[Dixielandjazz] Recording Direct From Sound System

[Dave Stoddard]

Whatever you do, please don't concentrate on recording and forget about the 
audience.  I once saw a famous jazz band (names have been omitted to protect 
the guilty) at a concert with around a thousand people in the audience. 
They were recording a "live at the concert" CD.  The band was playing 
acoustically, but they arranged themselves strategically around the 
recording mikes and everything they did was with the recording in mind.  The 
concert had all of the excitement of paint drying.

The tickets to this event were not cheap.  I had driven some distance and 
checked into a motel to hear this concert, and was not pleased to be ranked 
behind a recording project in the band's priorities.  Make sure you connect 
with your audience.  You are there to play for them, not to use them as a 
live applause machine for your next CD.

Regards,
Dave Stoddard
Round Rock, TX