Im off to an event on friday, and the organiser (my best mate) would like the sets recorded, which principally is very very easy, but doing it the easy way doesnt always give the best results as i have found before, ill try and keep it brief, but this is roughly the set up we use...

decks wired into the main dj mixer, 1 output ran to the smaller amp and therefore to the dj's monitors, so he gets just the sound he is creating which can be set to his preferred level of volume.

Then, a 2nd output ran from the main dj mixers secondary output to the 2nd mixer, and then into bigger amp, which runs the main sets of speakers on the dancefloor, the mic is also plugged into this 2nd mixer, so the floor can hear the MC, but the dj cant, and again, levels can be tailored to the venue.

the easy option is to simply run a lead from the 2nd mixers record output into the line in of the laptop and job done, but having tried this way in the past, the mc either sounds too quiet or too loud (usually too loud) on playback, its fine for the live venue at the time, but not for a recording.

So, what i want to do, is run the record output from the 2nd mixer into ANOTHER mixer, and also find a way to split the mic output so it can run to the 2nd mixer, AND into my mixer, so that way i can tailor the music/MC levels on my mixer and then record off that, leaving the dancefloor levels unchanged.

In short, is this possible, i can see no problem with any of it, apart from how to split the mic output to 2 seperate mixers, wondering if one of these would maybe do the trick???



many thanks in advance

If he doesn't reply, you might want to try to PM Kev/thisnameistaken. From a number of his previous posts he seems to perform (and at least aid in co-ordinating) a lot of live and/or recorded music, so he could be a source of information for this.

All I can think of is getting a mixer with a built-in multi-track recorder. But of course then you have to buy something on short notice, which probably is not something desirable.

Mixing it on the fly with give you the same problems unless you can completely isolate yourself from the main sound system.

Your best bet is to record the music and mic seperately then mix them together later.

Either 2 recording devices then mix them together later or 2 inputs into some multitracking device/software.

For this of course you'll need a way of isolating the mic from the main mix. Most big mixers have individual channel outs which will sort it but becomes more difficult if it hasn't.

If it's a decent console (if it has pre-fade auxiliary sends) you should be able to do this without any additional hardware.

The desired result is two mixes - one for the front of house sound, and one for your recording. Let the house mix their sound however they like using the faders on each channel as normal, but ask them (if they have a spare pre-fade aux send, which they probably will) to create (or let you create) a mix for your recording using the aux send. That way you can take a stereo out direct from the desk and their mix won't affect your mix (or vice versa).

I've done this before when mixing stage monitors in poorly equipped venues (most have a separate console for monitor mixes) and while it's not ideal it does work.

Of course the best solution would be to record a multi-channel signal from the console and mix it later at home, but that would require more gear than you have, not to mention a degree of expertise with audio software. If all you've got is a stereo input to record to your computer then a mix through the aux sends is probably the easiest solution that gives you the flexibility you need.