Live recording

[dave2010]

It's a while since I visited and posted here. Mostly the posts seem to be about equipment and various tweaks. Is there a part of the forum which deals with making live recordings, or using recordings in live events? I recently was asked to record and simultaneously video a concert in a church, and now I'm putting the fragments which I collected together. Hopefully things won't work out too badly, and fortunately someone else also recorded and made a video recording, and I think we will swap files and it'll be possible to make a reasonable CD and DVD of all or part of the event.

It'd be good to hear about others experiences of making recordings or using recordings in live events. If there is already a section about this please point me in the appropriate direction.

[struth]

Musical compositions would be you place Dave. just start a thread

http://theartofsound.net/forum/forum...l-Compositions

[Marco]

Sounds very interesting, Dave. Tell us all about it!

Marco.

[dave2010]

Give me a few days - maybe a week - to see how much of the event I can organise into files for the video and CD productions.

[awkwardbydesign]

I'll watch out for that.

[Marco]

+1

Marco.

[Light Dependant Resistor]

It's a while since I visited and posted here. Mostly the posts seem to be about equipment and various tweaks. Is there a part of the forum which deals with making live recordings, or using recordings in live events? I recently was asked to record and simultaneously video a concert in a church, and now I'm putting the fragments which I collected together. Hopefully things won't work out too badly, and fortunately someone else also recorded and made a video recording, and I think we will swap files and it'll be possible to make a reasonable CD and DVD of all or part of the event.

It'd be good to hear about others experiences of making recordings or using recordings in live events. If there is already a section about this please point me in the appropriate direction.

Hi Dave
Live recording has to be one one of the most exciting ways of enjoying our audio appreciation. It teaches you a lot
about how sound is achieved.

I recall doing a live recording of the Hobart Recorder Society in 2006 and it remains a great recording, not quite ECM standards, but not too far away either

Here is what I recall. The day before I used headphones to assess what was the best available mic preamp, and although I had everything ready to
go with a Yamaha mixing desk, the Yamaha was quite poor in audio quality compared to the mic pre in a DBX700. So I reconfigured to use the
DBX700. Microphones just using 2 were Behringers Condensers. Sound through the headphones was excellent. With recording like this I used two
recording devices, a Samsung DVD recorder , and a Sony minidisc as having two gives options later is always better. The DVD I think remains
the better recording. I used a DBX 150x to preserve dynamics.

During the event it was a matter of moving microphones to suit what was going on at the time, for instance a solo being quite different to the
main collection of players,

Post production involved editing out times where there was relative silence, and I think there were over 40 edits to do. The minidisc being
really good for this. Finally then expanding via the 150x I used a Quad 44 to get audio onto a CD.

Listening back to this recording today it remains one of the best I have done.

I look forward to how your recording went.

Cheers / Chris

[dave2010]

Hi Chris

Your recording experience sounds really good. Also your equipment could perhaps have been better than what I've been using, though 2006 is quite a long way back compared with 2015, so some consumer level equipment may now be better, or at least easier to use, than some more professional equipment from that era. However, some of the kit I used does date from around that period too.

More is about to be revealed - part 1 follows shortly.

[dave2010]

Sounds very interesting, Dave. Tell us all about it!

Marco.

Here is Part 1.

A recording shaggy dog story, with an as yet uncertain outcome

Part 1: Request

Months ago, in mid summer, I received a phone call which I was not expecting. This was from a woman who said she didn't know me, but had a friend with whom she played bowls, who either knew me, or knew of me. I didn't recognise the name, however. Then she said that she had another friend who'd want to make a recording of a live concert in a church located in the western outposts of our capital city. It turned out that a group of amateur musicians and a choir did occasional performances in the church and that there was usually an annual concert around October.

Following this, I asked for more information, and was sent a DVD of a previous concert. I noted that the sound level of the DVD was rather low, though the background noise was not too terrible.
I thought that perhaps if a recording could be made with high enough levels, that it might be possible to do something better.

I also found out that someone else had made audio and video recordings in the past, but was not able to do the recording this year.

I had no idea whether my camera would be capable of recording such an event, and even if it could do the video, what would I do for the sound?

Intrigued, but perhaps foolishly, I agreed to meet them. I went to the church, taking some cameras with me. The interior was quite dark, but I was able to capture some video on one – a Canon SX1 IS which I bought years ago to go on safari. I had no idea whether any of my cameras would be capable of recording the whole concert, or what kind of quality level would be possible. I also did not know how to pick up the sounds. I suspected that the in-built microphone in my camera would not be good enough, though I did pick up some sounds, but with no control over levels. I was also told that professional levels of video or audio recording were not a requirement, though obviously it would be nice to do as well as possible.

The Canon is capable of taking full HD video at 1080x1920. I have another camera, a Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ28, which can do lower resolution video HD at 720x1280 .Both cameras are essentially still cameras, but are new enough to be able to take video. I was not sure, which, if any I should use if I took on this assignment.

At the back of the church there is a balcony, and it was suggested that recording from the front of the balcony would give better results than downstairs, where the audience would sit. It sounded as though in previous years they had tried to do audio and video from downstairs, but that there was too much audience noise. I did wonder about the possible recording levels though, as perhaps the balcony would be too far from the choir and orchestra to get good results.

It was also suggested that I might want to use mains power, and if so, then a cable would be needed to run from what I think is just one power point into the balcony area. I wondered what kind of equipment had been used previously.

I also wondered if it would be possible to do a trial run, perhaps at a rehearsal. One suggestion was to go to a service a week or two later, but in the end I did not, as I was busy at the time.

I was then shown some equipment, some of which might have been used in previous years. In previous years apparently recordings had been made on video cameras – possibly the ones with the small tape cassettes, and audio had been done using DAT recorders. It seemed as though the recording history had passed through different levels of technology over the years. I was lent a small video microphone – a Zoom Q2 HD, which takes SDHC cards. For myself, I also have a consumer level Sony video camera for SD video, which is also now historic, as it takes cassettes, and I've never really explored how to transfer video and audio from it. I have adapters which should make that possible, but I've never used them. The Zoom, being somewhat more modern, is easy in this regard, as it is possible to take out the SDHC card, and transfer the video and audio files to a computer. There is no need for any real time data transfer.

I was clearly being suckered in. At first I seemed to be asked about audio recording, and then it was suggested that I might just as well do video as well, as I would be there! I said that I'd probably need at least one assistant to help, and I said that maybe I could do that – though I wasn't sure. Mentally I volunteered Mrs D, though I'd no idea if she'd cooperate. I thought that perhaps I could manage by myself if absolutely necessary, but it did seem quite a tricky task to manage both recordings.

I mentioned that I might use multiple recording devices, for safety reasons, so that if one failed there'd still be video, or audio, or both depending on the kit used, though I did wonder how I'd synchronise any audio with video if both were not recorded on the same device.

I also asked about what would happen after the recording, “what were the required deliverables, and who would they be aimed at?” Was it intended to be a product or products, for family members and friends of the choir and orchestra, or a wider audience?

Having got the basic information, and parameters, I then did nothing for quite a while, until several weeks ago.

To be continued …..

[PaulStewart]

Dave,

I've sent you a PM