Recording a meeting in a pub with 10 people

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dan_aka_jack

Well-known member
This is not strictly filmmaking... but it's an interesting challenge.

What mic should I use for recording a meeting in a (very quiet) pub? The meeting will consist of about 10 people and we can't move the mic.

Needless to say, this recording wont be used for broadcast - it's only being used to create a record of the meeting (someone will take this recording and write minutes of the meeting from the recording).

I have 3 omni directional Countryman EMW lav mics and a 416 but none of these mics sound ideal for this particular application.

Would a "boundary effect" mic be suited to this application? I'm a little concerned that a boundary effect mic would pick up a lot of the table noise (drinks being placed on the table etc).
 
I would recommend you go with lavs. If you can place 2-3 spread out on your talent, you should be able to pick up the lot of them pretty well. A good quality lav, like the Countryman B6 (http://www.dvcreators.net/countryman-b6-lavalier/) would do the trick. There's a cool video on that link of what it did for a woman playing the guitar and singing. One mic for both, placed on her chest. If it's in your budget, I think it'd be the perfect mic for this scenario.
 
If you're just after a record of the meeting, a boundary mic should work pretty well. I've used them a lot for focus groups of that size and larger; you do get some table noise from drinks and such, yeah, but in my experience it's never been so horrible that you couldn't hear what was being said.
 
Yep boundary layer, and if you're not going to monitor it, try and get each speaker the same distance from the mic on the table. Low talkers closer.

Cheers.
 
Yes, a pair of boundary mics are ideal.

But you don't have to buy them as you already have them.

Get some masking tape and stick the lavs to the table - the diaphragm is right next to the table and the lav will then become a boundary mic. :D

The perfect solution.

Another easy solution is to go down to your local DIY store and get a couple of wall tiles - stick the lavs to them with gaffer tape (duck tape I think they call it in the USA) as I described above - and put some shock absorbing material under the tile to minimise the transmission of structure-born noise. And make sure you use beer mats for the glasses as this will dampen the sound of a glass being put down on a hard table.

No need to spend money on mics for this sort of use when you have lavs already. :D :thumbsup:

I hope this helps.
 
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No, the stuff you want in the US is still gaffer's tape. :) Duct tape is a terrible thing to do to your gear...trust me on this as somebody whose bosses won't buy real gaff tape because it's too expensive...
 
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