Audience recording methods

What would be the optimal method to create a bootleg audience recording in amazing quality, with small equipment that can be smuggled in and just a single person? Is it possible or would it require multiple people in the front and back and on each side etc. with large equipment?

 

What would be the best way to eliminate audience chattering? Recording at multiple locations and somehow taking the overlap or intersect of the sound seems conceptually valid but no idea if that's technically a possibility

 

Is there any feasibility in downloading multiple crappy audience recordings (from presumably random locations all over) and combining them in some way, eq-ing in only the best aspects of each recording to result in a good sounding end result? Or are these dumb questions

I'd imagine something like this would do a half decent job

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tascam-DR-05-Dictaphone-Portable-Recorder/dp/B004OU2IQG/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1465289319&sr=8-2&keywords=tascam+dr+05

 

 

..and i'd make sure it doesn't record anything below 40hz or whatever, not sure if you can set that - better to cut it out at the time and avoid those bass buildups

Could you maybe sum up exactly what it is you want?

You want to record an audience? But you don't want any distinct chatter, right?

If that's the case then make two or more recordings... Record it from a distance. Then do another recording in the middle of the crowd. Mix the two recordings together and lower the close-up recording so it drowns in the far-away recording but make sure it still has some intensity to it.

  On 6/7/2016 at 11:25 AM, Squee said:

Could you maybe sum up exactly what it is you want?

You want to record an audience? But you don't want any distinct chatter, right?

If that's the case then make two or more recordings... Record it from a distance. Then do another recording in the middle of the crowd. Mix the two recordings together and lower the close-up recording so it drowns in the far-away recording but make sure it still has some intensity to it.

i don't think he wants to record the audience, he wants to record the performance from the audience pov...

 

 

maybe using very directional microfones pointed forward and stand on the 1st row is one way to go...

 

edit: well, now i'm confused, i don't know what zeff really wants...

 

 

 

Edited June 7, 2016 by THIS IS MICHAEL JACKSON

  On 6/7/2016 at 7:21 PM, THIS IS MICHAEL JACKSON said:

 

  On 6/7/2016 at 11:25 AM, Squee said:

Could you maybe sum up exactly what it is you want?

You want to record an audience? But you don't want any distinct chatter, right?

If that's the case then make two or more recordings... Record it from a distance. Then do another recording in the middle of the crowd. Mix the two recordings together and lower the close-up recording so it drowns in the far-away recording but make sure it still has some intensity to it.

i don't think he wants to record the audience, he wants to record the performance from the audience pov...

 

 

maybe using very directional microfones pointed forward and stand on the 1st row is one way to go...

 

edit: well, now i'm confused, i don't know what zeff really wants...

 

 

 

Haha, that would be perfect in a crowd.

 

But yeah, I'm quite confused as well.

I think he meant to ask "how do I record a decent Autechre bootleg"

in-ear binaural microphones like soundman okm or rolands cs10em perhaps? you could also use them as boundary microphones as well, if you are getting close to the stage..

 

or you can build your own devices with one/two/x of those..

http://micbooster.com/primo-microphone-capsules/8-primo-em-172-z1.html

  On 6/8/2016 at 7:53 AM, iococoi said:

in-ear binaural microphones like soundman okm or rolands cs10em perhaps? you could also use them as boundary microphones as well, if you are getting close to the stage..

 

or you can build your own devices with one/two/x of those..

http://micbooster.com/primo-microphone-capsules/8-primo-em-172-z1.html

 

Wow, those Roland CS-10EM are pretty cheap for a pair of binaural microphones.

  On 6/8/2016 at 8:59 AM, Squee said:

 

  On 6/8/2016 at 7:53 AM, iococoi said:

in-ear binaural microphones like soundman okm or rolands cs10em perhaps? you could also use them as boundary microphones as well, if you are getting close to the stage..

 

or you can build your own devices with one/two/x of those..

http://micbooster.com/primo-microphone-capsules/8-primo-em-172-z1.html

 

Wow, those Roland CS-10EM are pretty cheap for a pair of binaural microphones.

 

 

Anyone know how the Roland ones compare to the Okm's quality? Need some binaural mic's as running around through crowd's with a field recorder is getting me self-conscious, need mo stealth :) . Wonder if bootlegging is the objective these will handle the loud volume, most zoom's allow you to cut off the low freq's and adjust input sensitivity, but still.

  On 6/7/2016 at 10:53 AM, clevreuse said:

I'd imagine something like this would do a half decent job

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tascam-DR-05-Dictaphone-Portable-Recorder/dp/B004OU2IQG/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1465289319&sr=8-2&keywords=tascam+dr+05

 

 

..and i'd make sure it doesn't record anything below 40hz or whatever, not sure if you can set that - better to cut it out at the time and avoid those bass buildups

I have that exact recorder and it has low cut setting at 40, 80 or 120 hz. Also has a pretty good limiter which can be handy for live stuff. Edited June 8, 2016 by th555

If you know the band, ask them nicely if they can plug your recorder into their mixing desk... :) Personally, I like to record the crowd too, to quickly fade to at the end, so you can hear their cheers. It kinda sounds more "live" that way, you know?

I you're handy with a drill press and soldering iron, you could make a stereo boundary mic wedge for under $50. If you don't mind spending some money, you could get the same results with two PZMs and some 1/2" or thicker birch plywood or MDF.

 

All the info you need for the wedge part is here:

 

https://pantherfile.uwm.edu/type/www/audio-reports/BoundaryMicExperiments/BoundaryMicsStudy/BoundaryMicsStudy.htm

 

 

The discontinued but highly regarded Panasonic WM-61a capsules are still on eBay new old stock for not much money, I got half a dozen at $2 each a couple months ago.

 

Lots of info about building different sorts of WM-61a based mics here:

 

https://pantherfile.uwm.edu/type/www/audio-reports/PanasonicWM-61A_OtherBinauralRigs/WM61A_Webpage_Caps_Mounts.html

 

 

 

If you don't need phantom power, you can power them from a 9v battery with only two or three additional components needed and bring the price down even lower.

 

 

 

I've been using a Zoom h5 a lot at work this year, and for recording practices and ideas in my spare time, and it's great for the money but you would definitely get a better recording this way, and boundary mics are really easy to set up.

 

pretty amazing avatar tbh

  On 6/9/2016 at 5:44 PM, clevreuse said:

 

pretty amazing avatar tbh

 

Thanks! I made it a couple of years ago (in 3d studio 1.0 using "high end" professional stock models from like 1992 FOR AUTHENTICITY MAAAAAAN) for a project and then by the time the project was done, this wasn't appropriate at all. Found it going through my backup drive.

 

EDIT: by "this way" at the end of my last post, I meant you'd get better results using a stereo boundary mic setup with a Zoom or similar instead of the built in mics. Boundary mics = no phase problems between direct and reflected sounds, so you could just drop the thing on the floor facing the audience and be confident you were going to get a pretty accurate recording without any thought at all. Down side is it would be kind of bulky (and the building it part). Probably overkill for audience recording TBH, you'd pay a bit more but a pair of entry level boundary mics (Crown Soundgrabbers for example) would probably be more than good enough and much smaller, plus you wouldn't have to build them. Or just one, even, you probably don't really need to record the audience in stereo.

Edited June 10, 2016 by RSP

Disregard that last part, I misremembered and thought you were trying to get audience/room sound to blend with a soundboard of an electronic set.

 

 

The one thing that's risky about recording from the house soundboard with a live band is that a good PA mix is usually a terrible recording mix.

The classic way to reduce audience chatter is an x/y stereo pair on a pole 15-20 feet ABOVE the audience. You could definitely get solid results with a recorder like the one pictured, but good luck with getting it that high above the audience.

 

If you don't need to pick up the direct sound from the stage (i.e. if it's at a venue big enough that you're just going to hear the PA anyway, or if it's electronic music) you might be able to get good results using a pair of shotgun mics and pointing them at the left and right front-of-house PA speakers. I've never heard of anyone doing it that way but it seems like it could work OK.

Just bring a weather balloon innit

  On 6/7/2016 at 7:41 PM, ThatSpanishGuy said:

I think he meant to ask "how do I record a decent Autechre bootleg"

 

This

 

It's a pretty badly written OP