Recording audience ambience...??

[LightGroove]

Hey all,

Im starting to dabble into doing some live recording. One aspect I wanted to include was some audience/room ambience noise. I will be recording via a studiolive 16.4 and thus able to not have this mic come through my mains. Anyways is there a specific spot that captures these sorts of things better then others..also is there a particular mic that works well. I picked up a pair of at2020's for random multiuse and thought about putting one of these on a stand and letting it rip..

thoughts..ideas?

[hbarcat]

Use a pair of condenser mics, separated with one on the left side of the room and the other on the right and this will give you a more realistic stereo ambiance. Your AT2020's will be fine. Raise them as high as possible and make sure neither mic is too close to any specific members of the audience or you might up pick up individual conversations.

Be aware of placement near sources of noise. This might not be an issue if you're recording in a concert hall but if you happen to be in a bar or club then you should notice location of pool tables, bathrooms, wall mounted TV's, kitchen doors, etc. .

Hope this helps.

-Dan

[fokof]

A pair of shotguns placed over/beside/under the PA , pointing at the crowd. This way you'll have the same "image" as the stereo live mix.