What is a soundboard recording?

[drone on]

Is soundboard still an audience recording, just with better equipment?  I always thought it meant it was recorded off the mixing desk at venues, but I don't think that's what soundboard is.

[Scott M2]

Not an expert but here's my understanding... A soundboard recording is taken from the main mixer - either by the crew or by an audience member who sweet-talked/bribed the crew to tap into a bus on the mixer. Sometimes radio broadcasts were just soundboard instead of a separate mix. The vocals tend to dominate in these recordings as they are the most in need of boosting by the PA. Less audience sound, unless there's an audience mic.

[drone on]

What you just said is what I thought, but there's a Wikipedia page about bootlegs and makes it seem like it's still an audience recording.

[cvac]

I've never understood a soundboard recording to be anything other than pretty much what Scott M2 described.

[LNerell]

What you just said is what I thought, but there's a Wikipedia page about bootlegs and makes it seem like it's still an audience recording.

Wikipedia is not the best source for everything, anyone can post anything on there and if no one knows better some misinformation might get left up as fact. That's why academia don't count it as a legit source for information.

As everyone else has said, a soundboard recording is a recording taken off the main mixer for the concert. Usually they are made for the band or maybe the venue to archive the performance.