I am trying to shoot 5 seperate tables of people simultaneously at a training session. There are three people at each table. As you can probably guess, there is a lot of background noise. I am currently using shotgun mics on camera with attenuation turned on to try to reduce background noise. I know wireless LAV Mics would probably be better, but we would need to purchase a lot of them as well as mixers. There are three to four people at each table and we are using two cameras. Is there a better way?

Thanks

I think you need to get the mics closer to the tables. And I think you need highly directional mics to keep other noise from interfering. If you can keep people from talking at once, maybe a single, directional mic on a stand would work? You don't say whether keeping the mics out of the shot is important. Obviously, my suggestion puts them in the shot.

Or maybe a directional mic on a stand over their heads but out of the shot. In any case, somehow you're probably going to want to record them separately so you can get the right mix while editing the thing together.

Good luck.

Dennis

Hello Chays,

You're only shooting one table at a time right?

A hypercardioid on a boom will work better than your shotgun on the camera. The best is a Schoeps cmc641, next an AT 4053a and then an Audix SCX-1 HC.

Attenuation does nothing to "reduce background noise." It just renders the mic less sensitive with the possible downside of increasing the system noise. Turn it off.

Regards,

Ty Ford

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You can get Giant Squid lav's for $25 each. They sound very good actually. But the problem with lav's is that they pick up a lot of clothing noise unless they are attached exactly right. I'm not saying a GS mic is a top quality mic but depending on your application they could certainly be good enough. Many people think they are excellent. I have three of them myself. Of course you would need a recorder or a mixer to accomodate so many lav's.

I have a couple of Giant Squid lavs and find they are very omnidirectional. Depending on how close people are sitting to each other you will probably get cross talk. Even if each mic was recorded on a separate channel I think you might find multiple voices being recorded. Then again, that might be OK.

Good luck.

Dennis

Yes the GS mics are omnis but IMO the range which they pick up sound is pretty limited. You might not get perfect sound from these devices but if you have a separate recorder for each mic you can most likely align the tracks to eliminate the effects of cross talk. Of course I am just speculating here. I haven't actually tried this but I might give it a try soon. I may try to mic different instruments in the bluegrass band I work with just to see how hard it would be to make it work right. I'll use my GS mics and my iriver recorders and see if I can eliminate timing issues satisfactorly. I will try to remember to post my results.

BTW I would guess that the GS mics would be much more sensitive if they had battery boxes installed. That would tend to make it harder to elimiate cross talk problems IMO. But again I'm speculating.

I have been in a similar situation before and have always been using Carvin CM90E condenser mics on a boom. They are extremely unidirectional and very sensitive with a high SPL rating. Several times I have been at parties and did very well at isolating only the sounds that I wanted. They can be a little pricey.

There's a couple listed on Ebay right now and aren't attracting very many bids. If I didn't already have four of them I would jump on it. wink.

I guess it depends on the volume. I've used my GS to record lectures in large auditoriums and, although the signal is weak, I can easily pick up the person speaking as well as sounds of the people around me (coughs, speaking, etc.). But it's worth a try as the GS lavs are very inexpensive.

Good luck.

Dennis