ABSTRACT
Digital consoles make live recordings easy. Many digital PA consoles offer multitrack recording: simply connect a computer, multi-track hard-drive recorder, or multitrack USB recorder into the digital data stream typically via MADI or Dante. Board mixes can sound good if there is not much sound coming off the stage and the venue is large or outdoors. It helps to monitor the board mix with headphones or isolating earphones to hear what recording engineers are recording. In order to eliminate muddy room sound, they can record acoustic groups off the PA mixer into a line input. Recorders have a mic gain switch or pad to prevent mic-preamp distortion. This chapter describes how to connect a multitrack recorder to a mixer's insert-send connectors. Some recording engineers run each insert-send signal through a potentiometer to set the recording level. They need to set recording levels with the PA mixer's gain-trim or input-attenuator knobs.
