[Walt]

On 6/26/2011 9:43 AM, Gary Eickmeier wrote:

copped a track from the sound board, and is that ever weird. We don't
usually like to take their sound, because it just sounds so Tron like - no
audience applause, just the musical instrument and mike feeds from the
stage. What was more disappointing about the board sound was that it was
dead straight mono. Phooey. I always wondered about that - whether they were
clever enough to mix the PA sound in stereo. Guess not. Maybe it doesn't
matter.

Most PA systems these days are stereo (or two channel if you want to be
picky), but there are still folks out there running in mono. The thing
is, the operator has to be a bit circumspect about panning because the
job of the PA is to distribute the sound throughout the audience and if
something is panned hard left or hard right much of the audience may not
be able to hear it. So even with a stereo rig, the amount of actual
stereo is limited.

As for the "Tron like" sound, the signal sent to the speakers is usually
fairly dry - you can't use distant-mic techniques for PA because it'll
feed-back, and you don't need to add the ambient sound and audience
since it's already there.

So, usually the PA signal needs a little something extra to finish it
off so it sounds like a recording rather than just a board feed. (a bit
of artificial reverb and/or some room/audience mics) The one thing the
PA signal does give you is a direct clear close-miced signal of the
instruments so you have a chance at making a professional sounding
recording. A mic or mics in the audience without the close-miced signal
will always sound like a bootleg - you're basically recording the PA
rather than the instruments themselves.

Of course, the real way to do it is to split the individual mics and do
your own mix, perhaps laying them to a multi-track so you can mix it
later. And mixing for video brings it's own complications since what
sounds best when accompanied by a picture is not what sounds best sans
picture. For instance, not everything can be on-top of the mix, so some
musicians will be a bit buried, but if the camera focuses on something
that's burried, it sounds wrong.

//Walt