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Okay, Im in a band, www.myspace.com/Bro…"]Broken Silence[/]="www.myspace.com/Bro…"]Broken Silence[/] (I'm the bassiest) and I want to know what we need to record at a live show?

Here are some band details.
We are a heavy/80's rock/intrumental band. We have a lead guitarest, a rythem guiatrest, a bassiest, and a drummer.

Here is whats going on I guess.
We have a show April 7'th, and we're playing at a show with compleatley soundproof walls, and/but a lot of people are always screaming to our songs.

Here is what we have (instrments/amps e.c.t)
The lead guitarest has Dean Baby Z guiatr, and a crate 120 watt. amp.
The rhythem guitarest has a fender stratocAster, and a crate 4x12 cab, and a marshall 100 watt. amp head.
The bassiest has a 4 stirng ibanez 4 stirng bass, and a Gallien Krueger Backline 600: 300 watt. amp head, and a Gallien Krueger 4x10 cabinet.
The Drummer has a Yamaha drum set with 2 crashes, 2 splashes, 1 china, 1 ride, 1 hi-hat, 1 bassdrum (tama iron cobra double kick), hi: tom-tom, low: tom-tom, floor tom, rhythem tech cowbell/taberiene, jamblock, another cowbell, and he also has a pro snairdrum.

Here is the questions.
What would we really need to record a live show. What mixer would we need, what would we use to record it? Would we need a computer with us at the show? Would we need microphones to get sound? If we do, adn the crowd is screaming, Is it possible for the microphones to keep out the crowd? What would you recemend us useing for great sound?

I am really hoping someone can help me, and if you can, I really apreciate it.

Thank you for your help.

~~Broken Silence~~

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Comments

anonymous Sat, 04/01/2006 - 20:36

Let's see, today's April 1st and your show is April 7th. You haven't the slightest idea how to go about recording your own show, and you have less than a week to get ready. The answer is simple - hire someone who knows how to do it, and leave the job in his/her/their hands. Concentrate on doing the best performance that you can, and let someone else worry about the recording.

JoeH Sat, 04/01/2006 - 23:09

You don't say where you are located, and you didn't mention how many vocalists (if any) there are in your band.

You could do this with as little as 8 discrete tracks (with mixdown later, in the studio) or as many as 16, depending on the # of vocals.

I'd suggest something like this, depending on your needs:

1. Mic 1 guitar
2. DI 1 guitar (optional)
3. Mic 2 rhythmn guitar
4. DI 2 rhythmn guitar (optional)
5. Mic 3 Bass
6. DI 3 Bass
7. Voc 1
8. Voc 2
9. Voc 3
10. Kick
11. Snare/HH
12. Toms
13. OH L
14. OH R
15. Ambient Mic L
16 Ambient Mic R

Don't pass up using two ambient mics for the crowd. You'll want SOME crowd reaction stuff before and after the tunes, sometimes even during - for reactions to solos, etc. WHen mxing, you can bring these up and down as needed. Trust me, you'll be glad you mic'd the crowd's reaction to your stuff. It'll sound terribly dead without it.

You may not need the DI's on the two guitars, and you may not have three vocalists. If so, that would give you more inputs for the drums. (I know your drummer will probably want to mic everything in sight. :wink:

You can probably find a local recording company with a good remote reocrding package that'll be far more cost-effective that try to do this all yourself. (put that on your schedule for: "Someday".)

As has already been mentioned, you're better off concentrating on your music for now, and hiring a pro to capture it.

JoeH Mon, 04/03/2006 - 09:48

cfaalm wrote: I have quite a good setup myself. We could record the band whenever we'd play live.

I really need someone other than the bandmembers to operate the whole setup. If I do all of this myself there is too much energy flowing in the wrong direction.

Yep. I think it's a great way to learn: recording your own band or youself, etc.

You're right in that it can be too distracting. "Back in the day", we'd be at a club for several nights at a time. I'd plan on recording one or two of the best nights, giving me a night or two to set levels, listen, tweak again, and finally get some good stuff after some trial and error.

It's still easier to hire someone else, though. 8-)