Renting Audio Gear For An Outdoor Baptism?

[Jason Woodbury]

Hi guys, my son is going to be baptised in an outdoor setting in a couple of Sundays. I will be recording the blessed event with my Canon HG20. Rather than rely on the HG20's mic to record the audio portion, I would like to rent some audio gear that is compatible with the HG20's mic input instead. I live on the west side of the Houston, TX metroplex.

I will have my HG20 set up on a tripod. The baptism will take place in the Life Fountain outside on our chruch's property. We (me, wife, son, pastor, and possibly Godparents) will be in the fountain, meaning the HG20 will probably be a minimum of 6 feet from us, possibly as far as 10 feet from us.

I do not have lots of post-production capabilities (Canon's Pixela software is all I have right now), so anything I rent needs to plug into the camera's mic input (not looking for a separate audio recorder that I have to mix into the video later on). The words spoken during the baptism ceremony are equally important to the sprinkling of the water over my son's head, so getting good audio is very important. If it's windy that day, my HG20's mic is not going to cut it I fear.

So I need some type of mic system that I can set up and get the mic closer to us, and also offers good wind noise protection. I am not sure if a wireless mic that is attached to our pastor is the way to go since we will all be in the water. Maybe a mic on a stand or boom pole just out of the frame is a better, simpler choice?

Please help me in 2 areas:

- What type of system to go with (need specifics on the gear as my audio terminology is not good as of yet)
- Is there a place to rent from in Houston, or do I need to go on-line and have the rented gear shipped to me?

If you need more specifics about the situation please let me know and I will try to clarify. Thanks in advance for any help you can provide!!! :)

Jason

[Chris Soucy]

Put a post into the "Helping Hands" section and see if a DVinfo'er can help you out.

Bit of a bind, as for some strange reason (you on the witness protection program or the admin just slack?) we don't have even a country of residence, let alone State and County or area to go on.

Reckon there should be someone within range, tho' it's a bit late in the day.

I won't even start to give advice on gear, as at this late stage you have very little chance of getting it right, no matter how much dosh you are prepared to throw at it.

Please, please, get in touch with the team (Contact Us button at the bottom of the page) and update your location details.


CS

[Marco Leavitt]

Jason,
You're on the right track. I'd try and boom this one, since as you mentioned, wireless is out of question since the speaker will be in the water.

[Jason Woodbury]

Originally Posted by Chris Soucy

Put a post into the "Helping Hands" section and see if a DVinfo'er can help you out.

Bit of a bind, as for some strange reason (you on the witness protection program or the admin just slack?) we don't have even a country of residence, let alone State and County or area to go on.

Reckon there should be someone within range, tho' it's a bit late in the day.

I won't even start to give advice on gear, as at this late stage you have very little chance of getting it right, no matter how much dosh you are prepared to throw at it.

Please, please, get in touch with the team (Contact Us button at the bottom of the page) and update your location details.


CS

Strange you can't see my location details, as it says Houston, Texas USA in my bio. I also mention it in my post. I am new to the site, but no I am not in a witness protection program. LOL. Oh well.

Originally Posted by Marco Leavitt

Jason,
You're on the right track. I'd try and boom this one, since as you mentioned, wireless is out of question since the speaker will be in the water.

Marco, any suggestions on the type of mic that would work best in this outdoor situation, and also connect directly into the HG20's mic input (stereo mini connection)?

Best Regards.

Jason

[Jeff Kellam]

If the water isn't deep, I would go wireless, transmitter at waist band on the pastor. Waist deep water would rule that out.

"Fountain" makes me think of background noise like water falling. That and a little wind would make it tough.

A mic on a boom will require XLR and an adapter to get to your cameras mini jack, along with a boom operator.

So, if the water is waist deep, I would go wireless and put the transmitter very high on the body, shoulder level, and you will be fine.

I don't know if the HG20 has manual audio levels or not, but the automatic level control will produce a fair audio capture. The small Rycote windjammer can subdue almost all normal wind on a lavalier microphone.

[Matt Ratelle]

I've shot one outdoor baptism(although it was in a lake), and I went with a Sennheiser G2 series wireless lav mic. The pastor put the transmitter in the front pocket of his suit jacket, and wired the mic as you normally would wear it. As long as he's careful not to bend too low, you're free and clear. The benefit of doing it this way, is that he can use his body to shield the mic from the wind. In my experience thats better than using a blimp or deadcat.

I'll be completely honest, I wouldn't use a wired or boom mic simply because there's too much room for error. It's very important to keep a mic cable out of the water, just in case it's not as waterproof as it looks. Also, you'll be in a situation where you can't control the movement, and people may be too excited by what's happening to keep your equipment in mind. All it takes is one wrong move into a mic cord, and your mic and camera are sitting in a trash can.

[Jason Woodbury]

I talked to my pastor and he usually has a wireless mic/lav on him when he does the baptisms. Problem is the church's wireless mics are XLR, not 3.5mm mini connectors. So the wireless mic will not plug directly into my HG20.

Will this adapter cord fit my needs:

Hosa Technology | Mini Stereo Male to 3-pin XLR | XVM-101F | B&H

I am hoping that the XLR connector on the wireless mic receiver can plug into the XLR female end of the above cord, and then the stereo mini end of the above cord can plug right into my HG20's mic input terminal.

Will this work for my needs? Any pitfalls of this solution, and then just riding the audio levels in camera with a set of Sony 7506s? If so then problem solved cheap, and without the need for a Beachtek or Juiced Link adapter.

Thanks in advance.

Jason

[Matt Ratelle]

The receiver has an XLR output? Or does it go from 3.5mm to XLR? I would assume the latter...in which case I would suggest just finding a mini to mini. Some units come with these adapters, so your church may already have one. I'd suggest looking into that first. You want to keep the number of connections as low as possible, otherwise you could find yourself getting some strange noises when the connectors are jostled.

[Jason Woodbury]

Originally Posted by Matt Ratelle

The receiver has an XLR output? Or does it go from 3.5mm to XLR? I would assume the latter...in which case I would suggest just finding a mini to mini. Some units come with these adapters, so your church may already have one. I'd suggest looking into that first. You want to keep the number of connections as low as possible, otherwise you could find yourself getting some strange noises when the connectors are jostled.

Not 100% sure which it is - my pastor just said it is XLR not 3.5mm mini. I am trying to get the brand and model of what they use, hoping that will shed some more light. I know the video camera they use has XLR inputs. But since I have not seen the wireless mics or the camera they use up close, I cannot say for certain if they are using a mini-to-XLR adapter to get the wireless audio into their camera, or if the wireless receiver has XLR output.

I've gone ahead and ordered that Hosa conversion cable from B&H. In addition, just in case I can't get the wireless mic to work with my HG20, I've also ordered a Rode VideoMic, Dead Cat, and 10' extension cable as my backup plan.

Regards.