Live DIY Recording Project

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ReverendTim

New member
Hey, all...

First of all, great site and great forums! VERY helpful for a newbie moron like myself.

So here's the scoop. I'm a standup comic in Boston, and I've finally scraped the dough together to make me an album. I've been trying to educate m'self about what setup would work the best (with the help of a couple of really helpful people from alt.music.4-track).

Anyway, here's the setup I think I'm going to go with. I'd appreciate any input, positive or otherwise, that y'all may have.

I'll be recording live in a small comedy club. I'm going to use a 4-track (haven't bought yet...trying to find a deal on a minidisc) with my mic right into one input, and then separate stereo mics for the audience. I'm not sure where the club's speakers are, so I'm not sure where I'm going to put the audience mics, though I'm considering using hanging choral mics, since it's important to have good clear laughter. Comedy sounds weird with a loud comic and then distant crowd noise, y'know? It also sounds really weird trying to do it any other way than live.

Anyway, that's the basic setup I'm thinking about using. I guess I feel least confident in my plans to mic the crowd. Like I say, any input would be greatly appreciated. I've considered just hiring someone, but for now I'm diggin' on the challenge of doing it myself.

Thanks in advance! Feel free to email me your responses as well.
 
I would check out a local music store or studio and ask about renting the microphones. I can understand your concern about the crowd sounding too far away, that happend to me the first time a did a live recording of a band at a bar.

The size of the room is going to have an impact on the mics and placement, so if it is a larger room, make sure your mics have enough juice to pick up more than the sound of the three people directly under them.

It may be worth your shile to record the crowd with all three extra input and pan R C L in the mix.
 
Tim, if you have the chance jog over to Cambridge guitar works on Mass Ave and ask for Pat Badger. I have not been to Boston in over a year now, but Pat and the boys were always mentioning used gear. This may well be one of the most outdated news flashes in the nation, but it's worth a shot.
 
I've never tried this so this is total speculation, but thinking about my last trip
to a comedy club, a minidisc recorder using a pair of mics on a table near the front should capture the feel of the performance you're after. BTW Richard Jeni rocked the house.
 
Now that you mention it Tim, I can't envision an onslaught of disappointment if you use analog. But in so saying I make a few assumptions. I assume firstly that your gig is an oral one as opposed to a singing clown? The digital stuff everyone is all excited about is the way to go if you are multitracking and adding effects and sweeping, panning and bla bla bla...If you are just presenting verbally and aspiring to incorporate crowd mix I say why not? And even if you did opt to doctor the mix down the line, it is easy enough to pump the tape mix into a PC and go to town.
 
Hey, thanks for all the replies. Y'all collectively rock.

Now, I have another, even more retarded question. I'm sitting here, watching myself get remarkably outbid on a Sony MDM X-4 multitrack, and I wonder if I could get away with using a casette 4 track? Is the difference that tremendous, or could I produce what I want to produce using something like a Tascam 424 Mk II or III?

I mean, obviously, I'd like to have digital, because I'm Gen X and pretentious, but could I use analog if worse came to worst?

Thanks again in advance.

-Rev. Tim http://www.cris.com/~macadoo
 
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