Recording from 4 buss FOH board

[timboZ]

I am going to do some live 4 track live recording from a 4 buss FOH board.
What should I rout to each buss.

This is what is going to the FOH board
Kick
Tom L
Tom M
Tom H
Snare
O/H (1 mic)

Bass
E-Guitar
A-Guitar

Piano (Stereo)
Keys (mono)

Lead VOX
BGV (3 or 4)

I was thinking

Buss 1 Drums and Bass
Buss 2 Guitard
Buss 3 Piano and Keys
Buss 4 All vocals

Any other suggestions and why?

 

[snow lizard]

I'd suggest a 2 channel stereo board mix (eg. what the mains are getting) and a pair of X/Y cardioids a couple of feet or so above the mixing board.

Why?

AUD: You're mixing to the room, not the recording. By recording the room, you're getting an idea of what was intended to happen with the mix in the first place. It captures the vibe and energy of the room, plus the audience. If the room sounds great from where the board is, that's what the mics will hear. Swanky but loose.

SBD: 2 channel soundboard recordings usually sound off balance and flat once you play them back and your hands are tied because you don't have enough separation of sources to remix it properly unless you want to tap the insert points on the board and print a separate track for each source. (Of course you need an interface with enough channels and a lot of cables to pull it off) On the other hand, the sound can be very "direct" and clear. Kind of like close micing everything. Tight but flat and potentially off kilter.

One might sound better than the other, or some kind of combination might be used.

Alternatively, what you're already planning might work well enough. It's just another idea. AUD and SBD are the 2 generally accepted bootleg formats, and they each have their pros and cons.



Good luck with it,

sl

 

[Massive Master]

Side noting: The stereo room mics to 1&2 and an AUX mix to 3&4.

As you are mixing to the room, the aux mix can actually be a decent mix. Aux 3 can be left, aux 4 can be right. Panning is handled by the degree of separation on the auxes.