Mixing our Live DVD... Crowd mic died.. now what :\

[Melb_shredder]

Hey guys!
So I'm working on mixing our band's live DVD, and unfortunately the 'Ambient' mics are unusable. One of them has a HORRIBLE clicking throughout the recording intermittently so it's essentially unusable. Now.. the aim was to use those 2 mics for the ambience and to give the mix that LIVE feel... But now that I don't have them, can you guys recommend to me what I should be doing?

here's a clip of how it's currently sounding. No automation/ editing yet for the most part, so the guitar solo etc is too loud etc, but otherwise yeah, this is the current sound.. Any thoughts??

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/306055/Orpheus - Unscathed DVD.mp3

 

[sam14]

To be honest I think it sounds pretty "live" already, you can hear the crowd at the start, and if I were watching the footage of this then I would be convinced it was a live performance (which it is, so that's kind of the point haha)

If you are dead set on some ambiance then maybe a room IR blended ever so slightly on a bus track may substitute, but I would tread carefully, that's just my $0.02 though

 

[luismars]

How much is clicking? slip edit the clicks away (if there're only a few)

IMHO too much ambience tends to mess up the mix, the mix sounds ok

 

[Morgan C]

Use ambient mics at your next gig, use them in the mix and automate them up between songs. Not authentic but it might work.

 

[bryan_kilco]

I think it sounds pretty damn good as is!

 

[Mago]

Sounds pretty clean, but it's awesome considering it's a live recording!

You can try to use the one mic that didn't die and add some live-y reverb to it.
the M5000 club reverb would work pretty well for this I guess

Maybe you can search the web for some stereo ambient tracks of crowds? Would be kinda fake but it could really help to get the live feel back

 

[Melb_shredder]

Hey guys! Thanks for checking it out for me. I actually did go in and attempt to edit the clicks out. It actually seems to have done the trick!

They are quite numerous, but SO quick that in the grand scheme you'd never notice them once they've been edited out! So thanks a lot. I'm going to post up the refine ambient mic filled version tomorrow for you

Thanks a lot

 

[TomCase]

Sounds like you figured it out, but you could try audio from a camera. Sometimes it works in a pinch.

I've done quite a few live videos and have always been amazed how much better they sounded with the video. All the little shit i wasn't happy with dissapeared once the picture was there.

Tom

 

[Melb_shredder]

Hey guys! Here's a clip of everything together with the crowd mic mixed in too. It's not hugely noticeable.. but just like a room mic on anything! It really gives the mix the space it needs to FEEL right.

I'd love your thoughts! Cheers

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/306055/Orpheus - Societies Of Steel.mp3

 

[Forceps]

Sounds very impressive for a live recording! Well balanced and tight performance, cool!

 

[luismars]

Did you record DI guitars? Sounds awesome dude!

 

[Melb_shredder]

Cheers guys!

Forceps: thanks mate. Much appreciated

Luismars: yes we did... But mine (left guitar) fcked up. So that's the natural tone.
The right guitar is reamped with the EXACT same settings because there were issues on the night and some of the recording fucked up. So in a strange way it worked out well haha

 

[bryan_kilco]

Boosted Mark IVs?

 

[Melb_shredder]

Boosted Mark IV on Left and Boosted Randall V2 on Right

 

[Sloan]

Buy some crowd noise tracks from a stock sound library and mix them in?

 

[vespiz]

Or use Metallica live records/videos like everyone else!

 

[AllanD]

It fucking sounds awesome, love it! The only thing throwing me off is the keyboard tone, was there a midi in taken? It sounds a little cheap.

 

[bassguy]

Recordings came up nice dude, super clear. sounds as good as I remember it being on the night. Hope the DI issue wasn't too big for you, but guitars are sounding sweet for this anyway, love that mark IV!

You could always grab some audio crowd samples and blend it in. I know plenty of places sell sample CD's full of recorded crowd sounds. Might be some helpful stuff here http://www.gearslutz.com/board/remo...-location-recording/612388-crowd-samples.html

 

[bryan_kilco]

Dude, any info on those drums? I'm assuming there's replacement or augmentation going on?

 

[Melb_shredder]

@Allan: Sorry dude, MIDI is the one thing we just couldn't capture on the night. but it really doesn't bother me much. I think it sounds fine

@Bassguy : Cheers again for coming down dude! The DI issue became less of a problem in the end so I'm quite happy with that Yeah, I love my Mark IV, truly an amazing amp. The Randall V2 is pretty insane too. They compliment each other well

@bryan: Sure thing man. Yeah there's definitely some augmentation. Snare is 40% 3 different samples and 60% natural snare. The kick is 80% replaced with 2 samples and then 20% natural kick. Toms are 30% augmented (to reduce some bleed and give some nicer stick attack from the sample) and then 70% the natural toms