Tips to tape a concert

Started by nausearockpig, August 12, 2007, 11:07:03

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nausearockpig

For newbies like me who want to avoid stuff ups rather than cause them, i suggest the following points are noted:

1. If at all possible, avoid MiniDisc and go for something with a hard drive - see this thread for some options

2. Go to a practise show in your local area. doesn't matter what the band is, just as long as it's loud. stand near the speaker stack if you need to..

Practise also means getting your gear out from your "stashed" areas and setting it all up qickly and quietly... and discreetly..

And it means working out the best place for your mics.. i suggest out of a button up shirt.. just two little mics peeping out saying hello...

3. Roll each set of cables up into hand size loops and tape them up with some easy to break sticky tape. i suggest Scotch brand Magic Tape. it's a translucent tape that tears easily. best to fold the end of the piece of tape over on itself to leave an easy to pickup and unroll "flap".

4. Make sure you hide your gear well.. If you're a bloke, I suggest two pairs of briefs. put the unit between the two pairs but situated over your genitals. The battery box and and mics still between the two pairs of briefs and down under you where your legs meet. This should get you past any pat-downs you may encounter. If you're a woman, I can't really offer any advice. Sorry.

5. Get to the venue EARLY.. nothing worse than rushing your setup later on.

6. When lining up give the security guards something else to look at. Like a bottle of water with the lid off [they love checking those out] or a plastic bag with binoculars in them, or your backpack... you get the idea..

7. Seeing as you're there early, you could probably get to the doors early. Ask some inane question of the door person, like "gee it's not really busy", or "Do you know what time the band is coming on?" and then go to your seat..

8. A few minutes later smiling to the attendant on the way out go to the toilet [preferably one of those uni-sex or handicapped ones] and get in a cubicle, quickly put everything where it's supposed to be, set the recorder to go - in Pause mode if that's how yours works and head back in looking like you don't want to miss the band. Say something like "thank god they haven't started yet..."

9. Be cool and enjoy your night...

J

dsanchez

Quote from: nausearockpig on August 12, 2007, 11:07:03
And it means working out the best place for your mics.. i suggest out of a button up shirt.. just two little mics peeping out saying hello...

This is the usual way? Does anyone put the mic somewhere else?

What about talking? Can you talk to your friend while taping?
2023.11.22 Lima
2023.11.27 Montevideo

scatcat

 :rocker

really.. I was was for the first time reading this, discovering at what length you magical masters got to..   :D

I especially find curious point 4.!! :smth023 and then 6. through to 9.   :smth023

The imagination runs wild!!  :-D :D :smth043 :smth082 :smth085
Seventeen seconds
A measure of life

japanesebaby

Quote from: dsanchez on November 13, 2007, 16:48:18
What about talking? Can you talk to your friend while taping?

well, i guess it depends what one wants to record: the music or one's conversation with a friend during the show...? ;)
or, how many beer runs one made during this concert, maybe...


(in other words, if you want to make a decent recording then you don't sing or scream or talk to anyone or even move around (as the sound will be affected if the position/direction of the mics change), and you also try not to end up being placed  too close to people who concentrate on babbling - or beer runs. or whatever.)
Ay, in the very temple of Delight
Veil'd Melancholy has her sovran shrine

Steve

Quotehow many beer runs one made during this concert, maybe...

:smth043 :smth043

Sounds sort of familiar....
Cheers
Steve
I know tomorrow's going to taste like cake
http://www.balatonfured.hu/en_index.php

ernest newman

just to expand upon where to put the mics. I would suggest mounting them on a hat, OKMIIR, Sonics, DPAS all can do this quite easily. Remember your mics pick up what it sounds like where there at, so next time your at a concert, lean down and listen to what the sound is like to your ears if your thinking about "chest or shirt level"..if your in a tightly packed room, on the floor at a gig, you will notice high end goes down quite a bit and bass rumble goes up as the bodies and heads in front of you muffle things. A friend and I did a comp of this long time ago with sonic studios and the difference was night and day, and those are omnis. Get the mics up above the heads and there is nothing to baffle or muffle between you and the speakers. If you have directional mics this is even much more important. If you like tapes by the following, they all go in the hat method : MBeat, JD, SR, AO, DS, SZ, KK, JJ, RL..these are all setups I have seen personally

how do you mount to a hat? there is many different ways. With OKMs and sonics you can cut two small holes in the front of a black hat and poke the mics out of there and there virtually impossible to see. With DPAs many people use clips that easily attach to the brim of the hat, some also use velcro. If your using bigger mics like Audio Technicas you can always go dork style and wear a mesh hat backwards and put the mics in the lining on each side.

Another advantage to a hat is that clown that comes darting in front or around you to go get his beer cant disturb the recording, while he will cause a real sound disturbance if your mics are down on your body.

Then there is that guy that always put the big old ECM mic on his belt, thats a waste of time and energy. You can hear the hollowness on these tapes right away

There is no right answer, but I used to run stupid tests on stuff like this all the time with friends when the opening band was on


If your new you are going to percieve yourself being far more obvious than you really are. Remember, at a show, nobody really is looking at you, there looking at the band. As long as you dont have neon pink wires and keep checking your recording light levels 100x a song in front of a security guard, nobody is really going to notice. With the Cure its not usually relevant, but taping the opening band makes you much more obvious. What I have found is there are some do-gooders who will tell a security guard you are taping, but they will not go out of their way to tell them. So if they see you doing it during the cure set, there not going to run and get somebody. If they see you doing it during an opening band, when its more obvious to be spotted, then when they do run up to get a drink between sets these do-gooders will drop a "you know that guy next to me is taping" to the usher.

Bottom line is get decent equipment, relax, practice at local shows before hand and just roll in and tape it. There is so many gizmos at shows these days, its hard for security to know if your messing with a cellphone, pda, etc and they usually dont care unless your that goof trying to videotape the entire concert on your cellphone. they will chase you down for that, and its really damn annoying to the persons behind you

Pooka

Quote from: ernest newman on November 15, 2007, 18:27:01
just to expand upon where to put the mics. I would suggest mounting them on a hat, OKMIIR, Sonics, DPAS all can do this quite easily. Remember your mics pick up what it sounds like where there at, so next time your at a concert, lean down and listen to what the sound is like to your ears if your thinking about "chest or shirt level"..if your in a tightly packed room, on the floor at a gig, you will notice high end goes down quite a bit and bass rumble goes up as the bodies and heads in front of you muffle things. A friend and I did a comp of this long time ago with sonic studios and the difference was night and day, and those are omnis. Get the mics up above the heads and there is nothing to baffle or muffle between you and the speakers. If you have directional mics this is even much more important. If you like tapes by the following, they all go in the hat method : MBeat, JD, SR, AO, DS, SZ, KK, JJ, RL..these are all setups I have seen personally

how do you mount to a hat? there is many different ways. With OKMs and sonics you can cut two small holes in the front of a black hat and poke the mics out of there and there virtually impossible to see. With DPAs many people use clips that easily attach to the brim of the hat, some also use velcro. If your using bigger mics like Audio Technicas you can always go dork style and wear a mesh hat backwards and put the mics in the lining on each side.

Another advantage to a hat is that clown that comes darting in front or around you to go get his beer cant disturb the recording, while he will cause a real sound disturbance if your mics are down on your body.

Then there is that guy that always put the big old ECM mic on his belt, thats a waste of time and energy. You can hear the hollowness on these tapes right away

There is no right answer, but I used to run stupid tests on stuff like this all the time with friends when the opening band was on


If your new you are going to percieve yourself being far more obvious than you really are. Remember, at a show, nobody really is looking at you, there looking at the band. As long as you dont have neon pink wires and keep checking your recording light levels 100x a song in front of a security guard, nobody is really going to notice. With the Cure its not usually relevant, but taping the opening band makes you much more obvious. What I have found is there are some do-gooders who will tell a security guard you are taping, but they will not go out of their way to tell them. So if they see you doing it during the cure set, there not going to run and get somebody. If they see you doing it during an opening band, when its more obvious to be spotted, then when they do run up to get a drink between sets these do-gooders will drop a "you know that guy next to me is taping" to the usher.

Bottom line is get decent equipment, relax, practice at local shows before hand and just roll in and tape it. There is so many gizmos at shows these days, its hard for security to know if your messing with a cellphone, pda, etc and they usually dont care unless your that goof trying to videotape the entire concert on your cellphone. they will chase you down for that, and its really damn annoying to the persons behind you

Curefans and potential hobbyists, I suggest you all pin and take note as to what this man said above and start sending out all those karma points right now, as you will likely never hear tips shared by the other guys mentioned.

Another word to people running Core Sound Binaurls or even DPAs with clips. As tempting and as cool as it would be to mount on a pair glasses, DON'T DO IT. Unless you have a lot of hair and can hide the mics or put the glasses on top of your head at an angle, you will still look very obvious and it will be a dead giveaway to people in the crowd and security (even if you are as tall as a lamp post). An Eastern European DAT taper mounted his CSBs on his glasses at one of the Trilogy shows and he got lucky he did not get caught, but Simon saw him and laughed.

Hat mount is good but there are other ways. The key is to do it above neck level, as high as you can go. Don't duck tape the mics to the back of your neck either, you'll definitely capture the chatter and karaoke singing behind you.

Or if opportunity presents itself, if you are somewhere indoors like a club, tape the mics to a wall post, column, concrete block/pillar or what not, well above everyone else's heads. For those of you who have Kraftwerk Coachella 2004 and noted what a stellar soundboard sounding DPA4060 tape that was, the mics were mounted that way in that tent.


Tof

What's happened if the security find the recorder before the show ???
Tof

japanesebaby

my favorites (something new for a change):

1) don't live in the US because they have all those metal detectors and crazy annoying stuff like that at the gates. take it easy and live somewhere nice and quiet (like here!) where you could easily just walk to the gig with a shotgun (or two) under your coat if you only wanted to and start blasting around...

2) most of all: just don't be a guy!  :-D because guy's get groped and patted down a lot more. be a woman and you'll be just fine. besides, it seems to be somehow "more allowed" for women to have this and that and a purse and a bag and all kinds of stuff with you, so no-one's going to bother going through it all that carefully. a guy with a handbag catches a lot more attention, imo.


:lol:
Ay, in the very temple of Delight
Veil'd Melancholy has her sovran shrine

lostflower4

Quote from: Tof on November 16, 2007, 18:49:27
What's happened if the security find the recorder before the show ???

What do you mean? Like before you get in the door?

Whatever you do, don't let them take your stuff. Run if necessary.

crowbi_wan

Quote from: lostflower4 on November 16, 2007, 20:55:08
Quote from: Tof on November 16, 2007, 18:49:27
What's happened if the security find the recorder before the show ???

What do you mean? Like before you get in the door?

Whatever you do, don't let them take your stuff. Run if necessary.

Yeah, run away and go in another entrance.

lostflower4

By the way, how did these topics become separate?


http://www.curefans.com/index.php/topic,4255


Confusing, if you ask me!

dsanchez

Quote from: lostflower4 on November 16, 2007, 21:24:06
By the way, how did these topics become separate?


http://www.curefans.com/index.php/topic,4255


Confusing, if you ask me!

Actually I split the original topic in 3 parts:

-Tips to tape a concert (the topic you're reding now)
-Tips to hide equiment in a concert (the link you're referring to)
-Equipment for tape a concert
2023.11.22 Lima
2023.11.27 Montevideo

sullen

Delighted to see you all taking up the hobby.
Absolutley delighted.
Cheers.

I think Ernie covered all my tricks so i can't give much more advice than that.

My glasses mount is similar to the one right above me,
also dpa, on sunglasses w/ no croakie mount, rigged these to where they are virtually invincible with my colored black hair, mic bodies are clipped to the front by sides of the lenses.
i rest the glasses ON TOP of my head and point them to the stacks, something worth thinking about for glasses mounters rather than wearing them with regular glasses,

this sunglasses trick works wonders and gives an extra few inches, and is very helpful for those of us who dont like to wear hats.

My tapes usually come out worlds better than mexico 2007, i was just limited with my horrible seating arrangements.

lostflower4

Quote from: sullen on November 17, 2007, 02:29:54I think Ernie covered all my tricks so i can't give much more advice than that.

One thing I might add...

Taking beer breaks in the middle of songs "slightly" ruins the sound of a recording. Well, now you know.  :lol: