Tell us your favorite place to setup your portable recording rig.

[Remoteness]

When I cannot get a totally isolated room or space for my recording rig, I like to setup next to the FOH position.

For me, it's the second best place to be. I rather deal with listening to the front of house mix, then the unbalanced backstage sounds. Man, it sucks when you're next to monitor world or other loud individual sound source. You never know what you got. At FOH, you got a better chance at knowing where you're at.

What do you think and why?

[JayCrouch]

I found my new favorite place for my remote rig...

I was down doing a remote for a rock-jazz 3-piece at a youth/teen center type place that is city owned and is much nicer than your average youth hangout.

Got the gig earlier in the week and didn't have a free day to scope out the venue. Called and found out that there were a few small rooms behind/next to the stage that I could use...

Turns out there is a concessions stand / kitchen room that is not used all that often right behind the stage to the left. Little 10x10 room with enough room for my two racks and ADC monitor, along with a nice sized plexiglass window with a view of the stage!

Needless to say, this is my new place in my area to book bands do to lower budget live albums..

[Steve Smith]

Am am usually able to find a sep room ( or rent a truck...) but I have tracked albums while running FOH.. I just go into my pres first ( no eq) and then to the recorder in all input mode, and take the tape returns into any outboard comps/gates and then into the insert return on the the FOH console.. It is amazing how much better a PM 4000 sounds with Manley and Amek pres....:)

[Remoteness]

I guess, once you got the right level to tape, you can record the soundcheck. When the band leaves, you can still mix your ass off until you got it right...

I usually do this when we need to supply a proper two mix to broacast, etc. It gives you an edge on the show mix.

[Steve Smith]

That is exactly what The FOH guy did on the last Clapton TOur.. recorded the inital rehersals, and then tweaked his " scene" automation when they went away.... he also kept the rec gear on the tour and tracked all the shows apparently.

[Remoteness]

Bump...

How many of you record at FOH? Or do you prefer off to the side on stage somewhere? Do you find enough empty rooms to set up in or is your vehicle your only nirvana?

[JayCrouch]

this is the same kind of feedback I was looking to gather from the Remote Rack Design 101 thread...

If you are a business or a freelancer who also does remotes, you have a few options.

1) Build a self contained rack, something that has everything you need sans your input sources. Pop off the doors, plug in one or two power cables, connect your input lines, - and roll. Throw your rack doors back on at the end of the night, and bring the rig back to your mix/edit position. The drawback here is that you have an "all or nothing rig", taking a piece out to freelance or rent becomes a hassle.

2) Rack your gear components in a modular formation. By racking seperate components in individual racks, you can assemble whatever you need for your gig. This is a great solution for larger audio companies, since they can provide the gear needed for a gig - nothing more and nothing less. This also makes freelancing and rentals very convienent. The downside is that you now have a bit more work to do at the gig. Issues such as interfacing the seperate component racks arise, as well as working out a way to safely provide power to everything. In my experience, a modular rig usually includes bringing out a trunk of additional accesories.

3) Hire a truck, and have someone make you look smart.

This is clearly a prime example of the premise of there never being a best, only a best for you (or in this case, your gig/client).

It would be a great thing to get a bit more in depth on rack design and configuration. This is something that I think alot of people could benefit from, and with a little work could probbably help everyone save alittle time and money in the long run.

Studio only cats might benefit from some serious rack design theroy as well, I've seen a good number of studios that had to move location on short notice, and were frankly not prepared for doing such. Designing custom modular or self-contained rack solutions can save your ass in times like those, and even expand your possibilies for other business...

I'm feeling motivated to start designing a self contained rack that will house everything from the DAW/Monitor, power regulation, input stages, and headphone world. The plan is to document what my particular needs are for the example, and find the most cost efficient ways to make this idea a reality. I am certain that sitting down and working this out on paper will most likely institute to make equipment changes, as well as new ways of thinking...

If anyone is looking to build something of a similar nature, please chime in so we can take a crack at it. Being able to find a solution for someone else definatly comes in handy when you are going down that road yourself..

back to the drawing board...

[Remoteness]

Originally Posted by Remoteness

When I cannot get a totally isolated room or space for my recording rig, I like to setup next to the FOH position.

For me, it's the second best place to be. I rather deal with listening to the front of house mix, then the unbalanced backstage sounds. Man, it sucks when you're next to monitor world or other loud individual sound source. You never know what you got. At FOH, you got a better chance at knowing where you're at.

What do you think and why?

Five years and counting and I still rather do it this way than any other option.

How about you folks?

[mrsteaks]

Out Of Sight, LOL!

I almost always do classical or jazz gigs, so being hidden from the audience can be rather important. Normally, I set up where I can get some isolation from the performance. It is rare, too, when there is a PA, but if there is, I'll set up near the FOH position so I can get a feed (maybe) or give them one (maybe!).

[RawDepth]

The best live tracks I've gotten were when the band was outdoors and I was well away from the stage. (Like backstage in a trailer.) I just used a long isolated splitter snake off of monitor world.

It was a larger stage with no sidefills, so mic bleed was minimal. Sweet!


RD

[Don S]

Originally Posted by Remoteness

Bump...

How many of you record at FOH? Or do you prefer off to the side on stage somewhere? Do you find enough empty rooms to set up in or is your vehicle your only nirvana?

If it's a new band and room, definately! It gives me the vibe and the sound the band is after. Plus it's easier to pick off anything from the board. I'll back up with busses off the board as well.
If it's classical, I'll try to get in a dressing room, or at least under a stage. My most accurate cans are open and will use them if I'm isolated.

[Jim vanBergen]

I've done several where I was stageside, a couple ONSTAGE (people thought I was the monitor mixer...sometimes I was doing that as well!) Once for a piano & vocal duo I was behind them and though I had plenty of piano but was sadly mistaken, so I'm very reluctant to be close to the stage when I have other options. Getting away from it allows you to listen more closely at lower volumes, working at FOH gives you distance and isolation, plus sometimes the ability to PFL the FOH desk to see if they have a problem I might be sorting thru.