size and type determines how much stage volume gets to the audience. 3 instruments in rock usually have the loudest stage sound, electric guitar, electric bass, and drums. In most small and moderate size venues, very little PA boost is required for those instruments. Meaning the mix signal coming from the FOH mixer containing each of those instruments will normally have a weaker signal for them in the mix going to the PA.

When it comes to vocals, the opposite is true, there is virtually no vocal stage volume other than the talent's monitor feed which is pointed away from the audience, so the vocal output from the board will normally be quite hot in comparison to the others and not be a good representation of the music.

3) If the venue size is large or huge (think stadium or open land/park), then this is the place where you will get a good quality mix feed from the FOH mixer because the stage volume will normally be overwhelmed by the sound going to the PA.

If you do want to take a line from the FOH board, it's common courtesy to bring your own cable & connectors to do that.

If you use the onboard mic, you might want to have a helper who can control the levels while you shoot. If you are using a DVX make sure your audio limiter is on. Be there in time for the sound check, if they'll let you in then.

Ken
 
Thanks guys for your posts!

Kenacker: Exactly. I was talking to another band I know about doing a live recording and they said the same thing about the mix being for the concert and not really suitable for putting on a CD or what have you. I would like to get a feed from the FOH board but it wouldn't work without some kind of wireless way to do it; i'll be on the stage, in the pit and all over the place. If I didn't go wireless, would it just be a standard XLR that I plug into the board?

Nonoob:
Thanks for the input. What kind of wireless mic system are you using? I'm pretty much broke so I guess that's ruled out, but I'll keep that in mind for the future. I'm going to be there during the sound check so I guess I'll see what I can achieve with the onboard mic.

I appreciate it guys. Thanks.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top