Sending a 'live' feed to YouTube - or anywhere else online - the need for 'Atmos'

[Suburban Man]

Apologies to all those of you for whom I'm stating the bleedin' obvious, but having seen comments on other threads about online sound quality there is a major difference between what works as a live sound and what works in an online feed - with or without video. Apart from any number-crunching that your application may do which renders your in-house mix somewhat restricted in dynamics you also need to mix in the magic of 'Atmos'.  In other words if you take a PA feed directly off your mixing desk and use it online with no alteration, it will sound very flat.

 

The additional ingredient that you need is to add in a couple of 'Atmos' mics.  Ideally these are omni's set up in the rafters of your venue.  They will only go into the online mix where they will add in the sound of your adoring crowd applauding and singing along to your songs (aka congregation if you are a worship band). They also add in the room reverb of the venue - which is what makes it sound as if you are playing live in a particular place, rather than in a studio somewhere. They may also pick up a few comments that you didn't want the world to hear, so that's why you want to put your atmos mics up high, or at least as far away as is humanly possible.

 

Annoyingly, although a bit is vital, too much atmos will muddy up the sound something rotten - so play carefully folks.