Need Gear Help at DVinfo.net

Andrea Lair · October 28th, 2006, 08:06 AM

I see you all mention using an iRiver with a giant squid mic for some of your audio. I am interested in purchasing one of these but I am kind of clueless. I looked at B&H and they have a few different models. Which model do you all use? I think I will use it to pick up the readers talking at the ceremony and then the speeches at the reception (plugged into the PA, probably just mounted in front of a speaker I guess). I have a wireless Senn for the groom.

Also, what type of rain gear do you have? Right now I don't have anything and luckily I haven't run into a rainy day event yet. But I know it's going to happen sooner or later.

Thanks guys! You are always such a big help.

Waldemar Winkler · October 28th, 2006, 06:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andrea Lair

I see you all mention using an iRiver with a giant squid mic for some of your audio. I am interested in purchasing one of these but I am kind of clueless. I looked at B&H and they have a few different models. Which model do you all use? I think I will use it to pick up the readers talking at the ceremony and then the speeches at the reception (plugged into the PA, probably just mounted in front of a speaker I guess). I have a wireless Senn for the groom.

Also, what type of rain gear do you have? Right now I don't have anything and luckily I haven't run into a rainy day event yet. But I know it's going to happen sooner or later.

Thanks guys! You are always such a big help.

The iRiver 700 and 800 series MP3 player/recorders will accept external microphones. The newer ones will not. Finding these may be best done on e-Bay, but a search on iRiver on this forum should yield some leads.

Rather than follow the iRiver approach, I chose a bit more complicated method.

I lock one camera to a fixed position because it is connected to a 4ch audio mixer, which in turn is fed to my camera. My wireless systems (4) are fed to each of the four audio channels on the mixer. The Officiant wears a wireless lapel (directional). The groom wears an onmi-directional wireless mic (unless I can get both bride and groom to agree to wear wireless mics). Those are Ch 1 & 2. Ch 3 is for the family/guest commentary during the ceremony (which I hate), and the last mic is for either musician or ambient audio. The benefit is that I can choose at the mixer which mic signals are actually transmitted to the camera. The disadvantage is that I cannot record all audio signals somewhere. This is where the iRiver comes in for me.

SONY Mini-discs can do as well, but are more expensive. Indeed, any kind of digital audio recording method should work as a backup. The analog methods will cause you extradinordinary nightmares when it comes time to sync in your NLE.

I hope this answers some of your questions. If not, ask again. I'm sure many visitors to this forum will willingly offer ideas I haven't addressed.

Robert Johnston · October 29th, 2006, 11:40 AM

My first and only wedding so far as I have not yet advertised was done like this. I had one mic and it was not a lapel mic it was a shotgun mic. I could have aimed it at the b&g but instead I aimed it at the in house speakers. Granted this will not yeld you top quaility sound but it will give you enough. Lets face it most viewers will not really know the differance what mic you use unless it is played side to side. For my next wedding I intend to use the sennheiser g2 100s with my onboard sennheiser mke 300d. Useing two cameras, one useing the mke 300 and the other using the g2's.

Since I can't use all three mic's, i could get out my digital mixer and plug all three mics and record straight to the hard drive of the 8 channel mixer. I would then use the onboard mic (which is not worth being on the camera in the first place) of the second camera to also record. When you go to your editing put the audio from camera 2 which was rolling al the time of the wedding in audio track one. Now download the other tracks from the mixer into audio track 2 3 and 4. Sinc the start of the tracks with each other and there you have it. Split the audio track of 1 from the video and scrap it and you will then have three different sound bits to choose from. They will all be in sinc has they where all recording at the same time.

This is not the cheapest setup but then the gear will probley last ten to twenty years, if well looked after. The good option on this is if one mic does go you still have two others to work with. It has taken me one year to get this equipement together and only one camera (sony pd 170p). By march I hope to have my second camera (sony z1) to start shooting weddings for cash.

Irivers are good but I like to be able to monitor my sound to make sure it is all working.

Rain gear, Wet assistants with umbrella's and a shootgun mic placed somewhere dry, unless you want the pitter patter sound off the umbrella coming through.

October 28th, 2006, 08:06 AM	#1
Andrea Lair Regular Crew Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Columbus, Ohio Posts: 32	Need Gear Help I see you all mention using an iRiver with a giant squid mic for some of your audio. I am interested in purchasing one of these but I am kind of clueless. I looked at B&H and they have a few different models. Which model do you all use? I think I will use it to pick up the readers talking at the ceremony and then the speeches at the reception (plugged into the PA, probably just mounted in front of a speaker I guess). I have a wireless Senn for the groom. Also, what type of rain gear do you have? Right now I don't have anything and luckily I haven't run into a rainy day event yet. But I know it's going to happen sooner or later. Thanks guys! You are always such a big help.

October 29th, 2006, 11:40 AM	#3
Robert Johnston Regular Crew Join Date: May 2006 Location: northern ireland Posts: 57	My first and only wedding so far as I have not yet advertised was done like this. I had one mic and it was not a lapel mic it was a shotgun mic. I could have aimed it at the b&g but instead I aimed it at the in house speakers. Granted this will not yeld you top quaility sound but it will give you enough. Lets face it most viewers will not really know the differance what mic you use unless it is played side to side. For my next wedding I intend to use the sennheiser g2 100s with my onboard sennheiser mke 300d. Useing two cameras, one useing the mke 300 and the other using the g2's. Since I can't use all three mic's, i could get out my digital mixer and plug all three mics and record straight to the hard drive of the 8 channel mixer. I would then use the onboard mic (which is not worth being on the camera in the first place) of the second camera to also record. When you go to your editing put the audio from camera 2 which was rolling al the time of the wedding in audio track one. Now download the other tracks from the mixer into audio track 2 3 and 4. Sinc the start of the tracks with each other and there you have it. Split the audio track of 1 from the video and scrap it and you will then have three different sound bits to choose from. They will all be in sinc has they where all recording at the same time. This is not the cheapest setup but then the gear will probley last ten to twenty years, if well looked after. The good option on this is if one mic does go you still have two others to work with. It has taken me one year to get this equipement together and only one camera (sony pd 170p). By march I hope to have my second camera (sony z1) to start shooting weddings for cash. Irivers are good but I like to be able to monitor my sound to make sure it is all working. Rain gear, Wet assistants with umbrella's and a shootgun mic placed somewhere dry, unless you want the pitter patter sound off the umbrella coming through.