best mic for festivals/live music and interviews

D

deef

Member
Hi there,

Im new here so I have a lot of questions hehe hopefully you guys can give me some advice. Im gonna buy a DVX100B and I want to use it for festival coverage including live concerts and interviews.

Most of the time I will be the cameraman and interviewer in one so I need a good mic that you can put on the camera?

Do you have any suggestions? thanks in advance
 
Well, first things first: on-camera mic'ing should be an option of last resort for dialogue. Good mic placement typically involves getting the mic within two feet of the subject, which is pretty much impossible if the mic is sitting on top of the camera.

Secondly, lets break down live musical performance recording. To record a live performance, you're looking at a variety of recording techniques: "crowd" mic'ing, mic'ing the performers, mic'ing the loudspeakers, or getting a line-level feed from the sound-reinforcement mixer.

An on-camera mic may be sufficient as a "crowd" mic during musical performances, but even then it will only get you part-way there, and is fraught with issues. As you move or re-frame the camera, it will significantly change the axis or position of an on-camera mic, which can dramatically change the tone and colour of the recording. For "crowd" mic'ing, you're better off putting the mic on a stand near the camera. Furthermore, a "crowd" mic by itself will lack the immediacy and impact, although it will nicely capture the feel of the crowd and the venue.

To get that in-your-face and intimate feel, you'll need to also record a "dry" sound. This involves either mic'ing the performers yourself (not reccomended for beginners or one-man-crews), close-mic'ing the speaker stack with a dynamic mic (can be a real mixed bag deppending on the venue), or getting a direct feed from the mixer. The latter is likely the best option for you, provided you're able to arrange for the feed ahead of time, and also provided that the mixer can give you a clean and useable feed. Its worth noting that the sound reinforcement mix will be mixed specifically for the needs of sound reinforcement, and may be less than ideal for your purposes.

So, to answer your original question, here's a quick gear list:
Sennheiser MKH416 shotgun mic (for crowd mic'ing and dialogue recording)
Electrovoice 635a(b) (for handheld interviews and mic'ing speaker stacks)
Heavy-duty mic stand with an adjustable boom (for sit-down interviews and crowd-mic'ing)
articulated mic clamp (for low-profile mic placement)
Remote Audio HN-7506 isolation headphones (for recording in loud concert venues)

and finally:
a professional sound person, or at least an assistant (because it'll be way too much work for one person to do it propperly)
 
wow thanks for this great answer! I will check the different possibilaties!

The thing is is that 9 out of 10 situations I'am the cameraman and interviewer in once so that is why I need to pick the good mic for the best result.

If I understand your post well I need to get two different mic's one for the live shows in front of the stage (between audience and artist, that is my position). And I need a mic especially for interviews (sit downs) right?
 
It's always slow on the weekends, and if you're like me that's when you need the most help.

I am no expert but it is as SMuir has said in the above post. Not going to assume what you know/ or don't know,,, but good audio does require a collection of Mics (among a few goodies that make a good kit) for use in deferent situations. So Yes you want separate mics for separate jobs

That said, You'd have to consider that if you're covering this all by yourself and stay on the move you'd have to get creative.
I'd want a Multi rig or similar. I'd rig a shotgun and a condenser
(one on cam's mic attachment and the other with whatever Multirig will sell me to get the job done)
then I'd and select which one is capturing my audio via gain knobs or set the levels for both and switch on or off at the Channel selector.
Stop laughing ,, that's not a bad improvisation for a solo cam on the move.

Stationary would probably be easier since you can go with the mic stands, point a condenser toward crowd and get a dynamic for the music.

all audio pro types please chime in as I know many here a going to have good advice.

cheers
 
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