Isolated Splitter Snake question

[DJL]

These systems sound pretty complicated. Don't the clubs let you place your own independent mics on the stage? That way you could use a cheap, transformerless stage box and send a snake feed to a bank of battery powered preamps, which then feed a standalone multitrack recorder (I use the Alesis HD24).

I continue to get good results with a rack of 16 discrete, unbalanced hand-made mic preamps running on 2 9v batteries. They're clean enough for most purposes (short signal path and battery power), are practically noiseless in a live setting. and haven't coughed in the 3 years I've been using them. They take drums, anything, so SPL capability isn't an issue. For longer runs, the unbalanced issue of RF noise may be a problem for some people, but I've yet to experience this myself.

The whole rig is a 6U case, containing the Alesis and the preamp rack. The Alesis is hard-wired to a multipin snake connector on the rear of the case, so it's just a matter of attaching the snake, running it out to the stage, mic'ing up and readying tracks.

I use individual splitter boxes for vox: the only connection I have with the house engineer.

I prefer this approach, as it takes the stress out of recording a gig, and I can spend more productive time later at home getting a good mix in the comfort of the control room.

It's faster, easier and safer to use a splitter box and snake to the monitor board, remote recording truck, broadcast truck and etc.

 

[spankenstein]

Definitely use the isolated snake. Most of the time the simple Y will probably work but that one time it doesn't you will look like a fool. It's gonna cost but if remotes are what you want you need to do it.

You could run all your own mics but assuming you are on the cheap end of the spectrum and need to work fast using the house setup is definitely optimal. In most situations I would think that the only additional mics you may need to do yourself are drum overheads and maybe a room to capture some crowd noise.

 

[DJL]

It's not uncommon for a band to specify the mics in their rider/contract.

 

[RawDepth]

It's not uncommon for a band to specify the mics in their rider/contract.

Local budget bands don't use riders. And around here, unless they consistently pack every nite club on the strip, (with 500 people +), the club owners would probably laugh at them for even trying.

It’s a dog eat dog club circuit here and even the good bands have to kiss a lot of ass just to get a foot in the door. And then to expect cooperation from or make demands on the venues yet? Ha, forget it! There will be ten more good bands behind them waiting to take their place.

They play four full hours of music with minimal breaks. Some bands only take one break in that time. They pay for their own drinks, have no guest list, and rarely ever get a room or meals out of the deal. Then they turn around and give the Sound and Light Co. half or more of their take.

No, I don’t think any of these bands will be demanding any special mics from me. If they do, I’ll either buy, rent, or borrow what I need to keep them happy, but I don't see that happening very often.

 

[DJL]

Local budget bands don't use riders. And around here, unless they consistently pack every nite club on the strip, (with 500 people +), the club owners would probably laugh at them for even trying.

It’s a dog eat dog club circuit here and even the good bands have to kiss a lot of ass just to get a foot in the door. And then to expect cooperation from or make demands on the venues yet? Ha, forget it! There will be ten more good bands behind them waiting to take their place.

They play four full hours of music with minimal breaks. Some bands only take one break in that time. They pay for their own drinks, have no guest list, and rarely ever get a room or meals out of the deal. Then they turn around and give the Sound and Light Co. half or more of their take.

No, I don’t think any of these bands will be demanding any special mics from me. If they do, I’ll either buy, rent, or borrow what I need to keep them happy, but I don't see that happening very often.

That sucks... where do you live? I take it... that your pretty much just recordings for fun then? Why don't the club type bands in your area rent a hall and put on their own shows?