Digital mixing console? Check. Digital plug-in processing? Check. Digital audio network to stage and monitors? Check. Digital multitrack hard disk recording system? Increasingly, check – and that's a potential checkmate for what was once a thriving sector of the live music business.
The golden era of live recordings was nearly 40 years ago – from Cream to Pink Floyd to The Dead to Frampton to Springsteen, at least one live LP was considered mandatory. Jackson Browne's Running On Empty created a new benchmark in 1977, elevating the category to conceptual status. In the 1970s and 1980s it seemed for while that live recordings were giving studio recordings a run for their money: the hit singles "Purple Rain," "Freebird" and "Rock and Roll All Nite" were all recorded live. While the number and sales of live records fell off in the 1990s as more electronics-based genres like rap and hip-hop were ascendant, live LPs still held their allure for millions of record buyers. The best-selling live album ever came out in 1998: Garth Brooks' Double Live LP, to the tune of 21 million-plus copies.
Ironically, as live music has emerged as the primary revenue generator for an ever-larger number of music artists, the number of live LPs has declined steeply. Instead, the live track has morphed into a premium item for fan club members and a value-add in the form of post-concert CDs recorded on the fly and churned out by high-speed duplicators, ready for concertgoers as they head to the parking lots. But mostly, they are being archived on portable hard drives, a massive collection of multitracked content recorded on the Pro Tools rigs that have become de rigueur in FOH racks, waiting for someone to figure out what to do with it all.
"Decimated"
In the process, though, they have decimated a pro audio sector that once worked closely with live sound mixers. "Decimated" is the word that Robert "Kooster" McAllister, owner of Record Plant Remote, uses to describe the effect that hard-disk recording integrated into the FOH position has had on music remote business, a downward curve he says started a little over two years ago. It stems from the portability of hard disk systems and the fact that record labels no longer have the wherewithal to pay for high-end remote recording services. Concerts on DVD helped support the sector for a while – Record Plant Remote recently did a Blake Shelton concert DVD – but McAllister and the RIAA's own numbers say that that category is also in decline.
Kooster has done what most businesses do in the face of a contracting market: cut back on costs. His business plan called for paying off his latest truck in two years, which he accomplished, as well as keeping a string of broadcast music clients going, including Good Morning America's summer concert series and Sunday Best on BET.
But there are only so many things that can be cut back on without affecting the quality of the recording, and that's McAllister's main point of contention. "You can get some very good recordings on Pro Tools by the FOH mixer, but they don't have the equipment or the time – and. in some cases, the necessary expertise – to do proper audience miking," he says. "When we do a job, we use 10 to 12 audience microphones, versus one pair, which is all they can spare or have time to set up."
Jake Mossman, the EIC on the Sheffield Remote truck, echoes McAllister's assessment of the business, driven largely by lower budgets and affordable digital multitrack systems. "Once you make the initial investment in the recording rig, recording live audio material becomes much cheaper," he says. "A whole tour can be documented instead of a one-shot deal with a truck."
Different Mindsets
However, Mossman points out that the FOH and remote music mixer are fundamentally two different mindsets, and it can show in the end product. "As recording engineers, we have a different focus than the live guys. A dead high hat mic or small buzz might not affect a live show much, but it might be a big deal to the engineer mixing the tracks in a studio later on. Each input needs to be perfect, so getting electrically clean signals [and] choosing the right microphone and microphone position is important on the recording end. What might be acceptable for a PA system in a loud rock show might not work so well for a studio mix."
FOH mixers agree that the hard disk multitrack recorder is now a regular fixture in the rack. In the past three years, FOH mixer Brad Madix has toured three times with Rush, once with Jane's Addiction, mixed several shows for Rage Against the Machine, mixed several shows for Weezer and toured with Jessica Simpson. Only one of those tours did not carry a Pro Tools rig. (That was Jessica Simpson, and she was opening for Rascal Flatts on most of the tour, who did carry a MADI multitrack recording system off of a Studer desk.) "On Rush, we carry two Pro Tools HD3 recording systems, one at FOH and one at monitors," he adds.
However, Madix says that understanding the limitations of what multitracking at the FOH position can accomplish is crucial. "Though we get high-quality tracks on the rigs we carry on tour, there are a few things that are difficult to monitor during a show. Primary among them: audience mics. There is simply no way to do this properly at FOH while the show is going on, and the monitor engineer is too busy paying attention to the band to get into soloing up extraneous tracks. Also, there are aspects of recording live when video is involved that require skill sets that are not necessary on a day-to-day basis; chiefly, syncing timecode and word-clock to an external source. This is not to say that live engineers aren't capable of doing this, just that it's not the kind of thing we do everyday and involves some pieces of gear many live engineers aren't accustomed to dealing with. My advice to clients is that if you absolutely, positively must have this particular show, then a dedicated truck is the way to go. Ditto anything that involves broadcast."
On the other hand, Madix knows just how powerful a traveling recording rig can be. Rush released a well-received DVD of a concert recorded on Pro Tools at the FOH position, and another Rush song recorded and mixed on the FOH HD3 rig was nominated for a Grammy last year. Bits and pieces of shows recorded over the past few tours have been used as bonus material on various live CD and DVD releases. And even if one note never sees the light of retail, Madix says the multitracks are invaluable for improving the live mix's quality. "We use it to refine the mix every day," he says. "Also, I use it as the primary source for tuning the PA, and Brent [Carpenter] has used it in monitors to refine the band's in-ear mixes. Even if a recording never got released commercially, I still think the multitrack recorder is a valuable tool for live engineers."
Fewer Music-Only Trucks
The future for music-only trucks is a limited one. McAllister at one point considered assembling and renting recording packs for tours, but decided that his heart wouldn't be in it. Certainly, broadcast has to be a survival component of any business plan going forward. But if the demand for higher-quality live recordings does ramp up, that could create new opportunities, including making FOH a two-person proposition. The future of live concert recordings may be more aptly scaled to a Travelpro than a Peterbilt.
