The Fundamentals of Live Sound Recording

The subject of how to accomplish live sound recording is as broad as the reasons for recording live. The setup that’s perfect for capturing a stereo mix and tossing it up on YouTube before the audience gets home isn’t going to resemble the rig you’d use to take a full multitrack feed back to the studio. Every live recording experience is going to be different, and the keys to successful live recording are to remain flexible, communicate well, and plan for the unexpected. Before we get into the nuts and bolts of different live sound recording setups, let’s take a look at some of the essential considerations you’ll want to apply to any live recording session.

It’s Not Your Show

Are you the head engineer? Is it your venue? If so, then great, you’re likely to find you have a lot of flexibility to set up your recording rig. If you aren’t, that’s okay — you’re not the star of the show anyway, so you’ll need to communicate with the band, production manager, and other crew to get the best recording you can without stepping on anyone’s toes.Large crowd at a live show

If you’re running a complex recording setup, then remember to communicate your need for setup time to the manager or engineer(s) involved. Hopefully, the band won’t mind spending a bit of extra time during soundcheck to let you test your recording levels, but you shouldn’t assume anything. Likewise, you can’t assume you’ll have a lot of space to set up your gear, so be prepared to take what you can get.

Know Your Goal

When it comes to the recording process itself, the biggest consideration is what kind of results you’re hoping to achieve, which is directly related to how much editing you want (or have time) to do. If you want to produce fully polished recordings for a live album, then you’re looking at a complex multitrack rig. Producing demos or grabbing audio for video may not demand the same level of production. And if you’re capturing audio for immediate release for social media purposes, then you may not have the time to capture more than a good stereo mix.

Don’t Distort It

Headroom is everything in live recording, as unexpected peaks can quickly reduce your recordings to unlistenable garbage. Transparent converters with a high signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) are a real bonus.
To get the most out of the added headroom of low-no24-bit recording systemise 24-bit converters, keep your levels conservative. An unexpected boost in volume that overloads a preamp might go unnoticed in a live setting, but clipping a digital-recording channel even once can ruin a recording. Compressors and limiters can also help prevent clipping, but if you have to choose between A) clipping or B) bringing up low levels when you mix, go with option B. A little bit of added noise from boosting gain is drastically preferable to distortion, no matter how brief.

Batteries Will Die

Batteries are great as a backup, but 120VAC coming out of the wall is far more reliable. If you need to run on batteries, treat all batteries as though they’re half dead. Keep multiple backup batteries. Monitor your battery life judiciously. If the band takes a break, change your batteries. If your battery levels drop to the last bar, don’t wait for the bar to run out — swap out your batteries between songs. Depending on the band and the show, it might not be a bad idea to set up a simple hand signal with the band to get them to stall long enough for you to swap batteries in an emergency, but if your recorder takes more than a few seconds to reboot after swapping batteries, then it’s probably not the best recorder for the job anyway.

Record the Soundcheck

A band recording their sound checkDon’t just monitor through your gear during soundcheck to see if you’ve got adequate sound and good levels; record your soundcheck. Play back your recording so you can hear it without the sound of the PA reinforcing the mix in your headphones. This can reveal missing elements in your recordings before it’s too late. If you can convince the bands to stick around while you do this so you can try out your corrections, that’s even better.

Make a List and Pack More Gear Than You Need

Know what you need for the gig? Great! Make a checklist and use it. Showing up to the gig without your laptop’s power supply isn’t funny even once. While you’re at it, pack extra gear. Extra cables always come in handy (be sure to label them, or the venue may claim them); backup mics are good too, and don’t forget extra batteries. If you’re planning an elaborate multitrack recording session, you may want to pack a simple field recorder too, just in case. The bottom line is that this is one time the adage, “It’s better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it,” definitely applies.

Planning and Preparations

There are a few things you’ll want to do before you walk into a venue and set up your recording gear, particularly if you’re setting up to record in a space you’ve never recorded in before. First, you’ll want to check out the space and take stock of the available resources. If you’re planning on recording a 5-piece band and the stage is the size of a walk-in closet, don’t even consider putting extra mic stands up there. Are there architectural features that will let you mount mics over the audience? Is the audience confined to a hall, or are there tables where people will gather and chatter? Next, take a look at the gear. Live mixers with direct outs are a boon to multitrack recording, and some venues even offer splitter snakes. Don’t expect top-of-the-line gear though — typical venues invest in their live sound gear initially and then don’t update until equipment breaks. Finally, be sure to reach out to the band or the promoter, if they aren’t the ones who hired you.

Live Recording Approaches

There are two major decisions that affect how you approach live sound recording. First, there’s whether to capture a stereo mix or a multitrack mix for more elaborate production. That goes hand in hand with the decision of whether or not to take a feed from the mixing board. Depending on your situation, you may choose to both capture a multitrack feed from the mixer’s direct outs and set up a separate stereo recorder that’s independent of the mixing board. Here’s a breakdown of the most common live sound recording techniques.

Stereo Recording

By far, the biggest advantage of stereo recording is how quickly you can get usable results. However, that doesn’t mean stereo live recording is inherently simple. A hand-held device for stereo recordingYou can use something as simple as a standalone field recorder — the kind with onboard microphones can be particularly handy at times — but you can also use a laptop with a recording interface and record into your favorite DAW.

Stereo Microphones

Stereo microphoneMany great live recordings have been made using a simple stereo pair of microphones. The kind of microphones you use and where you place them make all the difference in the world with this technique.

If your recorder includes an XY stereo microphone pair, you may be tempted to mount or suspend the recorder over the audience and point the recorder at the stage. While this can be an effective way to grab audio for immediate publication on social media, the results aren’t going to sound great or be terribly compelling.

Stereo microphoneIf your recorder includes a pair of microphone inputs, an approach that’s likely to produce significantly better results is to place a pair of omnidirectional microphones on either side of the stage and above the audience. This will yield a realistic stereo image while capturing both the band and the audience. If background noise is too strong, a pair of pressure-zone microphones (boundary mics) may be a better choice.

Grabbing a Stereo Feed from the Board

Your first temptation may be to simply grab the stereo mix from the board. This is usually a bad idea, because the sound-reinforcement mix typically exists to fill out the sound that’s not coming from the stage and is in no way mixed for playback. On that same note, many instruments may not be coming through the mixing board at all; for instance, guitar amplifier stacks may go unmiked, and often the only parts of the drum kit sent to the board are the bass and snare drums.

If you are going to take a stereo feed from the board, you’re better off setting up a dedicated recording mix via a pair of auxiliary sends. Here you often have a choice of setting your mix up pre or post fader. While a post-fader mix will allow changes to the board to compensate for changing stage volume (e.g., the guitarist just cranked his amp), a pre-fader mix allows you to pull off neat tricks, such as running a pair of omnidirectional ambience mics through the board without sending them to the mains and running the risk of creating a massive feedback loop. You can also stick additional recording-only mics onstage, assuming the board has enough channels to support them.


Multitrack recording hardware

The next step up from creating an auxiliary recording mix is to grab a multitrack feed. We should note that even if you’re grabbing a multitrack feed, you can often set up a simultaneous stereo recording on the same recording device, in case you need to post something before you’re done mixing in the studio. But with the added control you get via studio mixing and processing, multitracking allows you to achieve extremely polished results.

How Many Tracks?

Deciding to multitrack doesn’t mean you need to record every mixer channel individually. Whether you create a few auxiliary mixes or grab the group outputs, you can always record straight to stem tracks (guitars, drums, vocals, etc.) and supplement those with stereo ambience mics or a few individual tracks. In other words, you don’t need to have as many input channels available on your recording rig as there are input channels on the mixing board to still benefit from multitrack recording.


How to Record Multichannel Audio

For the purposes of simplicity, let’s assume you’re trying to capture input channels from the board. Even if you grab auxiliary mixes or group outputs, you may still want to capture a few discrete channels anyway.

Direct Outputs

Assuming the mixing board has direct outs, these can be extremely useful for multitrack recording. Typically, direct outs split off each channel’s signal immediately after the preamplifier, but before the equalizer or other processing. The good news is that you don’t need to have preamps for your recording channels. The bad news is that any adjustments to the mixing board’s preamps will reflect on your recording. If you or the mix engineer can refrain from adjusting preamps during the performance, that’s not an issue, and automation can easily fix a preamp adjustment here or there in post.


Insert Points

Live recording insert plugInsert points are not an ideal source for grabbing multitrack audio, but sometimes they’re the best you have to work with. Most insert points disrupt the signal when you plug into them, sending signal on the tip of a 1/4″ TRS connector and anticipating the return on the ring. That means you’ll need a special kind of cable that bridges the tip and ring or special recording gear to record from insert points. Any poor grounding in the cable will affect the audio, and insert points are also after the preamp, so this method of recording is inadvisable. What’s more, insert points may already be in use on some channels, rendering them unavailable for recording. However, if you’re working with a board that doesn’t have direct outs, insert points may provide the best solution for your equipment.

Passive Splitters

Passive splitter boxes and splitter snakes simply split the mic- or line-level signal en route to the mixer before the preamp. This method requires each of your recording device’s inputs to have a preamp. However, the upside is that any changes at the board won’t affect your recording.


Active Splitters

Active splitter boxes include extremely clean, low-power in-line preamps that maintain the volume of the input signal while providing a pair of transformer-isolated outputs. These are far superior to passive splitters because they won’t affect the signal reaching the board, so they will provide you with extremely clean audio.

Digital Mixers

Digital mixerDigital mixers are a bit of a wild card. Some require their outputs to be programmed individually, and some offer multichannel digital outputs. There are also digital boards that include onboard recording or computer connections that allow you to record right to a USB device or into your DAW (a great thing to look for if you’re looking for a mixer for live recording). Essentially, multitrack recording with a digital mixer is going to depend largely on the mixer itself or your ability to bypass it with a splitter.

Hardware or DAW Recording?

Between studio-ready DAW software and dedicated hardware recorders, there are many great options for your live sound recording system. Without getting lost in the details of individual options, here’s a basic rundown of hardware and software recording.

Hardware Recording

Recording hardwareHardware recorders for live sound span from inexpensive stereo field recorders to high-capacity rackmount recorders with 24 input channels or more, like the JoeCo BlackBox. While features such as onboard microphones and connectivity vary across the board, hardware recorders offer a few noteworthy benefits. For one thing, hardware recorders tend to be extremely stable. If you want a recorder that you never have to worry will crash on you, then hardware is the way to go. They also tend to be compact, with rackmount options available on the more professional models. Be sure to keep an eye on recording capacity, since hardware recorders are usually limited by internal hard disks or card media.

Software Recording

An alternative to a potentially expensive dedicated hardware recorder is a computer running DAW software combined with a reliable audio interface. With software and computers, there’s always the potential for instability, but the flexibility and convenience of being able to add channels via additional audio interfaces makes them extremely tempting nonetheless. It’s also nice to be able to record directly into the DAW you plan to edit and mix in. If you go with software, consider getting a dedicated recording computer to minimize the risk of instability. You may also want to keep a stereo field recorder handy for capturing a mix from the board, just in case.

A Few Additional Tips

Play Nice and Communicate Clearly

We simply cannot emphasize this enough. The biggest key to success in live sound recording is maintaining a good relationship with the artists, promoters, and managers you work with. Clearly communicating your needs and expectations is the best way to do this.


Live sound mixer with stage in the backgroundUnderstand Your Place

If the gig is being held specifically to get the audio for a live recording, you’ll get your way in mic positioning and the amount of hardware onstage much easier than if the gig is staged for a video, in which case you can use any mics that are not too visually obtrusive. Make sure you establish your place in the pecking order before you show up, so you can make choices that won’t be overruled by someone else in the band or the video director.

Plan for the Unexpected

Pack extra gear, make lists, set conservative levels, and always stay flexible. No matter what you expect, something unexpected will happen, and the more mentally agile you are, the easier it is to roll with the punches.

Invest in Excellent Headphones

One final piece of advice is to buy some high-quality, closed-back headphones. As with all other aspects of audio production, you have to be able to trust your ears and use your best judgment, and a set of quality headphones that can block out serious SPLs is essential to monitoring your live sound recording rig.

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