Many times I've gotten requests to record the show I'm mixing. These requests can come from the artist(s), show producers, video team, etc. I'm not debating who should or shouldn't make such requests, just noting that the request could come from a number of sources. Assuming all is on the up and up (you shoudn't record a show unless it is), let's move on to different ways to accomplish the task.

The easiest, and probably the most used, way to do this is to simply record a duplicate of the master bus, or at least the L/R portion thereof. This is the least invasive method, and it has no impact at all on what you're doing for the show. One thing to keep in mind here, is that if you are working with a system configured according to current best practices, your L/R bus is most likely just dual mono - so you will not be recording anything stereo as the requestor is possibly expecting. That aside, this is generally an acceptable set-and-forget way to capture a recording of "here's what we mixed" for the day.

Food for thought though: first keep in mind the fact that this recoding is probably dual mono, not stereo. Second, realise that what you recorded includes all of the specific EQ, compression, FX, and everything else you needed FOR THAT SYSTEM IN THAT SPACE. If you playback that mix on that same system in that same space, it should sound pretty close to what you heard while recording it. But on any other system in any other environment, that may not be the case. This is neither good nor bad, just an item to keep in mind. If you only need a rudimentary record of how the show was mixed, capturing a duplicate of the master bus is probably exactly what you want.

But what if the request is for something a little more sensitive, such as for inclusion in a video production, archival recording for the band, or even possibly for inclusion as a live recording on a future CD project, etc? For these purposes, simple capture of the master bus during the show won't cut it.

The next step up is to provide a separate - stereo - bus for the recording. Plan ahead to keep a bus pair assigned for the recording needs. If the show is small enough that you are handling the engineering for FOH, monitors, and recording all at once, I can tell you right now that even when monitors are set and no longer in your main focus, you will not have the extra hands, ears, attention, or access to console controls to tweek the recording mix while you are tweeking the FOH mix. You will have to configure your sends to the recording bus pair to accomplish a number of things without your continued attention. Let's take a look at some things you may want to address:

1. I would suggest tapping your recording bus sends as "group" outputs. This is pretty much post-everything from each channel, so this would give you the closest follow-mix to your FOH mix. You can set each channel's recording bus sends to a reasonable static pan arrangement to make a decent stereo version of the FOH mix. I wouldn't recommend getting too wild here, since you won't be able to monitor or adjust it during the show. For example, if keyboards are coming into the console in L/R channels (even though they are mixed to mono for FOH), pan the recording sends to give you maybe a 20-25% field width, positioned to gently keep multiple keyboards from getting in each other's way. Similarly with drums and bass, don't worry about getting a wide image for the whole kit, keep it generally centered and just wide enough to let the cymbals have a little space. Multiple guitars can each be positioned within maybe 30% of center, just for a little individuality. I'd keep all the vocals center. The reason I would do it this way is based on several experiences mixing for video. The camera is not going to always be a pulled-back full-stage view. Vocals especially will be found front and center on the screen quite often, and it would be somewhat disconcerting to hear the sound of such a vocal coming from somewhere other than center. Especially when recording this bus for video, use the stereo field to add a little spaciousness to the mix, but not for artistic effect. Remember, this is live recording, not studio production.

2. An alternative to option 1 - if you are working with a digital console for which you can employ a separate bus mix controller (such as a tablet) and have a second person to pay attention to it - would be to tap your recording bus sends from a point pre-fader and possibly pre-mute. You would still have the effect of EQ and dynamics as set for the FOH mix going to the recording, but having that second person with control over the recording sends can mitigate that with hands-on level controls specifically for the recording. This sort of feature can be found on consoles even as small as a Midas MR18 (or a Behringer X(R)18).

3. Starting with option 2, you could instead tap your recording bus sends pre-EQ, which would remove the FOH adjustments from the recording; but this tap point many times will also be pre-dynamics as well, so just be aware of your signal flow choices.

All of these options are still locked into many choices made for the FOH mix. In many cases, those may actually be good choices to apply to the recording as well, so these methods can help to keep things sane with respect to the FOH mix while offering a bit more flexibility in the recording than a simple master bus duplication could offer. But there is at least one more approach....

The most involved - and time-consuming - approach to recording a live show is to duplicate every input channel to some form of multitrack recorder, completely independant of the FOH console. This is done predominantly when there is an intent to later re-mix the show, usually in a studio environment. With the advancement of technology today, there are many ways to accomplish this, some more involved, some less involved - but when all is said and done, you'll still have to pick any 2: a) quick-n-easy, b) low-cost, c) high-quality.

For these following approaches, if the multi-channel split is sent through a separate console with a devoted operator (either using isolating headphones or in an isolated area with studio monitors) instead of directly to a multitrack recorder, you have the capability of generating a completely independant live-mix stereo alternative to the FOH master bus.

1. Use a splitter snake. This is old-school, and is easily the most involved and expensive way to accomplish the goal; but sometimes it is still the only available way to do it. The discussion of a splitter snake could be an article of its own, but in a simple description, it is a device (usually passive) which takes the place of the stage snake for all inputs for the show. For each input there are at least 2 outputs; one of which is a direct pass-through, the other(s) of which are transformer-isolated duplicates. The isolation is so that ONLY the console connected to the direct pass-through jacks can supply phantom power (+48VDC). Phantom power is neither passed to, nor accepted from, any of the isolated jacks. You will need as many outputs per channel as you have destination consoles: FOH, monitor, recorder, any other separate sub-mixers, etc. The more isolated splits you need, the higher will be the cost of the snake.

2. Take direct outputs from each channel on the FOH or monitor console. This is sort of a "poor-man's" splitter snake. It relies on the existence of direct outputs on each channel of the FOH or monitor console, AND that those direct outputs are not being used for any other purpose for the show. Such per-channel direct outputs are going to be found mostly on analogue consoles, not so much on digital consoles. If direct outputs for each channel are not available for any reason, and your console is not a digital which offers one of the next options, you'll have to go back to option 1 here.

3. Digital multi-channel output from a digital console. There are many options which might be available to you here, including AES50, AVB, Dante, MADI, etc. The controlling console will have to be able to route all needed channel direct outputs to one of these interfaces, and your recording interface will need to be able to accept that connection and protocol. But once that hurdle is overcome, your recording system will be able to record individual tracks for each input channel.

4. USB multichannel console-to-computer interface. For some older digital consoles, this might be an IEEE1394 connection instead of USB. The older models of the Presonus StudioLive series come to mind here. On the surface, this can appear to be just another available protocol to group with item 3. One notable difference though is that the protocols I included in item 3 require some configuration to send the desired channels to any desired combination of digital ports - extreme flexibility. In this case however, many times a small-to-medium format console will simply send all channels over USB in an inflexible 1-to-1 arrangement: USB channel 1 is console channel 1, 2 is 2, etc. That said, there are some consoles (such as the M32/X32 series) which allow flexible configuration for USB channel outputs just like the "bigger" protocols of item 3. The other advantage here is that usually such USB interfaces appear to a computer as the audio interface. You plug the console (class compliant) USB out into your computer USB port, and your DAW software sees the console as an audio interface, no additional hardware required. With today's technology, this is many times the easiest and best option for live recording. All you add to your entire PA rig is a laptop with a DAW and a USB cable. You record everything to separate tracks, and can later provide anything from a full post mix to any combination of stems for later studio work. Many times you can also record the master bus output on a pair of USB channels in addition to all of the individual channels you need. This is arguably the easiest and least expensive method discussed here, but you still have to cover the costs for a laptop capable of handling the amount of data necessary, and DAW software capable of simultaneous recording of the number of channels you need.

So there are many ways to approach live recording. The approach you choose will depend on what your goal is for the recording, the equipment and personnel available, cost/budget issues, and (when going for multitracking) channel count can figure into the decision as well.

In every case, fulfill the needs at hand completely and efficiently, while trying to not over-complicate the process.