What Mic should I use (LIve Event)
- Thread starter matwpc
- Start date
My two cents,
The Oktava is a great mic, Use TWO! Record in stereo. X/Y or physical separation. Music should be done in Stereo. If you have a second 2 track device to record to, You can also use a cheap hand-held or two, and point them back at the crowd to get clapping, yahooing or booing... Mix to desired taste in post.
Personally, I disagree with the other person here. I would steer clear of the on-board mic. It is directional and you probably will not be able to keep your mitts away from it as you run the camera. It will produce handling noise, does not deal with pressure levels very well, and your body will alter the sound coming from in back of it. Not to mention, even though it is stereo, the stereo signal will be forced to audibly follow wherever you point the lens,... not very pleasing to watch in the end product.
If the event is outdoors, use good windscreens or a couple cheap furries. If the band is loud, and you are on a tight budget, you can probably get away with a pair of good reporter mics/hand-helds, these will be dynamic mics so you will not need phantom power. I have several Audio Technica AT804 mics, these things will take a serious beating, and keep on listening. I probably have over 35 mics, from 2 grand to 20 bucks in price range, and these are my favorite All-Purpose mics. You can find them as cheap as 30 bucks used. They have been around for a God's Age and only recently were replaced by a longer handled 8004. Google em, youll find they are used for just about everything, from vocals, to reporters to a sonic drumstick!!
Condensers like the Oktava MC012, or others, have sound pressure levels you need to be aware of. The 012 is really decent, but all mics have a pressure level that they will start clipping at. This really should not be an issue unless you are shoving the thing in a bass drum, leslie speaker, or 2 inches off the front of a marshall stack. Dynamic mics are not as sensitive, the sound/input/source needs to be right on top of them to get a decent recording, this is also why they work good for loud live events. They are also not subject to handling noise like a condenser.
Hope this helps, I tried not to go into much tech detail.
The Oktava is a great mic, Use TWO! Record in stereo. X/Y or physical separation. Music should be done in Stereo. If you have a second 2 track device to record to, You can also use a cheap hand-held or two, and point them back at the crowd to get clapping, yahooing or booing... Mix to desired taste in post.
Personally, I disagree with the other person here. I would steer clear of the on-board mic. It is directional and you probably will not be able to keep your mitts away from it as you run the camera. It will produce handling noise, does not deal with pressure levels very well, and your body will alter the sound coming from in back of it. Not to mention, even though it is stereo, the stereo signal will be forced to audibly follow wherever you point the lens,... not very pleasing to watch in the end product.
If the event is outdoors, use good windscreens or a couple cheap furries. If the band is loud, and you are on a tight budget, you can probably get away with a pair of good reporter mics/hand-helds, these will be dynamic mics so you will not need phantom power. I have several Audio Technica AT804 mics, these things will take a serious beating, and keep on listening. I probably have over 35 mics, from 2 grand to 20 bucks in price range, and these are my favorite All-Purpose mics. You can find them as cheap as 30 bucks used. They have been around for a God's Age and only recently were replaced by a longer handled 8004. Google em, youll find they are used for just about everything, from vocals, to reporters to a sonic drumstick!!
Condensers like the Oktava MC012, or others, have sound pressure levels you need to be aware of. The 012 is really decent, but all mics have a pressure level that they will start clipping at. This really should not be an issue unless you are shoving the thing in a bass drum, leslie speaker, or 2 inches off the front of a marshall stack. Dynamic mics are not as sensitive, the sound/input/source needs to be right on top of them to get a decent recording, this is also why they work good for loud live events. They are also not subject to handling noise like a condenser.
Hope this helps, I tried not to go into much tech detail.
andythefilmer
Veteran
Recently filmed a large scale event with 6 cameras. For audio, I hooked up my PreSonus Firestudio to my Macbook Pro. It has 8 phantom XLR ports and records each track individually in Logic, so I used that and had 2 Shure SM57's and a Beta 52 in the back, then a MXL 991 Condenser in the front, SM57 rigged to one of the hanging speaker towers, and a stereo feed from the board. Keep in mind that in large venues, you need to compensate for sound delay, so it is much easier if you record each track separately so you can align the tracks in post.
silentnoise
Member
The best way is with a dedicated multitrack recorder to get a direct output from each channel on the board, a set of mics in the pattern of your choosing for the room sound, and a post sound mixer who knows what they're doing with all of it.