I spent many years on the road as a live FOH/moniter enigneer. I have mixed on 52 channel consoles as well as mixing up to 20 monitor mixes on the fly. I did it for a living so I know I can mix. The trouble I am having is moving from the live big sound to a quite
studio setting. I have mixed for a 50,000 seat
arena and it is easier than a small
studio. I still want the big full sound I am used to, is this wrong? the issue I have is eveything sounds small recorded. Maybe I just need to recal my ears. Your thoughts?
I have done both concurrently for the last 14 years or so with similar experiences to you from small clubs all the way to large outdoor festivals and arenas. While they share the same fundamental concepts, they are different beasts altogether.
Of course, as you know, a PA system is tuned to the room in which it is installed for coverage. The aim is to achieve uniform SPL and tonality across all listening positions. That's the goal. The result is often not what you would call "flat" (the somewhat dubiously-stated goal in studio acoustics). Live systems are geared for impact. Depending on the venue, you'll also be shocked to listen to what's happening at the close-mic level because the mix that's exiting the desk doesn't necessarily have to sound like a studio mix because you're working with the room. Like has been stated, the larger venues like outdoors and stadiums will suffer less from this phenomenon. However, another kettle of fish arrives in the case of the stadium because of often difficult acoustics and long reverb decay times. Outdoors, therefore, is probably the closest you're going to get to a studio monitoring situation.
Have you ever done a multi-track recording of your live shows and tried to mix it in
the studio? It can be an enlightening experience, particularly if you take ambiance tracks, because the size and power that the PA was producing in conjunction with the room is captured and if the close mics were properly positioned, you should have no trouble getting a fat, powerful live mix that rivals being there.
This is a window view into what a studio recording is about. In order to achieve a larger than life sound, the ear needs to be tricked into perceiving what it perceives in in a live situation. However in
the studio we can go one step further by creating localised soundscapes and movement that is often very difficult to achieve live for every audience member because of the randomness of their position in the venue. Something tells me that an audience member standing to the far right of the arena is not going to hear that floor tom hard panned to the left as well as others on the opposite side.
So, what we're left with here is trickery of sorts and attention to detail. Mic selection and position is a lot more critical in studio than it is live (while, it actually shouldn't be). The room is a lot more critical and that includes the acoustics of your
control room and the quality of your monitoring chain. Browsing through these forums you'll notice that some people (myself included) feel preamps, outboard and conversion are critical as well. Everything in the process aggregates to a better result, including the quality of the instrument and performers.
The golden rule is, obviously: shit in, shit out. However, equally important is firstly your monitoring environment. No Neumann U47 is going to help if your monitors and room are lying to you. So I would sort that out first. Once you achieve a true and representative listening position, you can begin to actually get into the nitty gritty of the details that make a good recording.
Hope that helps.
Cheers
