ProAudio Review - February 2009 - (Page 49)

“All shows are uploaded to www.liveblackcrowes.com, where they are available in MP3 or FLAC format. The sales have been phenomenal. Three quarters of the people that go to a Black Crowes show download the show.” for the Black Crowes, recorded all the band’s concerts on the 2008 tour in support of Warpaint, its first studio release in seven years. All shows are uploaded to www.liveblackcrowes. com, where they are available in MP3 or FLAC format. “Since we started doing that at the beginning of last year,” Scherban reports, “the sales have been phenomenal. Threequarters of the people that go to a Black Crowes show download the show. Pretty good.” With a dramatically reduced FOH footprint, thanks to a digital console and its ample onboard effects, Scherban has plenty of space for a rack consisting of a Marantz PMD670 Professional Solid State Recorder, featuring a PC card slot compatible with type II compact flash cards, and an Edirol R-4 4channel recorder. In addition to the mix on his Yamaha PM5D console, a pair of AKG condenser mics captures audience and ambiance. “I matrix it out so I have two channels going to the first two tracks of the R-4, just console left and right,” Scherban explains. “The other two channels are the microphones, left and right. With the Marantz, I take a blend of all that.” Scherban transfers files from the Marantz and Edirol to a laptop, and uploads to the Black Crowes’ server. “That way,” he says, “the guy at the other end would have a choice of which tracks or blends he wants, when he starts tracking the board tape down. With that band being as loud as they are, if we’re in a club, the board mix might not have as much guitar as you would think. At least he has the microphones to help blend that in.” The 2008 tour’s recordings are now supplemented with archived concerts dating to the mid-1990s, an ongoing process that serves the band’s rabid fans. The Crowes maintain a longstanding taper-friendly policy, welcoming portable, self-contained, and powered audio equipment at their shows. “Theirs probably turn out pretty good,” says Scherban. “I’ve heard a couple of them. The only difference is, they don’t have the option of hearing a dry board mix where you actually get the effects properly. It’s a higher quality.” Given the logistics of an international tour that hits venues of varying size, Scherban’s recording rig is optimized for efficiency and speed. “It’s all about load-out, getting out as fast as you can,” he says. “I can take those things and, at my leisure, plug them into and suck them onto my laptop. I have a terabyte drive that has a whole year of shows on it. When I get to the hotel or on a day off, I start uploading and go to dinner. It’s allowed me more freedom than if I had a whole rack of hard drives and stuff, which would mean more stuff at FOH, which I really don’t want. This was the best bet in all circumstances: size-wise, flexibility of my time, flexibility of load-in and load-out time, and keeping the rig to a scaled-down minimum.” In addition to FOH duties for Regina Spektor, Greg Duffin takes a remote recording rig to venues in and around New York City. Engineer Greg Duffin and Assistant Engineer Chris Russell Based in New York, engineer Greg Duffin and assistant engineer Chris Russell operate a portable, Digital Performer- and Pro Tools-based location recording rig that has been employed at settings from clubs to churches and Off-Broadway theaters. The system is based around a MOTU 896 interface, which is now supplemented by Focusrite ISA 828 and 428 preamplifiers. The 828 has the optional 8-channel 192 kHz A/D card, so those tracks go to the 896 via Lightpipe. Duffin and Russell use an Apple MacBook Pro and MacBook, respectively. Recordings are mixed either “in the box” in a home studio or through analog equipment at an affiliated commercial studio (depending on client request and budget). In either case, artists can record a live album for CD or online distribution at reasonable cost. “It’s really sounding good,” Duffin, who handles FOH mixing for Regina Spektor, observes, “and it’s condensed with the addition of the Focusrite stuff, because we don’t have to take as much. The Focusrites are definitely a step up from the 896 by itself. The Lightpipe saves so much in cabling as well.” The rig also includes a Furman power conditioner, a splitter, a complement of microphones — many of them Audio-Technica www.proaudioreview.com February 2009 | ProAudioReview 49 http://www.liveblackcrowes.com http://www.liveblackcrowes.com http://www.liveblackcrowes.com http://www.proaudioreview.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of ProAudio Review - February 2009

ProAudio Review - February 2009 Contents From Razor Slice To Mouse Click Hot Gear At Winter NAMM ’09: Studio Prioritizing Good Acoustics In Tough Times Digidesign Pro Tools 8 Allen & Heath ZED-R16 Analog Mixing Console Mike Rivers Nevaton MC Series Studio Condenser Microphones FMR Audio Really Nice Series Pre-Amp and Dynamics Modules Mojave Audio MA-201 FET Condenser Microphone Genelec 6010A and 5040A Powered Loudspeaker and Subwoofer Massey Plug-Ins De:Esser Hot Gear At Winter NAMM ’09: Live White Space Regulation: What It Means To Us Recording Live Sound Summit Church in Fort Myers, Florida Bag End P-Crystal R Loudspeaker Mark Olson & Gary Louris’ “Turn Your Pretty Name Around”

ProAudio Review - February 2009

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