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[Tim McCulloch]

I got to see the Pageant of the Masters at Laguana Beach this summer. It is an outdoor venue.
 Live large orchestra and fantastic show. If you get there make plans to see it.

The entire production was fantastic and the audio was just spot on. It was really well mixed.  I was stage left about 20 rows up. Sounded wonderful. I have no idea what system they have.

I saw the Pageant of the Masters a looooong time ago, I think around 1974.  The concept of "living re-creations" of great works of visual art sounds kind of lame but seeing it is another matter entirely - it's really impressive.

I don't recall a live orchestra back then but I was still thinking about a career in LX (until I found out I have a narrow form of color blindness) at the time and was't paying a lot of attention to the audio.  That means everything was well done and as a budding tech, was still captivated by the performance to the point I was able to not be a techie.

Might be time to visit Laguna Beach again...

[Douglas R. Allen]

Hi:
This request is from a definite rookie to all the true professionals here on the the forum.  Do you have a link to examples of what you consider well-mixed live sound?  A YouTube or similar link with quality sound would be great.  Not something recorded from a cellphone, but rather where the audio track is maybe the actual mains output from the mixer.  Here's why I ask.

I recently attended a concert from a Motown legend at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta.  The sound quality was OK, but not really what I was expecting.  Maybe my expectations are unrealistic, but I was hoping for something at least sort of approximating hi-fi sound.  Instead, I heard bass that was just a sort of thumping/throbbing mass of sound, and a lead vocal with a 2Khz to 3Khz peak that pierced through my ears in an unpleasant sort of way.  The bass was loud, and you could certainly feel it in your body, but you really could not pick out very many of the notes the electric bass was playing.  It was more like that sound you hear while stopped at a traffic light and some vehicle several cars back has hip-hop playing at 120 dB SPL.  The lead vocal was sometimes a little buried in the mix, but even when not buried there was still too much 2K - 3K in it for my taste.  Definitely not how the vocalist sounds on his records.

I have also found this same general sort of sound quality at some other local gigs I've attended.  Granted I did not have the same expectations of them as I had for a major national touring act.  So is this sort of mix sound kind of the norm, or are there mixers out there who produce a sound in concert that is near quality-wise to what we are spoiled with on the artist's records?  I know live sound will never match a studio recording precisely, but I wonder if there are those out there in live sound who try to get as close as reasonably possible?

Thanks,
Bill

I was at a Phish show at Loring Air force base in Limestone Maine.  The bass control and extension was the best I've ever heard as was the seamless delay lines.
This doesn't give the bottom justice but the rest is pretty close.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFnR6UKOxzM


Douglas R. Allen 

[Michael Lawrence]

  Not something recorded from a cellphone, but rather where the audio track is maybe the actual mains output from the mixer.

I just want to add that the mixes Chris Mitchell is doing with Umphrey's McGee are some of the best live mixes I've ever heard. One of the very few concerts I've sat through where I didn't want to go run to the board and tweak stuff. I'm not a big fan of the jam band genre but Chris was nice enough to let me tag along to a recent show and I thoroughly enjoyed myself.

The concert videos on their YouTube channel are taken directly off Chris's board, and tonally sound a lot like the band sounds in the room if you turn it up LOUD on a good system with good subs.

[Bill Meeks]

I just want to add that the mixes Chris Mitchell is doing with Umphrey's McGee are some of the best live mixes I've ever heard. One of the very few concerts I've sat through where I didn't want to go run to the board and tweak stuff. I'm not a big fan of the jam band genre but Chris was nice enough to let me tag along to a recent show and I thoroughly enjoyed myself.

The concert videos on their YouTube channel are taken directly off Chris's board, and tonally sound a lot like the band sounds in the room if you turn it up LOUD on a good system with good subs.

Wow!  Yes, these do sound excellent.  This is more in line with what I was expecting from a professionally mixed national touring act.  The show I mentioned in my original post was not nearly as "clean" as these mixes.

[Bill Meeks]

I was at a Phish show at Loring Air force base in Limestone Maine.  The bass control and extension was the best I've ever heard as was the seamless delay lines.
This doesn't give the bottom justice but the rest is pretty close.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFnR6UKOxzM


Douglas R. Allen

This one sounds very good.  Wonder what they used to make the recording?  Whatever it was seemed to pickup the audio fairly well, but then the show mix sounds clean, too.  That makes for a better recording right away.  The vocals are not piercing with exaggerated high-mids and the instruments are blended very well.

[Douglas R. Allen]

This one sounds very good.  Wonder what they used to make the recording?  Whatever it was seemed to pickup the audio fairly well, but then the show mix sounds clean, too.  That makes for a better recording right away.  The vocals are not piercing with exaggerated high-mids and the instruments are blended very well.

As you may know Phish had no problems with bootleg recordings and had recording area's available at their shows. I was in this area just to look at all the different recording equipment.  They also had "Phish Radio" which I believe was a desk send to perhaps a recording / broadcast truck which went to a low power FM transmitter so you could listen on FM as well.  Many people in the recording area had booms and mast up to 20 to 30 feet up. I've struggled to figure out if this was live or off Phish FM. The sound that day really was this good. The bass was thicker and extended. I wonder if this was off a boom and the distance to the ground came into play. Best sound I've heard to date as far as overall sound/proper volume and delay lines.  Again the bottom was flawless.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtGW8uRwvk8&t=50s

Douglas R. Allen 

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