Modern live recording

Abstract

Recording equipment have evolved drastically from acoustical and electrical recording to computer based digital audio. This thesis focuses on how digital live audio equipment has enabled one person to be able to mix a show and record a live band simultaneously. The purpose of this thesis is to give an overall view of factors surrounding live recording and then provide a practical example of how that knowledge can be put into action.

The theoretical study for this thesis involved written material such as books, e-books, web articles, patents, product brochures, manuals and websites surrounding the topic. This study consists of theoretical and practical part. The theoretical part covers briefly the history and fundamentals of acoustic and electrical recording before covering the concept of digital audio. The practical part of this thesis depicts one way of pre-producing, recording and post-producing a live band in digital domain.

The recorded band was Lemmenlautta and the recordings for this thesis took place during autumn of 2018. As the technical side of their show is a one-man operation, the simultaneous live mixing and multitrack recording would not have been possible if the signal distribution, audio signal processing and recording gear were not working in digital domain.