Advise on recording live performance

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bronsonelliott

New member
My band has a gig this Friday. We have people running sound for us and we would also like to capture the audio from the mixer. Their mixer is a Yamaha MG166cx mixer. I looked at the manual, and it looks like we can hook up the audio out from the mixer to the input on a laptop (Mac Book Pro).

Question about the program to use to actually capture the audio. I've been using Reaper in order to record the band through an audio interface. Would Reaper be a good choice in this instance as well? Is there anything else we need to consider other than connecting the laptop to the mixer and a DAW to capture the audio?

Never done anything like this before so just looking for some advise.

Thanks!
 
Figure the cabling from mixer, which output(s)?, your sound card input, will it be too hot for that input?
Also typically a board mix is vocals, perhaps drums way above everything else. A stage or room pair can add some options in that dept.
 
The one thing that I would prepare you for, is that a live sound/board mix (recorded from it's outputs), is not likely going to sound so good. There are to many variables. Stage levels will also be a part of the sound that the venue hears. The board mix, will not include that.

The 166 does not have direct outs, so you would not be able to record each input separately. You are at the mercy of the room, and what the soundman does to make the live performance sound good. Well, hopefully he tries. Either way, you will likely be better off recording live performances with a handheld recorder.
 
Eah. I was just going to toss out another angle- track it off an aux mix, compensate for the live balance. Then I looked up the Yammie'.
Never mind. Them will be in service no doubt. :)
 
hmmm...then not really sure which way to go then. We will be performing outside. Last time we did it, we got video and audio from a run of the mill camcorder. Problem is the person doing the recording (my wife!!!) talked through the whole performance so we heard more of her conversation than the performance.

Was thinking since the sound people already had a mixer that we could piggy back on that to capture the audio but it sounds like that may not be the best option.

Perhaps getting someone to video it for us AND STAY QUIET. We were actually hoping to put the audio on a CD and give it away at a later time. Nothing professional just a grassroots thing.
 
Two problems:

1. The source. A board mix will lack anything that's loud enough on its own, like drums and amps. A room mic can sound too roomy. Solution: record the board mix in mono on one channel and a room mic (high on a stand away from talkers) on the other and mix them later.

2. The gear. A laptop's audio input is probably not up to the task. Solution: get a basic 2-channel audio interface with mic preamps.
 
bouldersoundguy said:
Two problems:

1. The source. A board mix will lack anything that's loud enough on its own, like drums and amps. A room mic can sound too roomy. Solution: record the board mix in mono on one channel and a room mic (high on a stand away from talkers) on the other and mix them later.

2. The gear. A laptop's audio input is probably not up to the task. Solution: get a basic 2-channel audio interface with mic preamps.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the tip. I have a Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 and we have plenty of mics. So that may be the best method. We could setup a mic and hook it up to the Focusrite and do it that way.
 
Question about the "mic on a stand" option. How could we compensate for wind noise? Since we will be outside, I don't want that to ruin a good capture.
 
bronsonelliott said:
Question about the "mic on a stand" option. How could we compensate for wind noise? Since we will be outside, I don't want that to ruin a good capture.
Click to expand...

Something like this:

K-Tek KR-50-70 Fur Windsock for Ball-Type Handheld KR-50-70 B&H

A foam type windscreen may be adequate and is much cheaper.

Place the mic absolutely equidistant to the left and right speakers so the arrival times match perfectly. You're still going to want to use a DAW or editor later to fix any time mismatch between the mic and the direct feed.
 
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