how to record live in 5 minutes or less

[ikijapan]

Alright, so I've got plenty of stuff set up at home for my home recording, but I have a pal who wants to record a live show...kind of. Actually this will be his first show, ever, and he can't get a live show, it's just an open mic. So, there is like 5-10 minutes between sets, if even that. And he wants to record it as best as possible, and so do I just for the sake of experience. But there are some major problems...mainly i don't have anything necessary to record live.

OK, here's what I do have:
A laptop

All the software necessary

A few mics...literally, like 2 SM57, an SM58, the rest are condensors which I won't have time to set up on stage, and wouldn't make good live mics anyways.

That's about it.

I want to therefor pick up or rent some stuff to record, but I am not sure on the best set up to get. Here's some of my thoughts:

First, I know this one guy who just set up 2 SM57s in an XY in the middle of the room, and got a killer recording!! It blew me away, because I was there at the time, and swore by everything it would sound like ass, and I swear to goodness it sounded UNBELIEVABLY good after he took it home and edited it. The drums sounded great, the bass guitar sounded killer, and the keyboards and vocals sounded very good. It was a phenominon I thought not possible.

Second, ok so that brings me to the second part. I DON'T have a recording sound card for my laptop now, so I need to get one. At first I was thinking about getting the same thing I have at home (EMU) for the laptop in the form of the EMU 1616M. But then I realized that only has 2 XLR inputs. As much as I was impressed by the 2 SM57s working out for the other guy, I still doubt very much it is a good idea (can anyone chime in on this??).
So I have no idea what kind of portable recording gear to get. Also, at the same time I was thinking in my mind that both the guitar and bass amps these guys have, have direct outputs. Perhaps I could route those to the line level inputs on the back of the EMU, but then that only leaves 2 inputs for drums and vocals. That doesn't sound like it will work out very well. But also, I don't know if I will have time to set up like overheads and mics on each drums.

So, the place has a little ultra crap PA, it's like literally a $300 all in one PA/mixer thing, with only 2 inputs, 1 for main vox, and another for secondary vox. The drums and guitars and bass do not go through the PA. It's just an open mic thing at a bar. But, how do I get the vocals recorded and also allow them to go through the PA (which they have to according to the bar owner).

As far as a budget for what I need, I wouldn't say there really is a particular budget, basically as cheap as I can go, but as expensive as needs be just to get by. I figure, I'll probably start recording some live shows for people depending on how well it works out, but I really just want to get whatever is needed to record a 4-5 person band, with ability to mix it down later after the show. I have been getting by fine with just 2 XLR inputs on my EMU card at home, but I also have edrums at home. So, I don't ever have to record real drums.

 

[zook250]

i have a buddy that owns one of those new zoom hand held recorders. i did sound for them last week and he asked me to record with this thing. i was skeptical about the quality, but it worked really well. try renting one.

 

[TerraMortim]

run the vocals through your computer and then out to the PA...could work.. (if you're system is stable enough) or you could just set a couple of mics up in the crowd...one on one side of the room one on the other, and just record what people hear in the audience. (recording what goes through the PA strictly ususally sounds kind of terrible, as they're mixing for the room and not nessisarily what sounds good in the mixing console.

 

[dave.....]

recording ?

i have used the 2 mic's in the room w/ great sucess ...... try placing them on each side of the room ..... the idea is to record the room .... you may need to experement w/ placement to get everything balanced right ...... it work's for me

 

[FALKEN]

if you take time to mic everything during an open mic the audience is going to get bored and angry that it is taking so long..and it will eat out of their performance time; and the atmostphere will generally be bad. use the xy 57 setup; have it setup and running well before they go on; and be done with it.

 

[ikijapan]

if you take time to mic everything during an open mic the audience is going to get bored and angry that it is taking so long..and it will eat out of their performance time; and the atmostphere will generally be bad. use the xy 57 setup; have it setup and running well before they go on; and be done with it.

Wow, OK, so I guess a lot of you agree that 2 SM57s in XY will work out OK.

I will give that a try, although, like I said at this particular place the PA is very bad. Last time I went there the vocals were clipping like crazy. If I try that and it sucks, or better yet, if he moves on to a better location where I CAN take the time to set up some mics, what should I look into. I mean, the most one can get in 1 portable sound recording unit for laptop, is like 8 pres, right? I would think micing up 1 or 2 guitar cabs, bass cab, vox, kick and snare and 2 overheads would need the 8pres, right? What's some of the better portable options for that?

Also, if anyone has in depth knowledge, are there any of these 8 pre devices that I can then connect to my EMU at home by ADAT connection or SPDIF to expand my home set up?? That would be nice. And if I did it that way, would I HAVE to run those mics, vox in particular to my pres and then out to their PA?

Thanks!!