Lav Mic + Pocket Recorder suggestions for Weddings

Grisnjam

Grisnjam

Well-known member
I am starting a little Wedding Video side business and would like some advise on a pocket recorder and lav mic for use on the wedding officiator.

It would also be nice to run it during the toasts to ensure I have clean audio (backup sound will be a VMP -> GH2).

I don't want to go dirt cheap but I hope to keep the cost reasonable (~$300).

Thanks,
 
OK, this has been posted about to death. do a search, but if that doesn't bring anything up its just a bad idea. why? you can't monitor the audio for one, or actually know if its still recording.

do yourself a favor and rent/buy at the minimum a sennheiser ew100 g3 kit. its $600, or around $50/day to rent. so if its just on the side, then renting it would be fine. just tack that extra $50 on to the billing.
 
Well, I was going to recommend the Zaxcom system that is a wireless system that also has a built in recorder in the transmitter, but they are not cheap. You can rent them, though.
 
JordanBlock said:
Don't.

You're getting paid to do the job right. Rent or buy the appropriate gear for the job.
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Right and I want to do it right. This is my first gig (doing it dirt cheap at $250 to get something to sell my self with) and I had heard in another thread about the pocket recorer+lav on the officiator ...

So help me out here. I am doing an outdoor wedding near a lake (damned river) shore andI have not found out if there will be sound amplification or not. I have a Rode VideoMic Pro that was thinking of using on my GH2.

So is a wirless lav on the officiator the best route? Then just run that into a pocket recorder (Zoom H1?) and monitor off of that? There is a good rental place I have used in town so I am willing to rent what I need to do it right.

Also whats my best bet with the toasts? I *think* the DJ will have a mic and PA for it ....

Thanks,
 
So you know where I'm coming from, I've done the live sound for somewhere over 100 weddings over the years, in various chapels, churches, halls, parks, backyards, you name it.

I like to use a small headset like a Countryman e3 on the officiant, with a second mic to deal with vows. That 2nd mic may be a wireless hand mic for the officiant to hold, a lav planted on the groom (a little lower down than normal to help balance the level between the bride and groom), or (my personal favorite) a b6 planted at the top edge of the book/folder that the officiant is holding (they're always holding something). As the officiant faces each of the parties for their vows, he naturally aims the hidden lav at them.

The problem you're likely going to run into is that there are more than three people involved in a typical ceremony. Musicians and singers are all mic'ed seperately, and there's usually canned music as well.

When there are videographers (almost always, and the last wedding I did had a separate crew streaming the thing live) they take feeds from my board (wired or wireless) to their cams and/or recorders, and I make a multi-track recording for them to sync up later as well. There's only one take at a wedding, redundancy is a big deal. It really is best to talk to the live sound people (if any) ahead of time, and coordinate your efforts.

For a reception, with any luck the DJ can provide a board feed for the MC and toasts, the on cam mic will probably be fine for shooting little greetings to the bride and groom if you're doing that, and you can hopefully get usable ambiance off the cam mic, but that's always tough if you're moving around a lot.

Again, talk to the live people, the DJ, whoever is planning the ceremony, and the reception MC so you have as complete a picture as possible about what's going on before you decide what you need to buy / rent to make the job a success.

If there is live sound at the ceremony, i think your best bet might be to get a couple H1s, use one for a feed, one for ambiance. If not, rent a lav or two, pick up one recorder, and hope your camera mic gives something you can use for anything else happening during the ceremony.


(As an aside, I can't remember the last time a videographer only used one camera, you really need some b-roll to cut with as you're moving about between shots, even if it's a crappy little DV camera slapped on a tripod somewhere.)
 
You have it from the wedding guys. That said, I use the lav/recorder all the time....BUT I DON'T DO WEDDINGS...and I only do it as a second or third angle on the sound or when I'm recording someone that doesn't want to be recorded. There are a lot of things that can go wrong.
 
JordanBlock said:
So you know where I'm coming from, I've done the live sound for somewhere over 100 weddings over the years, in various chapels, churches, halls, parks, backyards, you name it.

I like to use a small headset like a Countryman e3 on the officiant, with a second mic to deal with vows. That 2nd mic may be a wireless hand mic for the officiant to hold, a lav planted on the groom (a little lower down than normal to help balance the level between the bride and groom), or (my personal favorite) a b6 planted at the top edge of the book/folder that the officiant is holding (they're always holding something). As the officiant faces each of the parties for their vows, he naturally aims the hidden lav at them.

The problem you're likely going to run into is that there are more than three people involved in a typical ceremony. Musicians and singers are all mic'ed seperately, and there's usually canned music as well.

When there are videographers (almost always, and the last wedding I did had a separate crew streaming the thing live) they take feeds from my board (wired or wireless) to their cams and/or recorders, and I make a multi-track recording for them to sync up later as well. There's only one take at a wedding, redundancy is a big deal. It really is best to talk to the live sound people (if any) ahead of time, and coordinate your efforts.

For a reception, with any luck the DJ can provide a board feed for the MC and toasts, the on cam mic will probably be fine for shooting little greetings to the bride and groom if you're doing that, and you can hopefully get usable ambiance off the cam mic, but that's always tough if you're moving around a lot.

Again, talk to the live people, the DJ, whoever is planning the ceremony, and the reception MC so you have as complete a picture as possible about what's going on before you decide what you need to buy / rent to make the job a success.

If there is live sound at the ceremony, i think your best bet might be to get a couple H1s, use one for a feed, one for ambiance. If not, rent a lav or two, pick up one recorder, and hope your camera mic gives something you can use for anything else happening during the ceremony.


(As an aside, I can't remember the last time a videographer only used one camera, you really need some b-roll to cut with as you're moving about between shots, even if it's a crappy little DV camera slapped on a tripod somewhere.)
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Thanks for your response. I hope to get more info on the sound from the venue soon.

My hope is that there will be live sound I can just get a board feed from and use an H1. When using the H1 for ambiance where do you place it?

As for the single camera issue, the couple does not have much money to spend and were only thinking they could afford a simple ceremony only video so anything I can produce above that is gravy. I do have a point and shot Canon Digital Elph (SD9600IS I think) that takes 720p that I could use on a tripod at the back for B-roll (I will be shooting 1080p@24fps on the GH2). Long term is another GH2 body.

Thanks again.
 
Ok plan is now to rent one Zoom H4n recorder (at $7 per for a weekend @ http://www.rocknrollrentals.com/recording.html#Field).

And rent one or two EK 100 G3 wireless lavs (at $14 per for a weekend @ http://www.rocknrollrentals.com/microphone.html#wireless).

And I could go for a second GH2 for $75:

http://shop.texasmediasystems.com/P...gital-Interchangeable-Lens-Camera_p_3073.html

That way I can run the H4n as ambient and lavs/or a board feed on two different tracks and then run the Rode VideoMic Pro on my GH2.

Thanks.
 
Really there's no need for much ambient. You'll hear the audience cheer and clap through the lavs on the groom. If you can get a lav on the groom, lav on the officiant, board feed if possible. That usually sounds the best so talk to the sound person before the wedding and see what kind of out connection they can give you, so you can get the right adapter to get into the H1. I also try to get a mic on the music.

2 wireless lavs and a 4 track recorder are your best bet. Better yet a DR-680 if you can rent one. Also a plug-on transmitter and a hand held mic are useful for "Best wishes" things with people around the reception. And if the "Toast" stuff is done with a mic going through the DJs PA, you need to get a feed from the DJ's PA.

One helpful item is an in-line attenuator. It can pad down a line level signal from a PA, to a mic level signal like - the Plug-on transmitter from the Sennheiser wireless. I got a cable going from the DJ's PA to the in-line attenuator[/URL then to the plug-on transmitter. I had the receiver on my camera, and picked up all the toasts. Toasts are big. Find out how they are doing them, whether using a mic, or just yelling.

Here's a wedding I used all the things I just mentioned, except the best wishes stuff.
 
Chadfish said:
Really there's no need for much ambient. You'll hear the audience cheer and clap through the lavs on the groom. If you can get a lav on the groom, lav on the officiant, board feed if possible. That usually sounds the best so talk to the sound person before the wedding and see what kind of out connection they can give you, so you can get the right adapter to get into the H1. I also try to get a mic on the music.

2 wireless lavs and a 4 track recorder are your best bet. Better yet a DR-680 if you can rent one. Also a plug-on transmitter and a hand held mic are useful for "Best wishes" things with people around the reception. And if the "Toast" stuff is done with a mic going through the DJs PA, you need to get a feed from the DJ's PA.

One helpful item is an in-line attenuator. It can pad down a line level signal from a PA, to a mic level signal like - the Plug-on transmitter from the Sennheiser wireless. I got a cable going from the DJ's PA to the in-line attenuator[/URL then to the plug-on transmitter. I had the receiver on my camera, and picked up all the toasts. Toasts are big. Find out how they are doing them, whether using a mic, or just yelling.
Click to expand...


Thanks so much for your post.
 
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