More Than A Concert Recording, Thoughtfully Engineered Recordings That Capture Your Performance At It’s Best!
Henri Rapp Recording specializes in capturing live concert recordings that captures the energy of the performance the audience is experiencing. Recordings and being in person are very different experiences, and it’s my job to bridge that gap when providing concert recording services. I believe a live recording should be more than just a captured performance, listening should be an experience that transports you to a different time and place. It’s the interaction between the performers, audience, and venue. Let’s capture your performance at its best!
Live Concert Recording Process
High quality live concert recordings don’t happen by accident, they start in pre-production establishing a plan, than we expertly capture your performance using high end recording equipment, and finally get mixed down into a clean & powerful reproduction of your live performance.
Pre-Production & Booking
This is where we establish a plan for the concert through talking logistics, venue specs, location scouting, & establishing a stage plot for the show. From here we will get your concert recording on our calendar.
Load In & Setup
All of our equipment is cart based or in road cases with wheels, which keeps load in and setup streamlined and efficient. From here we get instrument & audience mics in place and vocal mic splits to share with FOH.
Sound Check
During sound check, we make sure everything is sounding great and working correctly. We not only work on sound checking the recording, but work with live sound engineer to dial in the system to the needs of the recording and your monitoring needs.
Music Recording
Now that the technical is taken care of, we hit record to capture your performance at its best! When recording live, failure isn’t an option, so we record to three redundant media on uninterruptible power source with battery backup.
Editing & Mixing
Taking the files from your live concert recording, we can now craft a mix that translates the energy of your live performance and audience interaction to the recorded medium. In mixing we clean up the recordings and reenforce your music’s sonic aesthetic.
Revisions & Delivery
Once the mix is getting close we will send you the mixes for review. Mixing is a collaborative process, we’ll work together to finalize any adjustments to the mix that are needed so you are happy with the final delivery of your recorded concert.
Book Your Live Concert Recording Now!
Live Music Recording
Recording music live adds another layer of complexity, not only are you capturing more inputs, but potentially dealing with additional bleed from close proximity of other instruments and potentially a PA system. This doesn’t mean high quality results when recording live music aren’t still possible, but it becomes about getting as much separation as possible between instruments, and getting a great sound from the source. Whether it is a live performance at a concert venue, or a live studio recording, monitoring is important part of the performance. When recording concerts live it’s best to start by getting the instruments sounding great in the space before that gets amplified into the room. By starting in a place where the volume and tonal balance is good to begin with, it will take less volume from the front of house & monitoring systems in order to get a great live mix. Less volume from the PA system directly translates to less blead and cleaner end results in the live concert recordings.
Recording The Audience In The Room
Recording a live performance isn’t just about recording the music, it’s about capturing the energy in the room the audience experiences. The interaction between the performers, the audience, and the room come together to make truely special recordings. Capturing close mics alone isn’t enough: By using room mics & crowd mics we can capture more than the instruments on stage, but put the listener into the experience of being there live.
Get Started Towards Booking A Concert Recording!
Live Recording Engineer – Henri Rapp
Hi, I’m Henri Rapp, a live recording engineer with over 14 years of experience producing studio albums, doing live sound, and working as a location sound recordist. One thing I’ve learned over the years is that every great recording starts with the artist, and it’s my job to help them translate what makes them unique to the recorded medium.
When it comes to live concert recording, I believe that authenticity and emotional impact are key. A great recording should transport listeners, allowing them to experience the performance the audience in the room experienced. As your live concert recording recording engineer, let’s work together to craft recordings that establish a lasting connection to your music with the listener. My approach in a nutshell is to capture your performance at its best and deliver a unique and memorable sonic aesthetic that supports your music and the lyrical narrative. This doesn’t happen happen by accident though, but by using high quality recording equipment to its full potential. Let me worry about the technical, so you can focus on performing!
Get Started Towards Booking A Concert Recording!
Concert Recording Services FAQ
Can we incorporate with a video team as well?
Yes! Coming from a background in the TV & Film production world, I know how to integrate with video production crews and provide them what they need from me including timecode & genlock, mixes to cameras, smart slates, IFBs, & much more. I’m happy to integrate into your video team, or help set you up with a video crew.
How long will it take before we can hear mixes of the performance?
Typically within 24 hours I can send you the reference mix. In addition to recording the isolated channels, I also record a stereo reference mix of the live show on site. While reference mix is a bit different from how the end product will sound, it should be a good approximation of how the show sounded.
The first round of mixes I deliver beyond the show’s reference mix will depend on how booked up I am at that moment and the complexity of the concert recording. However I make an effort to get every project completed as quickly as possible.
How much setup time do we need to record a concert?
That all depends on the complexity of the show. For a typical small-medium sized venue with a 3-5 person lineup, I’d expect around 4 hours of setup time & sound check for a full multitrack recording. Smaller acoustic groups or larger scale events will add or subtract the amount of prep time needed in the venue. Let’s have a chat and I can give you an estimate once I know more about your project!
What kind of notice do we need to book a concert recording?
Provided we aren’t already booked that date, 48 hours notice should be a sufficient time window for booking a concert recording. While we encourage you to book in advance in order to ensure availability for your concert date, we are always happy to accommodate last minute bookings as well.
What do we need to know about the concert venue?
There is a lot we need to know about the venue and may make sense to set up a conversation between all three of us. Venue layout and where we can stage the recording equipment is important to know in advance. What the PA rig looks like, and if they have a split snake that would allow us to share mics, and where we can rig crowd mics. Talking to who will be mixing the front of house show to work with them to help us yield clean live recordings. Keeping the front of house and monitoring levels a little lower than typical will go a long way towards cleaning up the recording.
How quickly can you get me the finished products?
Typically within 24 hours I can give you an export from your recording session. While this won’t be your final mix, it will let you hear what we recorded. Turn around time for final mixed product varies based on my current workload and your project’s timeline. If you have a specific deadline we need to meet, let us know and we can make sure our timeline coincides with yours.
How did you make our concert recordings sound so good?
There is no secret beyond hard work, years of experience, and having the tools to do the job the right way. Having a background in both producing music and live sound engineering, coupled with what I’ve learned in doing location sound for film & TV; I have the experience and tools to record live concerts at a very high level of quality.