Good live mix for DVD

Vagodeoz

Vagodeoz

One-Man-Band
Hey people.
Some months ago I recorded a local metal festival in multitrack, and now we are editing a DVD for it.
When I started making rough mixes of the material, I was surprised of how good it sounded.
Like "wow, that doesn't sound live at all, it sounds more like a recording in a studio" :eek:
However... when I saw the video, with the audio I mixed, it was not so great.
It indeed sounds great, and sounds like a studio, but it looks more like a videoclip instead of a live gig :(

I tried adding move Reverb, and it helped a bit, but it still sounds like a studio recording with lots of reverb.

Since it was my first multitrack recording live, there were some serious problems... including that I didn't have any ambience mikes, so for the end of the song, I'm copying the OHs (the only condensers on stage) and raising the volume so you can hear the audience.
It works... for the end... but in the middle of the song it doesn't sound like a live gig at all....

So, what are the "standarts" when it comes to live mixing?
What am I doing wrong?


Here's the demo of the video and the mix: http://www.mediafire.com/?nmn2nhn0wzm
 
Woops, I think I got this in the wrong section.
Mods, please move this to the "Mixing/Mastering" section ok?
Thanks.
 
I think it's pretty good. A lot better than the board tapes I ever got for one of my gigs anyway.. But they were never going for a record, just PA, so they were all drums and vox. Ida been real happy with that mix!
 
Thanks for being the only one who answered!
I am indeed happy with the mixes, they sound good. But the problem is that they lack that "live" element.
Maybe someone who has mixed live gigs in multi-track could give me a hand here?
 
There's a few things I'd try

- do you have the vox mic gated? take it off, you should get some ambience
- put a reverb on the entire mix (if it's too dry), a room sound, not a plate sound, instead of just the vox. Reverbs have to be used very sparingly to pull it off on a live mix
- the vox are a little too hot in the mix. For a live mix you want the vox a little bit more buried.
- try not to overprocess the mix, you're mixing it as a live performance, not a studio performance. You're better off capturing the live energy and raw sound of the band instead of perfecting it soncially. The dvd is confusing right now as it is, it sounds and looks overdubbed and fake.

hope this helps
 
I think it still works ok with the video, despite not having too much of the 'live' sound :)

The thing that jumps out at me is how high the vocals are in the mix, and the reverb on them. With everything else quite dry, it sounds really strange to have loud vocals on top with a noticeable reverb on them; it causes them to sit strangely on top of the mix rather than in it. It is probably this mismatch that makes the mix seem less live, as it sounds like the vocals were recorded in a different room. Try dropping the reverb and the vocal track back, or adding the reverb to everything to try and mimic the room sound.
 
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