No Prob.....Guess I need to get my pic up there!

Erin, I think you've gotten all the advice you need so I don't want to cloud the info any more. My reason for posting is due to having just done a professional video with a company. I was the performer this time around....but one of the things they didn't do, is super crucial and I'd like to share the experience with you just to feed your head.
 
So this video company is scheduled to video my Van Halen tribute band. We've seen their work and were quite impressed. We come to find out we know a guy that knows the owner of the company, he makes a call, we get a killer deal.
 
We get to the show and they had live feeds coming from the mixer our soundman was using which was a Behringer X32. Whatever connections they used, everything went right into their MAC from the board and we had 24 tracks of audio. The sound came out great....and this is where the problem is...
 
The sound was TOO great and sounded like the band playing live in a studio. For some stupid reason, they didn't set up ANY mic's to capture the room. We had a crowd of about 800 people and they sounded like 800 people crammed into a jail cell in mono. It's absolutely horrible and incredibly unforgiving for the band because our mistakes that night were plentiful, unfortunately.
 
So my reason for stopping by your thread is to tell you to definitely try and capture the room as best as you can just so the outs you take from the board do not make the band sound like they recorded live in a studio. Also, be careful as to WHERE you place those mics and coordinate with any light people or special effects people.
 
Another mistake this company made was....there wasn't any coordination with anyone other than asking the soundman where they could patch in. We have smoke machines making sssssssssssssssss sounds in some of the audio.....and a list of other things that should have never made it.
 
Luckily for me...and this is why having all the tracks are important, I have control over all the audio and can manipulate some of the problem areas. However, I CANNOT do much to the actual room nor can I bring the crowd to life like I had hoped because they didn't use ANY mic's to capture the room other than what bled through our vocal mic's. If it were me, I would have ran 5 mic's on the entire venue. Picture a square....a mic on each corner and one in the center getting the back of the room. It may be over-kill, but I'd rather have more than EVER leave a band sounding stagnant and like they were playing live in a studio. Without the room....the sound is nothing special and won't even give you the feeling the band is live...even though you SEE it. We're so disappointed in the stuff we got, me and the owner had it out to where he dropped the price even more because I just wasn't going to pay for that. It's ruined all our plans for this video.
 
So remember all this stuff as it (to me at least) is super important. The console feeds are great...especially when you have a great soundman and a great recording computer/DAW. But because they are so good, they can also be stale sounding if you're not careful and VERY unforgiving because everything is so up front. Dubbing in a crowd or putting the whole project in a "room" using verb or impulses can help, but it's not the same as truly capturing the room as well as the live essence of being at the show. So be careful, make a check-list and don't forget to mic the room! Best of luck to you. :)
 
-Danny

Great tips and pointers, Danny.
 
Sorry your band had to go thru such a painful production nightmare.  Those folks sounded like they really had it together with the patching and getting all the tracks down.  I just can not believe they didn't mix in some ambiance.  Seems like a no-brainer, but also goes to show how real pro's can make silly, and costly, mistakes.  No way you can add that kind of feel and vibe in post-production!  I feel your pain:-(
 
However, you encouraged me about finding the right software to take a line feed directly into my Mac.  I do believe this will be the most productive way for me to go.  (with added mics for room and crowd sound;-)
 
Geez...there's so much to consider.  I've appreciated all the info I've received up here; and, encouragement.  Just need to spend a little more time shopping and practicing before I am ready to "go live".
 
Great Stuff,
Erin

A little controllable room ambiance is nice.  Personally, I try my hardest to be completely self sufficient on location.  Ideally never patching into house systems or giving an unknown sound-person control of your audio.  I did one "modern" music concert recently where I had no choice but to use a feed of prerecorded laptop audio sent to me by the group's LSR system (also a Behringer X32 coincidentally, but rack).  Unfortunately some of the audio was so compressed by the time it reached me it was distorted and unusable.  I was able to get a hold of the original files and replace it.  
 
Results Here:
http://www.instantencore.com/music/details.aspx?PId=5110329
 
So for the most part, whatever is going through a house speaker system, you should avoid recording much of.  And whatever shared elements there are, make sure you have control of it and multi track.

Geez...I hear what you mean.  Some of that stuff is pretty cool up there, actually.  I like the Cathode Campfire concept.  That was a rough recording.  Good suggestions.  Do you set up a sound booth outside of the venue to hear what you are actually getting?  You really pulled out that art performance audio.  Thanks for the input on this.  It's important to me.

I usually don't get a quiet room on location and do the best I can with good closed back headphones.  
This is a look at the crazy venue.  It took about 5 hours to setup and coordinate everything.  The best advice I can give anyone doing location work is give yourself at least 3 hours to setup before the start.  More for complicated concerts.  


 

Danny Danzi
 
The sound was TOO great and sounded like the band playing live in a studio. For some stupid reason, they didn't set up ANY mic's to capture the room. We had a crowd of about 800 people and they sounded like 800 people crammed into a jail cell in mono. It's absolutely horrible and incredibly unforgiving for the band because our mistakes that night were plentiful, unfortunately.
 
 
-Danny

Great advice Danny!  This also comes down to "knowing your venue".  When I played in Amsterdam with Sue Saad & The Next (with Crocus), we were recorded live with a 24 track mobile truck.  It also sounded like the studio and we also did not play super well.  I had to nix the whole recording.  It could have gone well with engineers that new what needed to be done to capture the "energy" of the event - no just standard micing techniques.