Audio at reception

[Taky Cheung]

I have been thinking of getting a H2 or H4 mount on the light stand with a light together. Then I can sync the audio clip at post. What do you guys think about this?

[Michael Liebergot]

Originally Posted by Taky Cheung

I have been thinking of getting a H2 or H4 mount on the light stand with a light together. Then I can sync the audio clip at post. What do you guys think about this?

You can mount it on a light stand by using a mic stand clamp, but you have to have the recorder close to your audio source, ie. speakers or it will essentially be useless.

At receptions, I setup a mic stand and use my Zoom H2 to use two external mics (either Shure SM57 or Rode M3's) to independently mic the PA stacks woofer and tweeter. Then I make sure that the recorder is facing the crowd and use the onbaord mics to record ambient audio, and I get a real good live mix.

I then either send a wireless signal from the H4n via "Line Out" on the H4n to my camera. I then use my camera audio for sync, monitor, backup audio. Sometimes I might also simply place a hand held mic next to my recorder, also still all mounted on the same mic stand, and send use a wireless plug-in transmitter to send a signal to my camera, for sync, backup audio purposes.

Audio recording, like shooting and editing video, is an art, with the key being the closer your recording elements (ie. mics) are to your source the better the audio recording will be. If your mics are too far away from what's being recorded, the audio will sound hollow and have a lot of echo to it, which really can't be fixed in post.

I got my start in the business as an audio engineer, so I have several years of studio and live experience. Being a one man band for video production, I have spent the last 4 yeras or so, finding the best way to capture my live audio, without the need to constantly monitor and adjust it while recording. BTW, I don't normally recommend anyone record important audio without monitoring and adjusting the audio while shooting. But the key is to have backup and the ability to still get a constant monitor while shooting. SO at least if something goes terribly wrong during a reception shot for example, I can go over and make the necessary adjustments.