Blackmagic Forum

Hey folks,

We've been doing more and more live music events. Just curious where you like to set up your switching area for live music. We've been doing it at the back of the venue (usually off to one side.) We like having a view of the stage. Some people have told me it makes more sense to build your video production area behind the stage. Then it's quieter as the speakers aren't blasting towards you. Obviously we have our multiview screen with all camera angles so we don't necessarily need to see the stage with our own eyes. Are there more pros to being tucked away behind the stage? Thanks for any input.

J.

we doing both .. sometimes in venue .. sometimes otside (mainly OBWAN) ..

I like to be as close as practical to the sound engineers. Partly because I was sound engineering before video, but mainly because sound is the easiest part of the video to get wrong. Co-locating with the sound desk means you get to hear what it is supposed to sound like and recreate that as close as possible. FOH mix is NOT the ideal mix for recording/streaming. There is a lot of sound coming off the stage that blends with the FOH mix to give the desired result, as well as the room itself interacting with the audio coming out of FOH speakers. For example, we nearly always increase the volume of the drums in the record/stream mix, particularly the kick.

It's an acquired art to monitor both the record stream and in-house at the same time. I have a set of IEM earphones which helps isolate each source. Being close to the sound desk you can more easily get their assistance when required.