Audio for ceremony?

[Denny Kyser]

How are you recording your audio?
I use a shotgun and Lav mic along with a Sony PCM-D50 and trying to keep my gear down as much as possible.
Are you using a mixer, or going right into the camera?
Do you record all audio to one camera or split the audio say sending shotgun to camera a and lav to camera B, or recording device like the PCM-D50.

Just curious as to how you set up for the basic ceremony

[Louis Maddalena]

Recording Wireless lavs to an H4N, and also recording Shotgun to the main camera (soon going to be a second H4N as I'm going all DSLR soon)

[Philip Howells]

One of the benefits of having three cameras as well as a Zoom H4 is the number of tracks available. Our application depends on the demands of the occasion but is usually:

Church
Camera 1
Channel 1: Radio Mic - Sennheiser MKE2-4 on Audio 2000 on groom
Channel 2: AT897 short gun

Camera 2
Channel 1: Radio Mic - Sennheiser MKE2-4 on Audio 2000 on lectern for readers
Channel 2: AT897 short gun

Camera 3
Channel 1: Radio Mic - Sennheiser MKE2-4 on Audio 2000 on vicar if he's speaking when not standing in front of the couple
Channel 2: AT897 short gun or Radio Mic - Sennheiser MKE2-4 on Audio 2000 on solo unaccompanied singer in gallery etc.

Zoom H4
Channel 1: AT4040 for music/musicians
Channel 2: AT4040 for music/musicians

Reception
Channel 1: Radio Mic - Sennheiser MKE2-4 on Audio 2000 on groom
Channel 2: AT897 short gun

Camera 2
Channel 1: Radio Mic - Sennheiser MKE2-4 on Audio 2000 on bride's father or alternative speaker
Channel 2: AT897 short gun

Camera 3
Channel 1: Radio Mic - Sennheiser MKE2-4 on Audio 2000 on Best Man
Channel 2: AT897 short gun or Radio Mic - Sennheiser MKE2-4 on Audio 2000 on second Best Man if applicable

As you can see, apart from the music our soundtracks are essentially mono. In practice this suits most clients and in any case it avoids the decision we'd have to make about microphone placement in the stereo image.

In an ideal world I think the sound should follow the picture ie if the bride is speaking from left of frame then her sound comes from there also. The problem is can audiences accept how the sound image changes when you cut to a reaction shot of the groom as the bride is speaking? Most cinemas have multi-track sound and can handle this but most homes don't.

Therefore, most serious television here tends to follow the convention of central sound - so that it satisfies the broadcast requirement for a compatible mono image.

Orchestras in concerts are usually broadcast as a static stereo image and no serious adjustment is made to adjust for a close up of an instrument during a section when that instrument is musically exposed. That's essentially how we do weddings and points up the importance of having a good stereo image for the music from the H4.

Hope that helps.

[Don Bloom]

for me, I use 2 cameras. My "B" camera (locked down) has an AT 897 shotgun that gets me the music played at the ceremony. I does a good job since the music is so loud generally speaking. My "A" camera (the one I have hands on) runs my wireless. I use the AT1821 dual cahnnel receiver so 1 mic goes on the lectern (in most church settings-hotel and outdoor venues are run a bit differently) and 1 mic goes on the groom. Believe it or not the Countryman EMWs I use will also get some or the music and ambient sound. I've been running this way since I got the AT wireless and it works out well for me. Prior to that I ran 2 seperate systems 1 for the groom to my "A" cam and 1 on the lectern to my "B" camera unless I was using my fullsized camera than both receivers wnet to my "A" cam so I could monitor it.
I don't run the hypercaroid I have on my "A" camera since it really isn't needed and I've only got to XLR inputs. Like I said, it works for me, YMMV.