Barton Hewett Posted January 14, 2014 Report Share Posted January 14, 2014 I feel silly asking this, but I sometimes work for a college where we record lectures in smallish rooms where the professor is miced (wireless) but the room is not. When students ask questions, they don't get picked up on the wire well enough to use and we have to devote lots of time to re-voicing the questions. I'm wondering if anyone out there can recommend a good inexpensive mic that could be placed on a stand that could pick up the students questions reasonably well. This audio doesn't have to be broadcast quality but legible and usable. This has to be a simple setup as some of the recorders aren't professional sound techs but students with limited training. thanks, Barton Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
studiomprd Posted January 14, 2014 Report Share Posted January 14, 2014 bigdog Barton:" a good inexpensive mic that could be placed on a stand that could pick up the students questions reasonably well. " that is difficult to say... how good, and how inexpensive, are just the starting point...and just putting any mic on a stand in a room is iffy at best... perhaps hanging a choir type mic in the room, recording it on a separate channel (at higher gain) might provide something better, as a guide track for ... ...re-voicing the questions later. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barton Hewett Posted January 14, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 14, 2014 Hi Rich, In the larger auditorium, we have 4 SM57s set up on stands and it works great but it's not practical in the small classrooms as it interrupts the flow of the class. I tried using a hand held stick mic and having the students pass it around but that didn't work either as what happens in the classrooms is discussion and having to wait for the mic proved a hindrance. To do these recordings, we have to be a transparent as possible; even pointing a shotgun would be too much. So, it's a problem. Anyway, thanks for the input. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattRuth Posted January 14, 2014 Report Share Posted January 14, 2014 Coming from a Uni and AV background, there are several ways of doing this. Over the years, I've set up so many sm58's on mic stands for conferences and the likes for Q&A, and have watched them go unused. people would usually just shout from their chairs. Probably the best way of doing this is use another wireless hand held mic like a 58 (or whatever the hand held mic is for the system you are using), and have a runner pass the mic around to people asking the questions. putting some kind of omni mic to pick up the room would probably work better than a wired 58 that people aren't anywhere near, but its not going to sound the greatest, and may cause you issues if its also going through a PA system in the room. The final option is to have the lecturer repeat the question before answering it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan McL Posted January 15, 2014 Report Share Posted January 15, 2014 Lecturer repeat = fab if irregularly observed convention. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wandering Ear Posted January 15, 2014 Report Share Posted January 15, 2014 To do these recordings, we have to be a transparent as possible; even pointing a shotgun would be too much. A shotgun is too intrusive? Then you're shit out of luck for any solution that is actually going to work. The problem is distance between the sound source and the Mic. You will have to get the Mic close to the source, and with multiple sources all over the room that don't move, multiple mics would be needed. Having the professor repeat the question is a simple and elegant solution. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Constantin Posted January 16, 2014 Report Share Posted January 16, 2014 What's the seating arrangement in the room? A couple of boundary layer mics could work well are not intrusive at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan McL Posted January 16, 2014 Report Share Posted January 16, 2014 Or a goofy-sounding parabolic in the hands of an operator... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abe Dolinger Posted January 16, 2014 Report Share Posted January 16, 2014 If you don't need a mono mix, I've had decent results in small rooms by hanging 2 COS-11s from the ceiling (into wireless TX). Having some kind of stereo image seems to help legibility. Abe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ze Frias Posted January 21, 2014 Report Share Posted January 21, 2014 Hanging mics? Honestly, I think like others above, having the lecturer repeat the question is best with the conditions presented. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ramallo Posted January 21, 2014 Report Share Posted January 21, 2014 Cheap http://www.akg.com/CBL99-837.html?pid=1106 On the ceiling Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Steigerwald Posted January 21, 2014 Report Share Posted January 21, 2014 This audio doesn't have to be broadcast quality but legible and usable. Hang something as central as you can get it, gain it way up, put a compressor/limiter on it. I do this for surveillance mics on house reality shows and it works well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnpaul215 Posted January 22, 2014 Report Share Posted January 22, 2014 I day played on the show Teach that followed Tony Danza teaching a high school English class. They struggled with this. They wanted the class to operate as it normally would with minimal interruptions. They tried a rig of overhead mounted shotguns but post disliked the sound, so they eventually set a lav for every 2 desks and sorted out the 20 tracks of audio in post. Granted, they didn't want to see mics on the cameras covering the students. Maybe some cardioids aimed across the class would get something "usable" for what you need. Maybe some way to mount boundary mics in the ceiling? There isn't a quick and easy solution. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barton Hewett Posted January 22, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 22, 2014 Thanks for the replies. The problem I am having is that no matter how much you try to remind them, the Profs forget to repeat the question. The best success was last year when I had to cover a graduate seminar. There were a group of students sitting at a long table with the Prof at one end. I could get the student's who were close to the Prof off his COS-11; for the students at the other end of that table, I planted another COS-11 and most of the audio was usable (surprising how good those little lavs are!). The rooms I am in now are bigger. I am going to give the AKG boundary mic suggested by ramello a try. Thanks, Barton Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OmahaAudio Posted January 22, 2014 Report Share Posted January 22, 2014 I am going to give the AKG boundary mic suggested by ramello a try. You could also use a Crown PZM, another boundary mic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barton Hewett Posted January 22, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 22, 2014 but you guys are right - it is difficult. Last night, I was wishing I had a parabolic mic... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Constantin Posted January 22, 2014 Report Share Posted January 22, 2014 If the room is really quite large, the the boundary mic on the ceiling isn't going to make you happy. As I said earlier, get a few of them and spread them around on the tables. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abe Dolinger Posted January 23, 2014 Report Share Posted January 23, 2014 They tried a rig of overhead mounted shotguns but post disliked the sound, so they eventually set a lav for every 2 desks and sorted out the 20 tracks of audio in post. Oh cool, I worked on the pilot for that. I was wondering what the workflow would boil down to. We had two booms, but there were still holes in the coverage. 20 tracks is a lot, but maybe it was the only way! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christian Spaeth Posted January 27, 2014 Report Share Posted January 27, 2014 Wire all the students. Seriously, I had situations like that. There will always be someone asking their question very low or in a direction where there's no mic. One mic somewhere is a start but it will never cover everything, and it will be quite roomy, so the sound of the room is also important. Maybe there's a beamer or a laptop whirring away somewhere and that could kill the legibility too. So ideally, all students should be wired. Though that is not very practical. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barton Hewett Posted January 29, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 29, 2014 We don't have enough wireless to mic all the students, nor the number of inputs in the recorder. I'm going to try either Crown's or the AKG suggested above. Lots of Crown's available on Trew's used list. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greg sextro Posted January 29, 2014 Report Share Posted January 29, 2014 why not just a cheap condenser cardioid like an octava? $100 or so. should easily be able to pick up voices in a small room. it might not sound the best, but it should at the very least be audible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barton Hewett Posted February 3, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 3, 2014 I have a Crown on loan from Trew and will test it this week, hopefully. Cheap: $75.00. If it works, I may buy a few more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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