DDE: Filming At The Van Halen Shows
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Hey Hardrock...if one was interested in a digital audio recorder of some sort and also a camcorder with an external mic of some kind, do you have any suggestions?
Just curious if there was somethign that was nice and compact and was worth the expense = would provide a good result.Comment
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I have not kept up on technology in the compact camcorder realms....I am amazed at all the Zoom digital audio recorders there are. And I HAVE seen new camcorders that are small as the Zoom type of audio recorders.
I would have kept up with it more if I were still recording shows like I did in the 70s, 80s and 90s. I wish to the gods that I could have had the technology back then that is available now.
But after 1992, I got tired of worrying about being caught with my gear, and wanted to go to the show just to be entertained, instead of "working".
The only exception, and last time I recorded, was when Queensryche was on their Promised Land tour....and they announced in Wichita, Kansas on the radio one day that the band was allowing people to audio or video tape their shows. You had to go to the box office and buy a taper section ticket (same price as a regular ticket). I borrowed a pro-grade VHS camcorder from a friend who worked for a production company. Called the box office in advance to ask if I could bring in a tripod, and they said no. Showed up on the day of the show to see some guy being allowed inside by security with a tripod. And I had left the tripod at home.
I was pissed, but oh well. I videotaped Type O Negative (the opener) and the entire QR show. Not as steady as I would have liked, but the camera was a shoulder mounted camera, and, knowing all the songs QR played, I was able to zoom in on Geoff Tate when his vocals began, or the guitarists when they were taking solos......so it turned out beautifully....
Side note: So in between sets, I am in a hallway, charging the camcorder battery. I only got it the day before the show, and the battery took FOREVER to charge....I did not get it fully charged before the concert.
So some guy walks up to me in the hallway and gives me an after show pass.....he was in town to interview the band. I was hoping to meet Geoff Tate, as I have his laminate pass from the Rage For Order tour...and I wanted to get him to sign it. So after the show, the only band guy to show for the meet and greet was Eddie Jackson. Cool guy. So I went outside to the fenced in area where the tour buses were, and when Geoff walked out I asked him if he could spare a moment to sign something for me. When I showed him what I had it blew his mind, but he signed it. A friend of mine ran monitors on AC/DC's Who Made Who tour in the 80s, and QR was the opener for a leg of that tour....that was how I got it.
So anyway, I have a few good boots I recorded myself. But these days, there are so many other people recording shows that I just sit back and am content to be a consumer.
Sometimes, as with this U2 DVD I am editing, I go a step further.
And that is something perhaps one of you can do.
All you need is offline video editing software that will allow you to have multiple audio and video tracks. And have a full continuous audio recording of the show.
You load the master audio track, and you synch up the video clip audio to the master audio. Once it is synched up, you delete the shitty audio from the original clip.
There is much more to it than that, actually, but that is the basic thing.
And if you are doing as I am with this U2 project, you have to be sure you have enough video clips to cover every second of the entire show. A majority of people will stop recording right after the band is done with a song, and they will not start recording until after the band starts the song, so there can be gaps in the video between songs.
Am looking forward to seeing some DVDs of this tour.
If Van Halen wants to save some cash, here is what they should do. Give out HD vid cams to like 30 different people, most of the peeps to be up close in the front row, but others at various points around the arena, then, afterwards have a meet and greet where they turn in the video they shot. Then as a thank you to the people, just give the cameras back to them. VH can take the footage, and edit it to soundboard audio, and they will have a decent concert video without having to pay a crew of 30 cameramen, etc.
Trent Reznor did that in 1998. He was going to hire James Cameron's film crew and film a 3-D theatrical concert video in the NW, to be released in theaters.
He needed to get coordinated with his former label, who owns the rights for some of the material.....so they could release it.
The label dragged their feet...would not work at taking care of things, so finally when it was too late to get everything ready in time, Trent said to them "FUCK YOU MOTHERFUCKERS!" and he hired like 20 people to film 3 shows in HD..Vancouver, Portland, and I think San Francisco....he then used his soundboard audio and edited together the entire thing himself, then GAVE IT AWAY ON THE INTERNET as a big "FUCK YOU" to the record label. In fact, you can probably still download the original 1080p HD video (which you would need many terrabytes of hard drive space to store, as well as the internet connection from Hell) from his website.
I have the Portland show. It is THE most kickass bootleg concert DVD I have ever seen from a production standpoint.Comment
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Established in 2002, Taperssection.com is the forum community of live concert recordists. Taperssection is full of archived information and professional recordists who are ready to help you with your live sound recording questions
I read this at an audio taping forum:
I made it to the Montreal concert on Thursday. I was not allowed to bring my small camcorder in, but my digital camera was okay. I decided to try some video on that and part way through the second song, security told me to stop. He indicated just photos (by pretending to take a picture with an imaginary camera). I thought it was strange, but I complied. Later, I managed to video all of Eddie’s solo after seeing many people around me shooting videos of different songs. I took a lot of photos though and completely enjoyed the show, so there is no disappoinment here!
So it looks like some venues are not getting the word...Comment
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Heck, there is so much video and also photos being taken by peeps in the front rows with their iPhones, it is almost irrelevant. It is enough for me to say "Hey, these are from the show I was at!".Comment
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Hi Sunshine!
I was thinking, I got $10 that says your last name is Anthrope.
Miss Anthrope
and dang with your new avatar. Eat a sammich already. I'd tell you Elvis can get you soft shell crab sammiches, but I don't want to break the restraining order he probably has to keep you away from him.
PS - did you know Hostess ding songs? A serving size is 2 CAKES! NOT 1! Yum! So double up without the guilt.“Great losses often bring only a numb shock. To truly plunge a victim into misery, you must overwhelm him with many small sufferings.”Comment
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I get sad when I look at my ticket stub photo album. Man...I saw ALL the big arena bands in the 80's for under $20. usually around $16 to $17.50. Van Halen, Scorps, Def lep, AC/DC, Ozzy, all of them. Then I see my Police ticket for $180.....hahaha. I'm such an idiot to have paid that. In the 80's I was pissed when my older friends showed me their even older stubs that were like $9.50-$11. I thought I was getting ripped off paying $17 for Ozzy with Metallica opening up.“Great losses often bring only a numb shock. To truly plunge a victim into misery, you must overwhelm him with many small sufferings.”Comment
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I'm planning on bringing my Canon Rebel XT with telephoto lens to the 5/19 show in MN. Gonna call ahead to the venue before hand just to be safe - but hoping to get some cool shots.My karma just ran over your dogma.Comment
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