31
votes
Accepted
Is redundancy used when live recording important performances?
So, I work in live production, specifically in audio. With very, very few exceptions the mics themselves and the mic cables have no immediate redundancy other than someone being ready to deal with a ...
- 326
29
votes
Accepted
Do I need to practice recovery from confusion? How?
I’m surprised I’m the first one to bring up an important practice point that three of my teachers have recommended. Practice starting from different points in the piece. Not only at the beginning a of ...
- 56.2k
25
votes
Accepted
What is the purpose of this concert equipment?
They are called "Stage monitors". Basically they are speakers so that the band members can hear themselves and their fellow musicians more clearly. When the stage is big, it is hard to ...
- 31.3k
23
votes
Why don't bands try to fade out songs live like they do in the studio?
There might be many different reasons for different bands. So I will be able to point just some possibilities.
Studio recording and live performance are different ways to present the songs. Recordings ...
- 15.9k
16
votes
Why don't bands try to fade out songs live like they do in the studio?
There are two different ways this can be done:
a) The band plays at a quieter and quieter dynamic level, until none of the players can be heard anymore (over the crowd etc. noise).
There are a couple ...
- 35.3k
16
votes
What is the purpose of this concert equipment?
Adding to the existing answers - monitor or foldback speakers - so-called because they literally fold the sound back to the band. Often, especially in open air gigs, the sound is fed to the audience ...
- 190k
13
votes
Why don't bands try to fade out songs live like they do in the studio?
I have seen bands do fade-outs live, and I have played in bands that did fade-outs live. So it does happen.
Exhibit A:
Why does it not happen more often? It's hard ...
- 2,420
12
votes
How to stop performing and just experience the music and play naturally, when playing live?
Playing in front of an audience is a skill in and of itself. Like any other skill it needs to be practiced.
Pretending to be in front of an audience when practicing is one way to do it (though ...
- 7,120
12
votes
Is redundancy used when live recording important performances?
There are several youtube videos showing live setups for large bands, and you'll see that there is a LOT of redundancy in there. Thinking of Billy Joel's keyboard player David Rosenthal - he has two ...
- 1,900
11
votes
Why don't bands try to fade out songs live like they do in the studio?
They don't fade out in the studio. They keep playing in the studio.
The engineer just slides the fader. Thus "fade out".
A sound man can do that to a band, if the band has no acoustic drums ...
- 13.2k
11
votes
Do I need to practice recovery from confusion? How?
I'm surprised no-one else has highlighted what I think is the most important part of the question:
my role will be accompaniment
As I'm sure you know, accompanying other people is very different ...
- 1,382
9
votes
Why don't bands try to fade out songs live like they do in the studio?
It's trivially easy to play a fade-out 'live', particularly if everything is going through a mixing desk. We don't do it, because the audience need an ending so they know when to applaud. Audiences ...
- 90.4k
8
votes
Accepted
Stage presence for a keyboard player
Keyboard player's stage presence is much like the drummer's situation. Better than that, keyboard player can be standing and vision of audience is not covered by metal sticks and discs spread all ...
- 1,001
8
votes
Accepted
How do musicians synchronize with the playback keyboards/ambience when live?
The drummer usually has a click (and the track) in his (in-ear) monitor. The rest of the band can choose if they want the additional track in their monitors or not. As long as they can hear the ...
- 20.1k
8
votes
Accepted
Why do artists sing their successful songs off-beat after many years
First of all: variation is part of our nature. Not only we're not able to do the exact same thing twice, but we often don't really like it.
And what you hear is not "off-beat".
That's [re]...
- 6,041
6
votes
How to stop performing and just experience the music and play naturally, when playing live?
Play in front of an audience. A lot. Start with the family pet and work up.
Close your eyes, if you can do that without it affecting your playing. There's a reason why so many vocalists close ...
- 12.2k
6
votes
Is redundancy used when live recording important performances?
I think you need to look at this historically.
Back in the days when the only real mobile multi-track recording facility was owned by the Rolling Stones, then you would be lucky to even be recording ...
- 27.6k
6
votes
Accepted
How can I automate the arming and disarming of tracks in ableton?
Nevermind guys, I figured it out.
So basically Ableton has a feature where you can map tasks like arming or disarming a track onto a MIDI event (CTRL+M). But it needs to receive that event from an ...
6
votes
How to control an analog or digital mixer (every channel seperatly) from laptop using vst plugins live
You have a few different options.
Mix completely "in the box", i.e. all mixing happens in software in the DAW. Your audio interface has enough input channels to bring all audio things into ...
6
votes
Why don't bands try to fade out songs live like they do in the studio?
I don't think I have heard/read from musicians explaining why live fade outs aren't common, but I think you can come to a sensible answer by first asking why bands often play so loud? Of course they ...
- 55k
6
votes
What is the purpose of this concert equipment?
These are called monitors speakers or stage monitors or floor monitors in this case. In your picture there are more on either side of the stage). Monitors are speakers aimed at the performer to make ...
- 1,141
6
votes
Do I need to practice recovery from confusion? How?
It's often said that amateurs practise till they get it right, pros practise till they can't get it wrong. And it's fairly accurate, and a great tenet to live by.
Knowing your part 'inside out' will ...
- 190k
5
votes
What is the purpose of this concert equipment?
Those are stage monitors - basically, general-purpose loudspeakers with built-in amplifiers, designed to sit on the floor and be audible to people standing in front of them. Their purpose is for each ...
- 2,510
5
votes
PA Mixer Setup for band
For a venue and audience that size, the most important thing will be making the vocals audible. You should run mono. If you don’t have even small subs then bass and kick drum might not make sense to ...
- 56.2k
4
votes
Accepted
How should I wire multiple speakers for a live performance?
Building a PA with mystery speakers is fraught with peril. The biggest question that faces you is: If you blow one or more of those speakers, who will care and how much will they care?
Speakers that ...
- 56.2k
4
votes
Accepted
Recording drum machine and electric guitar on the looper during live performance
Regarding destroying the amplifier, this is not going to be a problem with the Looper. It is designed to be in line with a guitar or a keyboard, and you can set the volume levels of your loops.
You ...
- 36.8k
4
votes
How do musicians synchronize with the playback keyboards/ambience when live?
Yes, as Matt L. said - it's a "click track" sent to the drummer's headphones; the rest of the band simply hears the drums in most cases and follows that.
If you need to do this, a solution I came up ...
- 41
4
votes
Focusrite Scarlett and mic preamp
The XLR input of your Focusrite has a pre-amp so you can connect the dynamic mic in directly and have enough signal. You do not need an external mixer.
The Focusrite product line also provides ...
- 7,379
4
votes
How to do tempo change in a song with a band
That’s a big question and I’m sure I won’t cover every possibility, but here goes with my thoughts ...
The tempo change is owned equally by everyone, not just the percussionist, and it is everyone’s ...
- 2,531
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible