advice for a good boom mic.

J

jmd

New member
I'm preparing to shoot a short film in a few weeks
using the Canon XL2 and am looking for advice on
what kind of a boom mic would be best. I dont have
that much money but could anyone point me in the
right direction?
 
We're shooting a feature and got advise from a friend who is extremely experienced in the industry and recommended the sennheiser MKH60, we were also using 2020 radio mics all running through a 4 Channel mixer when he was on set.

I must stress that good sound is hard to get, so good equipment is still no replacement for a good boom operator.

The price of the MKH60 is $1200 (all the extras you need cost more rycote etc.) You can hire them pretty cheaply so this may be a good option.

That is basically the extent of my knowledge....Wahrez
 
Or if you want to use the mics most pros use on a set rent a Schoeps like the CMC6. Audio doesn't get any bette than a Shoeps microphone.
 
I have used quite a few shotgun mics and have found that my most recent addition the SANKEN CS3e is nothing short of amazing. Talk about a directional mic. I am currently shooting a Big Island of Hawaii tour for DVD also using the XL2. We were shooting this one beach near the airport and with proper mic placement and mixer tunage you could barely hear a 747 landing overhead. This mic is very good if you want to virtually eliminate surrounding noises. It also has a nice warm full bodied sound. retail 1299$ Hope my opinion helps.
 
jmd said:
I'm preparing to shoot a short film in a few weeks
using the Canon XL2 and am looking for advice on
what kind of a boom mic would be best. I dont have
that much money but could anyone point me in the
right direction?
Click to expand...

My advice?

Find a rental shop in your area (or have a mic shipped to you) and get a "boom mic package" for a about $150/week. The deal should include a boom pole (worth $500) a Schoeps CMC5/MK41 or Schoeps CMC6/MK41 (either is fine, worth $1500) pair of headphones (worth $100) and some microphone cables. If shooting outdoors, figure in another $50/week for a "Cut1" wind filter and a Rycote softie windscreen. You'll need them.

Find a drummer in a band and have him hold your boom microphone. Drummers make great boom operators. See if their guitar player will monitor sound for you. Guitar players make great recordists and mixers.

The other option is to buy "consumer" grade equipment for $200 and have sound that isn't very good. Do you want to own equipment or have the best sound? I'd rent instead of buy if I didn't already have "pro" microphones. Good luck.
 
Better than renting the equipment yourself and still not really knowing how to use it, I recommend that you find a good mixer/recorder in your area that has a full kit, and "should" know how to use it. You can have the best mics, mixers, recorders, cables and boom poles in the world, and still get crappy sound if you don't know how to use it. It really is not just a matter of plugging it all in. And if you add in wireless mics, just learning how to position and tape them is an art into itself (especially if you want to avoid clothing noise).
 
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