Audio Recommendations for Location Shoot

T

The Evil Mariachi

Well-known member
Hey Everyone,

I'll be shooting an instructional fitness video, where an instructor directs a large group of students, who will be exercising to music over speakers.

My concern is how I can get clean audio of the instructor's directions, without the music getting too much in the way? Would a headset/mic on the instructor work well? Are there directional speakers that we could play the music through which wouldn't spill into the instructor's recordings?

Thanks in advance!
 
Mic the instructor directly with a headset. Lavs are possible, but with the amount of movement a headset is really the way to go. Any other system is going to get music, movement from the rest of the people and ambient noise more than you want. If you can't do that, boom carefully or turn the music off.
 
First, do you have the licencing in place to use the music in a video? If not, that needs to be dealt with first. If there's music playing in the room, you're probably going to pick some of it up regardless of the mic you're using. As for the mic, you could try a more direction headset like a countryman E6i, with the 2-ear clip so it will stay in place.
 
Thanks guys, I appreciate the input.

We do have the rights to the music, so there's no problem there. The music is integral to the moves, so turning off the music is not an option, and since it's a large group of students, we couldn't turn the music too low.

But is there such a thing as directional speakers?
 
The Evil Mariachi said:
We do have the rights to the music, so there's no problem there. The music is integral to the moves, so turning off the music is not an option, and since it's a large group of students, we couldn't turn the music too low.

But is there such a thing as directional speakers?
Click to expand...

Do you have specifically "Synchronization Rights" to include this music in a film or video production? Doesn't matter what other rights he (or you) have. If you don't have sync rights/license you must use music that you CAN license or the production is a non-starter.

I agree that a headset mic (the kind you see on TV with a very thin tube coming from over/under the ear and ending just short of the mouth) would be an absolute necessity for this kind of production. If the instructor regularly does large groups, does he/she not already have their own headset wireless microphone? That seems to be a pretty common thing for fitness instructors to have these days.

Sure there are "directional speakers" but not as directional as you think. And no speaker is very directional at lower frequencies in a small room (and by "small" I mean something smaller than an aircraft hangar or stadium).

You could try using an additional set of speakers at the back of the room and turning down the volume on the front speakers (to reduce what gets into the instructor's mic).

You didn't mention a wireless mic system, but I can only assume that you aren't going to try doing this with a wired microphone. Remember that wireless mike kits that cost less than $500-600 are pretty much throw-away, cheap, unreliable, fiddly, plastic toys. NOT recommended for serious use and pretty much a waste of money.
 
The Evil Mariachi said:
Thanks guys, I appreciate the input.

We do have the rights to the music, so there's no problem there. The music is integral to the moves, so turning off the music is not an option, and since it's a large group of students, we couldn't turn the music too low.

But is there such a thing as directional speakers?
Click to expand...

Just adding a caution on the music rights ... normally the rights to perform the music in the classroom DOES NOT convey rights to use it in the soundtrack of a video of the class. Best double check to be sure you have the required SYNC and MASTER USE rights as well as public performance rights.

All speakers are somewhat directional but it's a matter of degree. A cardioid capsule on the head-worn mic can help keep them out of the voice recording but it's inevitable that you're going to have some bleed. Also keeping the instructor behind the speakers can help as well.
 
Can you do a test beforehand? Will the same music be sync'd up for the final video?

If you keep the speakers as low as possible and pointed away from the instructor, who is on a headset mic (watch for pops and wind noise) you should be just fine.
 
JordanBlock said:
you could try a more direction headset like a countryman E6i, with the 2-ear clip so it will stay in place.
Click to expand...

Minor correction here--the E6I is no more inherently directional than the standard E6. The difference between them is that the "I" model has a "more-flexible boom on the E6i [that] is very easy to adjust and perfect when one mic is shared among several people." Both models are available as omni or directional. For the record, I have yet to find anywhere that rents the directionals...
 
Oops, forgot the distinction between the 'i' and the standard. I've got a few E6s and got my 'i' with a directional capsule.
 
• I would wireless headset the instructor.

• If possible put the speakers facing AWAY from him, towards the class.

• Get a copy of the music on CD, and mix it in with the headset audio.
 
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