Best way to record a high-school show?

[Calvin]

Hey guys,
I have been asked about possibly recording a high-school performance in a large auditorium. It's kinda like a variety show, it's what they call "The Rock Show". Basically all of their major performance groups are allowed to have fun performing any kind of pop or rock song. The varsity jazz and swing choir get together and usually do some nice big band songs and what not. Just a lot of fun all around. Anyway they were talking about me possibly recording it. I was wondering if any one has any experience with this?

I don't have a whole heck of alot of equipment. Right now I am just thinking about going out and sitting down in the middle of the auditorium with my 2 studio projects c1s and just doing a single xy pair. I don't have a whole lot of equipment to do much else, but I could possibly rent something for a night or two. I'm thinking that I will probably need some outboard compression to deal with the crowd applause and screaming since I will be much closser to that than I will the performers.

Any other suggestions? What do you think of trying to get a boundry microphone and putting it on the stage? I would probably be better off trying to use two stands from the balcony so that they aren't in anyones viewing area. hmmmm ok well anyway thanks for any suggestions.

[Toby Gray]

I've heard some great live show recordings made with an omni stereo mic on stage (front and center) and a pair of mics positioned in front of the sound system but back far enough (6-7 feet) to let the speaker's sound develop and still capture some of the room.
This set up allows you to blend the 2 stereo sources.

Another option is to hang your stereo pair over the stage but out front far enough to capture the sound system.

Good luck,
Toby

[Bastiaan]

If the show is going to be amplified by a PA-system, also ask if you can have a line from that PA, so maybe you dont need it, but atleast you have it... [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

It is also a good idea to setup one or 2 mic's pointed to the audience, to pick up the applause and so on.

What i would do is this: XY in the middle, some mic's on the outer left/right parts of the stage, and some mic's pointed to the audience, and a line from the PA/music system.

[marcusb]

If they are running a full FOH rig you could take direct outs of the board into your PT rig then run a couple of room mics and crowd mics. You can then mix it as normal and blend in the other mics for ambience.

I would check out the auditorium or see a rehearsal first to see what it actually sounds like then make your assessment of how to attack it.

Cheers,
Marcus

[Calvin]

They do usually have a small PA system that they run out of, however they only have enough mics for about 8 of the 20 people to use them at once. I also don't think that I am going to be allowed to put anything up on stage, or at least anything that will get in the audiences way. They wouldn't mind having something like a pzm up on the stage but I can't put any stands up in the viewing area. Really they just want something, they don't really care about the quality of it, but they just want something. They aren't going to be paying me much of anything, this is really just more of helping out a friend kinda deal. Just for the fun of it.

This is kinda a long show, probably about 3 hours total. Has anyone ever had any trouble with just letting the 001 record till the break, then starting a new stereo track at intermission and letting it record to the end? I wonder how much space it would take up?

[Bastiaan]

I think you will be ok when you put the XY pair just above the edge of the stage. Just peeking over the top. The mic's at the side can be completely out of view...

the space it all will take depends on the number of tracks you will be recording, and also on the bitdepth and samplerate...

there is a little diagram in the getting started guide

24 monotracks, 60 minutes
16/44 7 GB
16/48 7.8 GB
24/44 10.5 GB
24/48 11.6 GB

This should give you an idea...(although you have no way to record 24 tracks, but you get the idea.)

[Calvin]

Ok so I will have plenty of space. Thanks

[marcusb]

Originally posted by Calvin:
I also don't think that I am going to be allowed to put anything up on stage, or at least anything that will get in the audiences way. They wouldn't mind having something like a pzm up on the stage but I can't put any stands up in the viewing area.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Could be worth your while hiring a couple of shotgun mics to augment your setup. You could mount them on high stands out of the viewing area aimed as a wide spaced pair on either side of the stage to give you some more coverage.

I guess your setup will depend a lot on stage changeovers too. For instance if a lot of the backline is staying in place you could use small mics or discrete micing techniques on some of the instruments. Remember back in the day when the beatles played live, or on telly the amps were mic'd from the back because the producers didn't like the look of mics on stage [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img]

If you can hard wire a lot of the setup just gaff all the leads down and spend time making the stage look neat and tidy.

Cheers,
Marcus

[PiRequiem]

you may want to try a stereo pair somewhere in the middle of the auditorium. we always had a guy back in high school who recorded our band concerts, and he just had them up about 15 ft. in the air on a giant stand. the recordings always sounded pretty good.

then again, that was for symphonic band. rock music may not be picked up as well.

good luck.