Band Recording
Blue Jewel Live Band Recording
Aims:
Working with other musicians and P.A. staff recording a live gig.
Setting up a recording session.
Completing the placement in a professional manner.
Objectives:
Research live recording techniques both online, and asking questions to the tutors with experience of this.
Participate in a live computer based recording session, setting up equipment to do so.
Be responsible for making sure the recording is completed.
Record audio to hard disk for archiving and for submitting to Steve Banks.
Mixing a live recording of multi-tracks with acoustic and electronic instruments, using a variety of microphones and recording / mixing vocals.
Troubleshoot any problems quickly and in a professional manner
Diary Journal
On Saturday, 25 June, 2011 I agreed to attend the gig at around 3 PM, this was to set up my equipment and make sure I had a feed from the instruments going into the audio interface, which was then connected with FireWire to my Mac Computer. The recording software was Logic Studio and the gig lasted two hours.
We had managed to get everything up and running at around 6 PM and we worked with the PA supervisor and the tutor / drummer Simon Gregg to get our setup suitable for live music recording. I took some photos of the band and they are included with this blog to show the setup. I connected an audio interface from the desk to my Mac computer, and recorded the audio to hard disk.
The band consisted of:
Bass guitar
Violin
Guitars
Drums
Keyboards
This was the first time I had recorded any live band and felt I needed this experience to learn if I want to do this again in the future. The audience seemed to enjoy the gig, with some 90 people attending which was a very good turn out for a Saturday night in Stoke Gabriel.
End of Placement Evaluation
I was surprised how easy it was to install and run the audio interface software without any technical issues at the time. Unfortunately the record level of the instruments was surprisingly low, however, they were enough get a good level in mixing.
Sadly, there was a technical issue which none of us spotted at the time, and the tutor was not aware of either. Because there was a lot of audio being recorded simultaneously, my hard disk and processor was not able to keep up with the amount of data coming through the FireWire input. I was unaware of this so cold not correct the fault at the time.
I should have rehearsed setting up the equipment beforehand, then I could have ironed-out any technical issues should they occur. Although I did ask the tutors in the recording studio if they thought my equipment was up to the task. They told me it was, and they dont' know why I have these problems. I did suggest a rehearsal setup but this was decided against as the tutors said it would be fine.
I chose this WBL task because I want experience in working with live bands, as recording live is a valuable asset to have, especially if it can be done with little cost. I did not get much recognition for my work that night, and it would have been nice to have been mentioned at the end of the night! I feel that student volunteering is of great value to performing arts, and should be valued just as much as people who are being paid for their services. I think I would be prepared to volunteer again, because the experience value is a priority over recognition and financial gain.
If my future work placements require me to do the same type of tasks again, i will have the knowledge to rehearse and look more deeply at the technical aspects of recording to eliminate problems.
The experience gained will help me decide if I would like to make a career in live recording. This type of placement is valid because I can make important contacts in the live music area, speaking and meeting like minded individuals, and perhaps be asked to record at another opportunity.This work placement would look good on my CV, showing I have the aptitude for recording a live gig.
I wanted to understand the responsibilities of a live recording engineer and learn about becoming a live recording engineer.
