It is possible to record live to 2-track and minimize the post production process, but you have to have a sound mixer who really knows your show and has the ability to catch things on the fly. Those guys get paid well. To just put up a couple mics in the room or take a live board feed (ala Deadheads at a Grateful Dead show) is going to at lease capture the event. You might get lucky and get a good quality recording this way, but it's not a procedure you can count on. All that having been said, there's a lot of value in taping shows. I usually run a tape just for my own reference. A live show is very fluid, often frought with mistakes as well as magical live moments. In the final outcome, it is what it is, rather than the studio approach of constructing a performance with many layers of orchestration. I like both approaches. I guess the worst thing about a live recording is, once you go to the trouble of setting up a session, however you approach it, it does become a session. I've never quite been able to divorce myself from the fact that it's more than just another show, so I get a little more nervous about the performance. That's something I need to conquer in life.
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