Live and Straight to Minidisc, baby!

[leigh]

Check out how great one little stereo mic straight into a minidisc can sound!

Aside from just a touch of EQ and comp added later in Pro Tools, this is the sound of a Sony minidisc, using the built-in pres and converters, and placed on a table on the side of the stage.

Oh, yeah, and the sound of me playing a late night show at a Portland dive:

Leigh Marble: Live at Porky's

Really, it's kinda rough, with too much drums. But it's the first in a series of live recordings I'm putting out there, destined to get better. The next tech upgrade will be using a pair of the Tape Op mics into a decent, portable pre, feeding the minidisc's line input.

I've also thought about doing a L/R split, with one mic out front, and one feed from the PA. This would give some balancing options for mixdown later. But I've heard that the ATRAC compression used by the minidisc doesn't like it when the stereo signals don't correlate. I'm wondering if there would be enough correlation between a mic and a PA feed... only one way to find out!

Leigh


PS: edited to update link

[lonesome_tone]

at first i listened to one of the album tracks and I was gonna be like, minidisc, one mic, fucking lies! but then i realized it was actually the bottom links.

pretty good - sounds like the shins. i actually much prefer the guitar sound on the live tracks, the studio stuff has that horrible piezo tone (well both kinda do) that makes acoustic guitars sound so damn foul. i also really like the hollow sound of the live tracks. it would be really cool if you say, recorded rhythm guitar and drums that way, maybe sang some choruses, then overdubbed vocals and guitar with more fidelity.

i dunno. i would try it.

[leigh]

at first i listened to one of the album tracks and I was gonna be like, minidisc, one mic, fucking lies! but then i realized it was actually the bottom links.

pretty good - sounds like the shins. i actually much prefer the guitar sound on the live tracks, the studio stuff has that horrible piezo tone (well both kinda do) that makes acoustic guitars sound so damn foul. i also really like the hollow sound of the live tracks. it would be really cool if you say, recorded rhythm guitar and drums that way, maybe sang some choruses, then overdubbed vocals and guitar with more fidelity.

Hey, lonesome tone, thanks for checking out the tracks.

I do use a piezo pickup live, into a California Blonde amp. I don't think there's any piezo on the studio tracks, though maybe a bit blended in with the mic for the acoustic track on "Pale Blue".

I just finished a site overhaul, and the live and studio tracks are on different pages now:

Studio: http://www.laughing-stock.org/leighmusic.html

Live at Porky's: http://www.laughing-stock.org/leighporkys.html

Cheers,
Leigh

[-MK-]

You've probably already found this out for yourself by now, but the technique you described ? recording stereo into the MD with a line out of the mixer on one channel and a mic on the other ? works great. I've recorded lots of live shows this way. With proper time alignment of the two tracks and a bit of compression, my clients have been very happy with the results.

Also, I agree that the little Sony MD stereo mic kicks ass!

-MK-

[leigh]

You've probably already found this out for yourself by now, but the technique you described ? recording stereo into the MD with a line out of the mixer on one channel and a mic on the other ? works great. I've recorded lots of live shows this way. With proper time alignment of the two tracks and a bit of compression, my clients have been very happy with the results.

Actually, haven't had a chance to try this yet. Still trying to figure out in my head what connectors are going to work best, since it's gotta make it down to a 1/8" stereo jack to input to the Minidisc.

And the connector options depend on whether I use half the mini stereo mic for the mic signal, or whether I use a "regular" mono mic like a "Tape Op" omni.

Hell, I could build a special Tape Op omni power supply box with just the right connectors for the job. Include a 1/4" input for the PA line feed. Have the output as a 1/8" stereo jack, mic on one side, line feed on the other side. Or screw the jack, just include a 3' cord with the 1/8" plug at the end for the Minidisc.

Leigh