Tips for Achieving Quality Recordings of Your Students' Live Performances

Between juggling a roster full of students, preparing them for end of year performances, and planning and organizing recitals and concerts, the last thing on your mind might be how to get a professional-quality video and audio recording.

Just as athletes will document, review, and study their own performances after a game, musicians can also benefit from watching and listening to their own performances after-the-fact, when their mind is not focused on operating their instrument(s). Not to mention, it will make for a great memory, and great to share with family and friends who might not have been in attendance! We spoke with our Senior Director of Video and Media, Robert Hirsh, to get some tips on how you can easily improve the quality of your live recordings for you and your students, even with limited resources and knowledge.

What equipment is necessary to get a quality recording?

When recording a live concert yourself, you’ll likely find that the bigger obstacle to getting a great result is capturing nice sounding audio rather than great looking images, since cameras are more forgiving at a distance than are microphones. So, if possible, we recommend recording video and audio on two separate devices and syncing them together afterward using non-linear-editing (NLE) software. For those unfamiliar with that process, it’s not as difficult as it sounds, and there are numerous beginning tutorials online to help you. If using two or more cameras, you’ll even be able to do basic cuts between cameras using the NLE.

Audio Gear Options

The audio gear can range from a professional field recorder with a separate microphone, to one with built in stereo microphones, to even just a smartphone. Field recorders will be the most important thing if you want the best audio possible, most will come with a microphone attachment so you can just set them down close to the talent and have them perform or you can plug in a better microphone and record the audio. If someone is recording audio through a soundboard you can even hook into the board using an XLR cable. (This would require syncing the audio and video in an editing software.)

Video Gear Options

Similarly, video gear can range from DSLRs with interchangeable lenses that perform great in low lighting, to a smartphone. Just remember, if your camera records to SD cards, make sure you have the right kind, and that you can record continuously for the length of the performance (some have a limit of around 30 minutes). GoPros—although not the most quality image you can capture—can still be very good, if done correctly. They’re not great in low light so make sure the area is well lit, and make sure it is close enough to the performer since it has such a wide angle. Try to shoot in 4k and if you want less distortion on the edges, change it to a medium aspect ratio.

Pro Tip: It’s important when recording audio and video separately that the sample rate of the devices match exactly. This is how the two elements will sync together over the duration of the performance without drifting apart. For example, professional gear usually records at 48k, while the IPhone records at 44.1k. You may need to change the rate if mixing and matching gear.

Recommended Setup

For audio capture, the basic idea is to place the microphone as near to the sound source as you can, maximizing gain and minimizing background or room noise. The necessity of this rule falls along a spectrum, of course, as it’s hugely dependent on the type of concert being captured, I.e. more relevant for a solo acoustic instrument like a flute or classical guitar than for a full concert band.

For video, ideally you’d want at least two cameras mounted on tripods. One capturing a wide shot showing all the performers on stage, and a secondary camera showing close-ups or details of the performer(s). The wide shot should be locked down and at a high enough angle to minimize showing the audience (remember, anybody can stand up at any time!). The second camera affords you a great opportunity to capture a variety of shots that tell the “story” of the performance. You’ll want this camera to differ from the angle and shot size of the wide shot as much as possible so you don’t duplicate shots.

You can be free in your choices with this camera since you’ll be editing out any bad shots; you’ll always have the safety of that wide shot to cut to.

What if I only have a smartphone for audio and video?

Even if using only a smartphone for video and audio, the proximity rule still applies. Either make sure to get it as close to the player as possible so that the mic can capture the sound cleanly, or use a second smartphone for the audio. And, again, you can sync these up later. If you can find a way to mount the phone to a tripod or on a table so that it isn’t constantly moving around, do so. Most smartphones will record cleanly without any extra apps required. Newer Apple iPhones can record audio from an external source if plugged into the audio jack/lightning port even while recording regular video. This will give you the option of mounting a microphone on it or a wireless system if you have one. Using the app MoviePro or Filmic Pro lets you choose even more in depth settings for phone recordings (this app also allows audio monitoring). If you want to edit on the phone there are a few free apps that work great, iMovie or Filmmaker Pro for iPhone or Adobe Premiere Clip for Android.

What about lighting considerations?

If your concert take place in an auditorium with stage lighting, there’s little you can do except expose your camera correctly. Most cameras do a good job of auto exposing, and auto focusing, but if you notice something isn’t quite right and you still want to keep everything on auto, try framing the subject in the center of the frame and see if the camera responds favorably. Otherwise, you can always manually expose on a smartphone by pressing your finger on the touch screen at the performer’s face until you are notified of a “lock."

Lighting tips for shooting in a multi-purpose room

Some locations may not have stage lighting at all, such as multi- or general-purpose rooms in a school, community center, or house of worship. Often, rooms like these will have windows and overhead fixtures, typically with fluorescent or, increasingly, LED lights. The main consideration in this scenario is to avoid mixing different sources of lighting, such as daylight and artificial lighting since they have a different color temperature. This will manifest in weird color hues showing up in your image.

You can avoid this by:

1. For a daytime concert, turn off the overhead lights and try to position the performer(s) either facing the windows, or beside them, but not too oblique an angle that they are lit from behind. You can then supplement this natural light by filling in from the opposite side of the window using either a daylight balanced lighting kit (ideally with a soft box), or daylight photoflood bulbs bounced into a large piece of white cardboard or foam core. The larger the ensemble, the bigger a fill source, or sources, you’ll need, so that it is out of your main shot, but still effective.
2. For a nighttime concert, the windows are not usually a factor so you can leave the artificial light on, and supplement that with an inexpensive lighting kit, or set of photofloods (bounced like in the daytime example) that are balanced the same as the overhead light. This can get tricky and may take some research, or an educated guess, to determine that color temperature.

For further questions on recording tips and tricks, or if you have any recommendations of your own, let us know in the comments below!