Recording - August 2017 - 40

RULES FOR
RECORDING
LIVE GIGS

Step by step to a memorable and great-sounding live recording
BY MIKE METLAY

Most Front Of House (FOH) and monitor engineers have racks of gear for dealing with problems during a gig.
When the problem is the band (specifically its bad attitude), Mr. FOH Guy has been known to reach for something
called the Suck Knob. What the Suck Knob does will vary from rig to rig, but it usually involves feeding the band
members audio that the audience can't hear-giving the lead vocalist's monitor a pitch-shifted mix to throw him off
key, or screwing up the drummer's timing with a delay-so the band's performance falls apart midsong and the crowd
cracks up laughing.
Variations on this story can be found all over the place-even Gary Larson did a Far Side cartoon about it-but the
lesson here is pretty simple: if there is any one person you really need on your side at a live gig, it's Mr. FOH Guy,
and you harsh his mellow at your peril.
Depending on the venue, the band, budget and time constraints, and Mr. FOH Guy's mood, asking him for help in
recording a gig can be pretty darn harsh. But it doesn't have to be a battle; fortunately, there's a process that will get
you through a live gig recording with minimum pain (for you and Mr. FOH Guy) and maximum chance for success.

RULE ONE

DO IT FOR THE
RIGHT REASONS

It's good to have a clear
motivation for a project that will be this
tricky. Why are you trying to record a
live performance on stage for release?
"It's gotta be easier than slaving away
in the studio, right?" Wrong. Any engineer
will tell you that "just taping a live gig"
is almost never an easier or cheaper
way to get an album done than doing it
in a studio!
Live gigs are messy, fraught with
peril, and subject to all sorts of random
interference that you can avoid in a
studio setting. The famous live albums
you listen to all the time are almost all
pieced together from multiple nights'
performances, were mostly recorded
by professionals on big-budget gear,
and sometimes have tracks (if not whole
songs) overdubbed and cleaned up in
40

RECORDING August 2017

the studio afterward. Recording an album
from a live gig is not as easy as flipping
a switch and it never will be; if you go
into a live recording thinking it will save
you time, money, or hassle, you're in for
a rude awakening.
"After a few studio albums, we kinda
figured it was time." To do what? Release
a mediocre live set in mediocre quality so
potential fans think your band's live shows
sound like crap? Go all in or don't bother.
Plenty of bands have had great careers
without live albums; you're under no
obligation to release one, honest.
"We hate the idea of piecing songs
together track by track." That's actually
a great reason to record an album all at
once... but that doesn't mean you should
do it during a live gig in front of an
audience. There's lots of information in
this issue about capturing the band-atonce vibe under controlled circumstances
in the studio. Find a good room and
record your album there, all at once. It'll

be a blast if you do it right, and a lot less
painful than trying to do it in a club.
"We love the energy and interaction with
our fans; it brings the best out in us. We'd
like to capture that energy for posterity."
Okay, now we're talking!
A good live gig requires a band that's on
top of its game, an audience that will support
the band in a big way, and a room that will
let the band sound its best. Put those items
together and yes, you have a compelling
argument to record a live show.

RULE TWO

CONSIDER THE
ROOM... OR ROOMS

Just like in a studio, getting the
best live sound starts with the room you're
in; where the album is recorded is a vital consideration for small-scale live gigs. Sure, in a
huge hall, a live recording is basically just a
multitrack capture of individual instruments and
vocals, blended with a recording of the crowd

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recording - August 2017