So, I have been reminded why I do this crazy thing called content creation.

The new school asked me to cover their Rock Band Challenge, which to be honest blew my socks off!

Several of the artists and bands were good, some were incredible and all were very, very, cool.

I shot both stills and video. The video was limited to static, because a student was wandering with a gimbal, but if needed I would have used a G9 on a shoulder or chest rig as a second angle, running the full set, but only dropping in the meant bits, ignoring the footage where I shot stills (if I use the shoulder rig, an advantage is it can be set down, looking slightly up, so it provides a second angle even when ignored).

Sound was the tricky bit, but a chance to try new gear.

I tried a simple system that for my needs (video) was safe and fine. I used a single LCT 240 mounted above camera on a goose neck and shock bracket as a “room” or ambient mic. This went into the H5 then to camera.

I got the same thing the audience got, warts and all, but on the whole, the balance of sound and video was more than ok. A few tracks had some noise and interference, possibly me turning the mic down too low in the face of quite high sound levels (that it actually handled just fine).

If it was all about me ( ;) ), I would have miked them up directly, especially the lower end instruments and the acoustics, or gone straight to the mixer, running as a side car to the whole thing, I chose not to. At least I have provided enough quality to sync to.

Impressed by the little 240. It was not given much of a fair go, but did really well and noticeably better than a standard shotgun mic in that space. The advantage was control in an environment that sometimes stretched that too far.

I could complain about limited space to work, excessive noise or constant “gear fear”, but not when you can have this much fun and contribute to the genuinely passionate efforts of these kids.

Next the paper asked if I could go to a late night rehearsal of The Cat In The Hat, put on by, you guessed it, my old school.

Knowing me, they requested me over unknowns and I returned in kind. A half dozen for the paper, 150 for the school-off the clock.

Every show has its “Horton” or Donkey (from Shrek) and they tend to be camera magnets.