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Posted by G. Perry on 08/18/06 23:54
"Jeremy Pollard" <HooahDJStrat@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1155908828.164854.216400@h48g2000cwc.googlegroups.com...
> As the subject suggests, I'm a video producer on a prosumer level and I
> do a lot of work for local musicians. Recently I shot a concert with a
> rather impressive sound system (it was at an arena) and ran into a
> bunch of last minute problems so the only audio I was able to capture
> was using my on-camera mic - as you can guess, the audio was very
> heavily distorted. For the future, I would like to have another mic on
> hand; considering the environment will be very loud, am I better off
> with a shotgun or omnidirectional? And is there a specific model or
> padding method that will help to capture a more clear sound? Thanks a
> lot.
I can recommend the Audio Technica AT822 mic for this purpose - I've been
using that mic to record extremely loud live music performances since late
2004. Before that I was using a Sony 908c. Both of these were attached to
my miniDV vidcams - the older Sony TRV38 and my newer Canon GL2.
With the Sony TRV38 there was no way to control the audio input levels. So
(as was suggested in another reply) I finally started using the attenuator
cord between my mic and the camera. With this straight 20 db reduction in
the level that went into the camera, I was able to record the loudest shows
and never had any distortion, crackling, fuzz or pops in the audio. The
Canon has a built in attenuator that I've been using (with the AT822) as
well as manual audio level controls and the records I've captured since May
with this new setup have been pretty satisfactory.
Since I'm pretty much just doing this as a hobby I've always wanted to be
able to capture the best audio possible directly on the tape and not have to
worry about synching audio/video in the imaginary post-production
environment I don't yet have. With a camera, a decent external stereo mic
and the attenuator cord I've been really, really happy with the results.
The bands (and friends and fellow fans) that I share copies with are
constantly saying that they can't believe how good my amateur recordings
sounds.
So even though I'm far from an expert whenever I encounter another casual
fan who's interested in capturing some video with good audio I always say
that the external stereo mic is absolutely essential but the real secret to
success is that magic attenuator cord. I'm not absolutely sure about this
but my understanding is that you'll want to avoid shotgun mics because they
will record in mono. I tried one out the first week I had my first miniDV
camera and the one show I recorded did not sound good.
I have some samples of my stuff at http://www.tubevision.com if anyone is
interested in checking out some WMV video and mp3 audio files of some
psychedelic/metal/doom/stoner/punk/acid rock bands. I have some mp3 files
on the site from a show I recorded last December of Blue Cheer who at one
time was proclaimed "The Loudest Rock-n-Roll Band in the World" - you can
hear how my mic stood up to that.
Hope some of this babbling helps.
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