!!HELP!! - How to Mic up event THIS Saturday - 1970s PA system!

[thabo]

I'm shooting a Bar-mitzvah this Saturday and need help figuring out how to mic the even.

The room is basically a hardwood floored windowed ballroom like venue that has movable partitions and the parents are going to use a wheeled lecturn cart like contraption that has a built in speaker with a wired mic and a perma-power s-702 Public Adress amp - see attach image. Wire lav mics are too intrusive say the parents.

I plan on using a wired mic of my own to my camera and not trying to mess with getting an output from this old PA amp (it does have a tape output though). The PA mic DOES not have a stand so the person speaking will have to pick it up so I was thinking about just taping my mic to this mic ? My mic is a std Sennheiser 816s hand held cardioid mic.

Bad idea?
Too heavy?
What happens if they decide not to pick up mic?
Should I set up my shotgun on a mac stand some distance away?

 

[Captain Pierce]

Trying to hold both of those mics taped together is going to be a little difficult, I would think.

If the lectern doesn't have any kind of mic mount, I would think it's pretty likely that some people will not bother to pick up the mic. There's always somebody who thinks they don't need a mic, or they might just not see it. From my time in A/V rental, I know never to underestimate the chances of somebody not using the mic...

Do you have access to a tabletop mic stand or two? You could put their mic on one, and your mic on another; it'll look a little like a press conference where every TV station brings their own mic, but it shouldn't be too bad.

You might also get better results in a situation like this with an omnidirectional, but if you don't have one, you don't have one...

 

[kgimedia]

If you have a wireless Lav then tape it to the speaker. I do it when ever people that have no idea what good audio is are in charge of the audio. Often this is DJ's that do not allow anyone to plug into their mixers.

 

[Captain Pierce]

OK, KGI, I know what you're saying, but I have to say this... if people who don't know what good audio is are in charge of the audio (or, as in this case, if nobody's in charge of the audio ), how is mic'ing the speaker going to get you good audio?

Seriously, though, the venue has to be too big for the sound system described, so you just know the default volume is turned up to 11... I have to think that if a wireless lav was available (and I don't think one is based on the original post) you'd be better off to tape it to the front of the podium pointing back at where people would be standing. Actually, re-reading the original post, it sounds like thabo has a wired lav, so taping that to the front of the podium might even give better results than his handheld, assuming his lav is an omni...

 

[kgimedia]

After thinking about it you are probably right. My solution works best of situations where the people speaking are not in a central location. If the LAV is omni anywhere on the Lectern will work if the people speaking stand near it. If you have to option mic the Lectern and the speaker.

 

[thabo]

Thanks guys, I actually have a fancy shotgun mic but it's phantom powered so it doesn't fit in with my wireless lav system BUT I do have a transmitter that fits on the bottom of a non phantom powered XLR mic so perhaps I'll just tape that on a little makeshift mic stand and hope for the best. The client has dropped the ball on the sound system and I'd almost volunteer to do it properly for them if I had a mixer but I don't. Just got to make sure that the mic is close to the speaker mouth, I'm sure the sound coming out of the 1970s PA system will not be exactly audiophile quality.


ALso, client doesn't want the cameras to be an obtrusive position so the looks like this will be one interesting shoot. The room is actually really nicely lit but if I'm miles away from the speaker then not sure if I can get good video.

 

[thabo]

Ended up fashioning a mic stand out of a suction cup mount and a mini grip head and stuck it to the podium! Taped the two mics together, worked like a charm! Shooing at the subject with a massive 10ft by 60ft window behind them was not so good. The old PA system was surprisingly good.