The Sir Wick Rules of Live Recordings!
A good dear friend of mine is doing a live recording. I asked him if I could give some advice since I have made sooo many mistakes. Here's my advice on anyone who wants to do a live recording. Hope this helps!
The singers must smile, no matter what. They should always look forward. You can redo a lot of things. It’s hard to fix someone not smiling or not looking forward. No plugin exists for that 🙂
Click track is a MUST. At least for the drummer; two for the bass and drummer, but if you can only do one click. IT MUST BE FOR THE DRUMMER
Have at least three cameras. Even if one is your phone. Put your phone on Airplane Mode. Set the phone to at least 1080p. 4K is better, but if you don’t have the storage, do at least 1080p. Trust me, you’ll need it. Even if you have 4 professional cameras, record a view from your phone. Even keep one on the drummer and the bass. You’ll want every angle. You can never have too much footage.
If you can, since you are using a click record the vocals from rehearsals. ALL of them at the appropriate tempo. You can use those to stack for your recordings. Makes life easier since you are already preparing.
Have someone there who is…for the lack of a better word, OCD. Meaning, they’ll make sure no cords are looking crazy, everything is looking good, collars are in the right place, pants are all right, nothing extra on stage, all the little things. We are worshipping and singing; we can’t see all of that. Also, we don’t need to be worried about that.
Remind the singers to smile, no matter what.
Even though it’s old school, you might need to use a clacker to help align things
Don’t try anything new vocally at the recording. Do exactly what you want to do it. Don’t talk about “The Spirit led me.” No it didn’t, your emotions led you. 🙂 🙂🙂.
You don’t need everything at the recording. Donnie McClurkin’s “Live in London” might have been in London, but the strings were recorded at Studio A in Detroit/Dearborn, MI, especially the strings.
Remind the singers to smile, no matter what.
Bring batteries, sd cards, hard drives, and extension cords. Even bring your computer with a DAW ready to go, just in case. Just like the Boy Scouts, be prepared.
You MIGHT need to have a full dress rehearsal, that is, make sure everyone has the correct color schemed wardrobe. Nothing is worse than someone not communicating early and then saying, “Oh yeah, about that…I didn’t have that color.”
Remind the singers to smile no matter what.
Have food between sound check and performance. You don’t want anything to happen. Treat this like the movies: Have your craft services on deck. Don’t be cheap. Have a full meal. That way everything is there and no one has a need to leave! Eat REAL good.
Remind the singers to smile no matter what.
If a song goes “bad.” It’s okay to do it again but maybe do it afterwards. DO the full show. Then go back and redo it. Let everything flow.
Remember, an important thing is to have your rhythm section tight and record a great video. You can always overdub everything else.
Remind the singers to smile no matter what.
More on the tech side, but get the info on everything: What mics were used, what camera lenses were used, which cameras were used. You might not ever need to talk about those specs, but you are still making history. There may come a time when people want to know what you used.
Remind the singers to smile no matter what.
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