Will I survive with a SHURE SM58 and another countryman B3?

maxx

maxx

Member
I'm one of those who have just started to dislike camera mounted mics after reading the posts in Audio section of this great site. I'll be leaving for Chitkul, the last Indian Himalayan village along Indo-Tibetan road for a documentary film. The place has a rich cultural legacy and a strong folklore. Folk music of Chitkul (Kinnaur region of Indian Himalayas), remains almost unrecorded till date. It's definitely going to be a important ingredient of the film along with lots and lots of interviews, landscapes, interiors ( houses made of timber). Place is totally mute as far as noise and ambient sound is concerned. I want to get maximum out of my a poor man's gear. I have :

1. A DVX102b camera mounted mic
2. A SHURE SM58 mic
3. A countryman B3 lav

What else do I need to have a decent audio recording. I'll have a dumb friend to help me around and we can have as many repeats as we wish.
 
Did I put s wrong question or is it that it does not make a question at all?

Somebody? . . . . Anybody!!
 
Hi Max, I can't help since I'm no expert and don't know anything about the shure excepct that shure has a good reputation. The countryman sounds great and should help you out alot. Have a great trip, and great shooting.
 
Have you read through the stickies? What sort of stuff are you hoping to record? Interviews, music (what kind), ENG. How many people at once, staged or cinema verte? What sort of budget can you afford? Can you "dumb friend" operate a boom (not an easy task for ENG sound)?

What do you mean by "as many repeats as we wish?"

Cheers
 
Wabbit i think it repetitions - and i think that he would not make it, at least in the way i consider it made :-)
drink less beer , buy another mic - one that call directional condenser
 
Oleg 2 said:
and i think that he would not make it, at least in the way i consider it made :-)
drink less beer , buy another mic - one that call directional condenser
Click to expand...

I do not appreciate sarcasm and expect people to share opinions not judgments.

I could have avoided waisting time over argument but then to the spirit of sharing what we know of our experiences, I felt obliged to complete the dialogue.

Cheers!!
 
my sarcasm is a sabstarct of my experience - thats the way i say things .
you asked the question , you got the answer , your mic arsenal is very poor for proper music recording , have luck of ability recording proper atmosphere
 
Well Oleg, I agree the arsenal is too poor to be called arsenal at all, my question was if one could survive with it. your obvious answer is "No". Job done!

I've been through stickies many a times. What I have is not what I thought was best out there, rather something to start with. and it is not what I'll be sticking around with all my life,..as you pointed this might be the time to tell my SM58 to sit indoors only.

I wish could get get one AT4073a any soon or may be add to my aresnal a AT899. If wishes were horses!!

Anyways, I am going to have what I must have no matter what, at the end of the done we want the job done.

About my recording enviorment, we can roughly categorize itas follows:

1. Outdoor; sound of lake, of footsteps, kids playing at school, etc, ususally without a dialogue (It's a docu-drama)

2. Voice over by people we shoot, may be we can do it in the night with lesser surroundng noise and recording envioronment can be controlled to great extent (why I mentioned as many repeats as we wish). We need to record the Vo only, only few places we shoot and record dialogue at the same time.

3.Music (Studio), I plan to record music at Chitkul arranging groups of vocalists and players in a circle (No video here, may be everyonr put one channel), If results are okay, fine, otherwise arrange a few sessions in recording studio.

What Kinda kits should be called "decent" and "bare minimum" in these situations. I believed SM58 and B3 belonged to latter.
 
Hi Maxx,

Well, you'll certainly be better off with your Countryman and Shure mics than the one on the DVX, so you're off to a good start. And with good technique and the right environment, you certainly should be able to do "bare minimum to decent" job that many would enjoy. I don't see how anyone could fault this gear not knowing the expectations of your audience - that's something you know better than any of us!

Personally, if I was on a limited budget going to a remote site, I'd be more concerned about backup gear, space, weight, etc. I'd certainly sleep better at nights knowing my SM58 is so rugged I could pound nails with it. And the Countryman does have the advantage of working in a damp environment. Hopefully, you'll have extra cables, connectors, etc.

For your outdoor video, you'll certainly want to minimize wind noise. Be sure to get gear to address this critical area. (BTW - I assume you'll bring a collapsable reflector and diffusor)

And if I was to add one item to your list, my first choice would be a portable MP3 recorder. That way I could record "B roll" type audio dialog and add it to video in post production. And if my talent was a long distance from the camera (zoom), I'd wire them with the portable and mix it in post, too. Finally, if worse came to worse and something happened to my camera during the trip, I could still make the best of it recording audio and take pictures as a backup.

Anyway, since you're moving from an onboard mic, don't let others dazzle you too much with high-end gear without misssing the basics.

Good luck - let us know how it all turns out, Michael
 
Maxx,

It sounds like you're doing documentary work to me, so I'll tell you what we carry when we're operating with and without a sound operator for single camera with a crew of three to five. I'm never the audio operator, but I know how to hook up and level mics to my camera with or without a mixer in the middle, so take this advice for what it is: a camera operator giving you mic advice!

The SM58 is a terrific (and nearly indestructable) uni-directional cardiod vocal mic for spoken voice and live events like concerts. Not high-end, but good enough for pro work. However, it isn't a mic you'd use in doc work - unless you want to see your talent holding the mic.


Without Sound Operator / Single System:

Audio Technica - AT897 on-board or Rycote mounted with WindJammer
Sennheiser - EW100 EVOlution lavalier kit with butt-plug
Sony MDR-7506 Headphones
Assorted XLR cables

With Sound Operator / Single System:

Sound Devices SD302 Mixer (or 442 depending on specs)
PSC Breakaway 25' / Camera Harness w return
Sennheiser 416
Shoeps CMIT5U
AT-897
2-4) Lectrosonics 100 Series Lavs with Tram TR50 or Sanken COS11 Mics
2) Sennheiser EW100 EVOlution lavalier kits
1) KTek or Cavision 5-Section carbon fibre internal-wire boom
1) Rycote, Sennheiser or Cavision zeppelin with windscreen
1) Rycote or Cavision pistol grip
2) Sony MDR-7506
Cable and adapter kit

Double-system sound is done with tape, DAT, hard disk and MP3 system recorders (among other options). I would strongly recommend against considering double-system sound in your situation - there are simply too many variables and buttons to push for a one or two person crew.

e
 
dont worry , they all would go rap party after few j....
sm-58 is the king and the b-3 on the boom to pick up some outside groove
 
1. a nice stereo mic for ambience would be nice for these things.
2. SM58 will work fine for off screen VO work. For the places you do have sync dialog you would want some kind of condenser hyper/shotgun mic at a minimum.
3. If recording in a studio is an option then you're good to go. For field recording of music I would have a couple of condenser mics.

Since your sound needs seem to be minimal your minimal sound equipment could be fine. I would a stereo condenser to your arsenal for gathering ambeince. The AT in ozduc's link works fine for ENG stuff.

The more you can fill out your kit, the greater choices you will have in the field, the happier you will be with the results. If you are going away to a remote location, I would practice recording audio around your hometown similar to what you plan to record in India to get practice on what works and what doesn't.

Cheers
 
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