Portable Digital Recorder for Live Ambient FOH?

[vonnor]

Hey all, I saw this but not exactly the same desired application. I tried LMGTFY as well, but wanted to see if any of y'all have something you swear by.

 

Basically I want to set the thing out beyond the dance floor and record the full night's show with the built-in mics, to hear the relative levels for the different keyboard 'patches.' Some tunes (Rebel Yell, Feels Like the First Time, etc) have a lot of different sounds in different parts of the song. The sound tech tries to make notes on any glaring issues, but since I know what I'm playing at any point I could do a better job of reviewing and tweaking levels as needed.

 

Thanks guys!

 

~ Bill C. (vonnor)

[ElmerJFudd]

I’ve had very good captures using Zoom H4n on a mic stand.  

[D. Gauss]

this and done for 74 bucks:

https://www.amazon.com/Zoom-H1n-Handy-Recorder-Model/dp/B078PTM82R/ref=asc_df_B078PTM82R/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=312118595187&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=10099473173031704748&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=1022194&hvtargid=pla-510207101957&th=1

 

[Stokely]

It's a tough issue, especially for a band like mine that usually doesn't have an engineer out front.  What I hear in in-ear monitors may not be just like what goes out front, differences in speakers and all that.  I try my best to keep things consistent but it's tough when the whole band is trying to play dynamically, real easy to pop out too much or get buried.

This is why I've noticed that when we do use a live sound engineer they tend to slap a really heavy compression on keys (and likely other instruments).  They don't know our sets so the minute something pops out that is their fix, I've heard it from the horse's mouth more than once but I can also hear it in my monitor mix if I'm not monitoring pre-insert...hate it but what can you do.

I've been meaning to do this myself.  I have an old Zoom h2, not sure it still works.  If not, I may get that H1n shown just above.   Our singer goes out front and supposedly sets the keys levels (I usually set everything else during a soundcheck or a keys-less first song if we get don't get one) but I've heard comments from the audience that suggest I'm too far down.   My favorite comment after a set:  "You were AWESOME!   I couldn't really hear you though, can you turn up?"   LOL I must have been super if you couldn't hear me...