recent live recordings done "old style"

[hollywood_steve]

There have been a couple of threads where everybody listed their favorite live albums, but I'm looking for something a little different here. The vast majority of live rock albums since the late sixties were made with studio-style close mic techniques, and they would use as many tracks as they had available. Can anyone name any live rock records that were made with a more minimalist approach? No one is expecting to record a hard rock album with just a stereo pair out in front (although some incredible bootlegs have been made that way, and a couple have been officially released!). But have any recent rock albums (hard or otherwise) been made more like the '63 era Beatles recordings? (Two, three or at most four mics on drums, no more than one mic on each other instrument, with everyone playing in one acoustically live space. And unlike later Beatle records, without the countless overdubs placed over the live base tracks.) And it doesn't need to be limited to actual "live in front of an audience" records; I'd be interested in hearing about any similar "live in the studio" productions where the track sheet only listed 6 or 7 inputs. (or 8 or 9, whatever......you get the idea.)

Thanks!

[Gie-Sound]

The first part of the Led Zeppelin DVD-box was recorded on 8 track. (Drums 3 tracks: OH's+Kick).

....but is wasn't mixed in a "minimal way": PT HD

[ExistanceMusic]

Don't know if this is what you mean, but this was from a festival broadcast gig I did a few weeks ago. Nice big stage, drums was only kick snare and OH, and I think they sound huge. Mixed live to air, recorded straight to stereo. No post processing (apart from my basic mastering chain). A few things I would have done differently if it was mixed post, but I'm happy to have my name on it.
Also worth noting is that the delay in there was sent from the bands FOH engineer to us, as he wanted control over the timing. Took a few bars to get the level right, you'll hear it.

[twotracker]

I try this alot, stereo pair out front. It's the onstage monitors that make it difficult, not an issue with the Beatles.

[ExistanceMusic]

I was stunned when I heard the tom sound through the overheads during sound check - didn't think it would come through when the bands got going; sure did though! I never got round to seeing what the stage setup was like, this was a 3 day festival with 8 - 10 hours of recording per day, and a full day of broadcast mixing.
You can hear some REALLY loud feedback in the first minute of the song, so they probably had the vocal cranked in the monitors.

[Remoteness]

Jesse,

Very nice mix my man... Thanks for posting it!

Cool stuff TwoTracker. Keep them coming!

The Stripped -- Raw & Real series I'm recording is done with an old style approach.
Checkout the performances here... Stripped -- Raw & Real

I’m pretty much happy with all the work we’ve done for this series but, one of my favorite performances was with Jesse McCartney done live in Studio A at Conway – He didn't want to use monitors of any kind and all the songs were recorded in one take. A minimal amount of mics were used – I think it was under 12 mics. We mixed the tracks right after we completed the performances.

Shinedown worked out really well too… They tracked a great version of U2's "One."

...Switchfoot shows off a killer drum sound with only four mics used.

[ExistanceMusic]

Steve, I dug that stripped series, seems like a cool gig. I think it's good the record buying public to see artists in a less "produced" setting. It reminds us all that music is not about beat detective and autotune, but about people getting together and playing music in a room.

[Remoteness]

Amen brother!

[wwittman]

Too Much Joy - Live At Least

4 mics on the drums, one each on guitar bass and vocals.
no overdubs

or for a studio recording, check out the new Cyndi Lauper - The Body Acoustic.

Mostly played live, witht he nad sitting in a big semi-circle in the studio... again, very minimal mic'ing as well.
Many live vocals.
Although certainly there are some overdubs.

[Remoteness]

William,

I love that Cyndi Lauper - the Body Acoustic record. It’s very cool indeed.

I saw her perform in that fashion on an awards show awhile back… Or am I dreaming. The mindset was briliant.

I love that (some) musicians are going back to the basics with a minimalist technical approach. Raw & real rather than over produced is what I’m into these days.

[ClickTrackAudio]

Originally Posted by Remoteness

I love that (some) musicians are going back to the basics with a minimalist technical approach. Raw & real rather than over produced is what I’m into these days.

I'm with you on that!!! Sometimes the KISS rule comes into play to just get the essence of the performance, not of the production. Maybe a better way for me to state it is that sometimes the best "production" is the production you don't even know its there

[Samc]

The last live CD release I engineered was recorded directly from the F.O.H. console, no overdubs or other post production except mastering. Even though we had multitrack running, the band and their record company decided on the live F.O.H. mix. It's the last CD of the legendary Ska band; The Skatalites, and I will have two other live CD's that were recorded in exactly the same way slated for release in 2006; one is by Toots and the Maytals, and the third....well the band and the record company are going over the live material I mixed on the last tour so I'm not really at liberty to say anything.

Although I did close mic most instruments, the mix itself in all cases was taken directly from the stereo out of the F.O.H. console and was really only possible because of the quality of the equipment, the acoustics of the rooms (in two cases), and the great work done by the technicians in all cases. This is really special when you consider that two of these recordings were made in festival condotions and the recording was not a priority for the crew.

I should also point out that in all cases I was carrying all my own inserts, effects and some of the pre-amps used.

[Remoteness]

I'm really into the simple drum mic technique these days... Three to five mics without close mic'ing the toms and I'm golden...