Videoing gigs can be challenging, particularly given the constraints of small and medium venues. But capturing a great performance, complete with the night's atmosphere, can be a hugely rewarding experience.
Capturing live music at a club is like trying to herd cats. There are so many variables you absolutely have no control over: from the stage (or lack of one), sound, lighting, musicians, audience, and club personnel. You can try to deal with some of these elements except, of course, for the audience. We attempt to contact the band and the club to ask them for permission to video and publish the performance. When we started DLT, we would show up and ask for permission. On more than one occasion, we were told to leave or that we could not shoot video, only photos. However, most clubs and bands have welcomed us. Why? Local, live music is typically ignored by the press (the exception is The Dallas Observer, which has covered the local music scene for decades.) Back in the day when KERA played contemporary music (Abbie Goldstein era), she covered the local music scene, as did KNON. KNON still provides local coverage. However, today many people rely on hit-and-miss social media feeds to get information about bands and clubs. It's just not the same.
We have experimented with many different workflows, gear, and approaches to try and capture the essence of a band's performance. It has resulted in some decent captures and some total failures. That's expected, given what we're doing and the circumstances surrounding it. A typical evening for a shoot starts with a planning session: which camera rig and audio gear to use based on what is known about the venue and the band. It is helpful to know something about the venue's layout; you don't show up to a hole-in-the-wall place with a two-camera rig, tripods, a digital audio recorder, and multiple mics. That's too much gear for a small club. We now use iPhone 13 Pros' to work in tightly confined spaces. This simple setup allows enough flexibility and mobility for small venues. We typically attach a small shotgun mic to the rig to improve audio quality. For larger venues, we are now doing two camera shoots. Now, this process is not for the faint of heart, as it requires two cameras, a tripod, a gimbal, a timecode sync device, power packs for the cameras, a digital audio recorder, and multiple microphones, and all of this is done by one person - no pressure. Even when you think you have it all planned out and know the venue, the occasional weird gear meltdowns can trip up what should have been an easy shoot.
One common problem in many clubs is the lighting which tends to be on a sliding scale from non-existent, awful, semi-awful, weird colors, not pointing toward the musicians, too much light on one musician, and semi-decent. Video cameras are now much better in dealing with low-light situations, but stage lights that are not set up properly can not be fixed other than changing the entire shoot to monochrome. Several venues have what we affectionately call the "Blue Light" special. The stage is lit with some shades of blue, purple, and red, leading to just more shades of blue: giving you the Blue People Group all night long.
One area that many venues have better dealt with is the sound system. This is partly due to professional audio becoming cheaper and better over the decades. Some larger clubs even have a dedicated sound person that mixes the audio for a band's performance. This helps us achieve better sound quality by either getting a recording of the performance directly from the board mix, or recording the sound from the speakers. When we have to capture the performance from the sound system, there is always the potential to end up with a too-hot distorted signal. Even though we attempt to properly set the input levels, working in the dark in a small space, you can accidentally bump a knob and end with a less-than-optimal recording. Because of this issue, we are moving to 32 Bit floating audio recorders in 2023, virtually eliminating this problem.
The next big problem with club audio capture is crowd noise. Clubs are typically noisy places drinking, talking, dancing, and eating. When capturing the audio with mics, you run right into this noise. This is especially evident when the music is on the softer side. So you can't just point an omnidirectional or dynamic mic toward the band; the audio track will be filled with crowd noise, ruining the performance. You need a decent shotgun mic that you point directly at the sound system. This eliminates a lot of crowd noise, but if you have to set up the mic behind the crowd, you may get some bleed-through of the noise. If the music is loud, the problem goes away when the band plays.
Crowds can be a problem. It's usually dark, there can be a lot of drinking, and the patrons pay little or no attention to what is happening around them. Suddenly, someone bumps into you or your equipment. We have had tripod legs broken and cameras and mics knocked to the floor - ouch! We always try and setup out of the way, but sometimes you can't get far enough away from patrons. Once everything is done, all files are uploaded so that editing can begin. Most local musical performances are fairly straightforward in their process (no people flying around the room.) There are some lead singers who can't stand still, and this can mean a lot of panning to keep up with their antics. But most performers are confined to a small stage, and that constraint helps with shooting. In the end the footage is edited and uploaded to YouTube.
As you see, there are a lot of variables to deal with shooting a live performance. It requires skills in audio, video, and public relations to pull all of this together. In the end, we get to experience new and up-and-coming acts flying underneath the radar of pop music record companies. The music business has never been an easy road to stay on. The ditches are filled with bands with the best intentions and great talent, only to miss a turn along the road to the big leagues.
We will continue videoing local and regional bands in 2023, as many groups are still working hard to bring their music to a wider audience. Our mission and focus is to showcase these groups who don't receive much attention. To shine the spotlight on them, to let a larger audience see what these groups look and sound like in person. Who knows when a new star will be born? We might catch one.
Best Wishes for 2023