Live recording this coming weekend...

aaronsternke · 9th March 2008

Hi all,
I'm a studio guy and a musician as well... and I'm delving into my first "real" live recording this weekend with my band. We're playing at Sweetwater (the music retailer)'s new theatre in Fort Wayne, IN (if you're in the area come on out... Friday March 14... free...) Pretty cool place, good vibe, good system.

They have a Digi Venue system there they have linked up with an HD system, via direct outs. The Pro Tools computer is a PC (worries me a little... I'm definitely a Mac guy). But the plan is to just plug in a firewire drive and hit go! We're doing about 28 tracks.

My question is: Does anyone have any tips on preferences in Pro Tools I should bear in mind when recording something this long (2 hours or so)? Hardware/buffer settings? Record allocation settings? Anything in general (Pro Tools or otherwise) I should keep my eye on?

I'm a little nervous for it... any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

Aaron Sternke

bishopthomas · 9th March 2008

I don't have any advice for you, but hopefully the system has been setup to do exactly this. I assume it's been used before, maybe find out how it has worked for them in the past. This system is designed to do exactly what you want to do, so I wouldn't worry too much about it. What a brave new world, showing up to do a 28 channel recording with only a Firewire hard drive! Don't forget to bring audience mics.

aaronsternke · 9th March 2008

hey!
thanks for the reply...

Audience mics... definitely. Should I do omnis if I can? Any thoughts on placement? Just sort of over the audience, one on each side, I'd think. Or should I aim some mics from the stage at the crowd maybe?

dbssound1 · 9th March 2008

MAKE SURE your drive is formatted in 100GB partitions. We have used pro tools as our mobile recorder for year and never had a problem. The PC thing does make me nervous as well. Why they would run a PC is beyond me.

I don't know if PC have any file size restrictions, but 2 hours at 96kHz is about 1.9GB, so if there is a 2GB file size issue, you'll be running close if you are continuously recording.

For audience microphones, omnis, pointed at the stage about 2/3 back, or a baffled omni would be my choice!

Hope that helps!!

All the best,

Dan

ogamik · 9th March 2008

I have used this system a lot but only with a mac.
Firewire disk is a problem. Use Internal disk!!!

For the audience 2 omnis near the desk and 4 cardio on stage is a good basic setup.

Hope it's help...

bishopthomas · 10th March 2008

Why do you say Firewire disk is a problem? What kind of problems did you have? The current PC file systems support huge (unlimited?) partitions so there is no issue with file size.

dbssound1 · 10th March 2008

Shows how long it's been since I've used a PC for anything!!!!

aaronsternke · 10th March 2008

thanks for the replies, all... good stuff. anyone else?

9th March 2008	#1
aaronsternke Gear maniac Joined: Feb 2004 Location: Portland, OR Posts: 262 Thread Starter 1 Review written	Live recording this coming weekend... Hi all, I'm a studio guy and a musician as well... and I'm delving into my first "real" live recording this weekend with my band. We're playing at Sweetwater (the music retailer)'s new theatre in Fort Wayne, IN (if you're in the area come on out... Friday March 14... free...) Pretty cool place, good vibe, good system. They have a Digi Venue system there they have linked up with an HD system, via direct outs. The Pro Tools computer is a PC (worries me a little... I'm definitely a Mac guy). But the plan is to just plug in a firewire drive and hit go! We're doing about 28 tracks. My question is: Does anyone have any tips on preferences in Pro Tools I should bear in mind when recording something this long (2 hours or so)? Hardware/buffer settings? Record allocation settings? Anything in general (Pro Tools or otherwise) I should keep my eye on? I'm a little nervous for it... any advice would be appreciated. Thanks! Aaron Sternke __________________ http://www.rendteavens.com http://www.myspace.com/rendteavens

9th March 2008	#4
dbssound1 Gear nut Joined: Feb 2008 Location: Virginia Posts: 143	MAKE SURE your drive is formatted in 100GB partitions. We have used pro tools as our mobile recorder for year and never had a problem. The PC thing does make me nervous as well. Why they would run a PC is beyond me. I don't know if PC have any file size restrictions, but 2 hours at 96kHz is about 1.9GB, so if there is a 2GB file size issue, you'll be running close if you are continuously recording. For audience microphones, omnis, pointed at the stage about 2/3 back, or a baffled omni would be my choice! Hope that helps!! All the best, Dan __________________

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9th March 2008	#2
bishopthomas Lives for gear Joined: Oct 2006 Location: New Jersey Posts: 1,565	I don't have any advice for you, but hopefully the system has been setup to do exactly this. I assume it's been used before, maybe find out how it has worked for them in the past. This system is designed to do exactly what you want to do, so I wouldn't worry too much about it. What a brave new world, showing up to do a 28 channel recording with only a Firewire hard drive! Don't forget to bring audience mics.

9th March 2008	#5
ogamik Gear nut Joined: Mar 2007 Location: Switzerland Posts: 88	I have used this system a lot but only with a mac. Firewire disk is a problem. Use Internal disk!!! For the audience 2 omnis near the desk and 4 cardio on stage is a good basic setup. Hope it's help...

10th March 2008	#6
bishopthomas Lives for gear Joined: Oct 2006 Location: New Jersey Posts: 1,565	Why do you say Firewire disk is a problem? What kind of problems did you have? The current PC file systems support huge (unlimited?) partitions so there is no issue with file size.