Recording a live band

[xTomx]

I've been offered to record/mix a band's last show and am looking for some advice for those of you who may have done so before.

They're a heavy, downbeat hardcore band playing at the Camden Underworld (small stage) and the crowd are going to be insane - stage-diving and knocking shit everywhere for certain.

My plan was to take a mic splitter before it gets to the desk and record it on my Macbook Pro via a Focusrite Saffire Pro 40 and Behringer ADA8000.

If the sound guy isn't willing then I'd just take it after the pre from the sends on the desk.

If anybody has any wisdom regarding logistics/best practice etc I'd really appreciate it.

 

[if6was9]

Splits is the best way. Many desks are set with the direct out as post Fader and post EQ which sucks if you're recording. Be polite to the sound guy and talk to him on the phone/email/facebook well in advance so he knows whats up and you can come to an arrangement that suits everyone. Some places are set-up with a passive split for a monitor desk, if this is the case then you're sorted as they can also do monitors from the FOH desk and you can use that split. I've done this in places before and it works great, everyone's happy.

DI the guitars if they're gonna be going crazy so if the mics get knocked over and lost you have a backup. Make sure you get a solid kick in mic too for the same reason. Beta 91's are great for this as there is zero chance of it getting knocked over and it sounds great.

Have fun with the mix, it's a live gig so there's no need to get too anal about it. I never edit the takes from live shows aside from chopping out bleed. You shouldn't be moving stuff around. It's really up to the band to deliver good takes.

 

[xTomx]

Thanks!

 

[Trevoire520]

Yeah split is definitely the way to go, means you can set your recording levels to have plenty of headroom. DI's and possibly even drum triggers might be a good idea just as a backup in case things get trashed (record the line check to get some samples of the kit in case you end up needing them)

Set up some crowd/room mic's if you can.
Make sure you have plenty of space on your drive, defreg if you need to. Keep your buffer size all the way up to maximize stability.

 

[Sloan]

Get a stereo ambient/room/audience track(s).

 

[MotherEel]

Get a stereo ambient/room/audience track(s).

Yeah having some room noise can really make it.