I've just read "How to get good and consistent EVENT AUDIO", by Mark Foley, p22 in the March 2009 issue of Event DV, and had to reply.

There are basically two kinds of people who will read his article:
  1. The experienced videographer looking for holes in the "how-to", for entertainment.
  2. The novice who is seeking to learn from articles like this.

My critique of Foley's article is for that second group, and hopefully won't give too much entertainment for the first.  :-)

I'll begin by saying that Foley comes close to the mark.  Close, but as they say, "Close but no cigar!"

I'll take issue even with his very first statement that "Video conveys information; audio conveys emotion."  Emotion is a form of information and it can be depicted very well by video or audio or the combination of both. Try telling a photographer that emotion can't be visually conveyed!

 

The next bone I have to pick is where Mark says that the vows are the most important audio in a wedding ceremony.  I think it is a mistake to prioritize like that.  A friend of the couple may be singing during the unity candle ceremony, Uncle Fred may be reading a scripture, or there may be a string quartet that the family busted the budget to hire.  What about dad's choking voice as he fights back a tear and gives his little girl away? 

And that's just the ceremony.  You'd better mic that band and get all the toasts, etc. at the reception too.  But a newbie having just read Foley's article, might be lulled into thinking, "Oh well, as long as we get those vows, we should be OK."   Not!

 

At any rate, having BAD audio ANYWHERE in a wedding video will be distracting and a blemish on the entire production.

 

Foley talks about using a digital recorder for the ceremony and having a mic on the groom "just for backup".  This implies that a single capture device (plus a backup) is sufficient.  Not!

Here's how to tell how many microphones you'll need - Every important sound source needs a mic within twenty-four inches or closer AND you need a backup for every source, though as a practical matter, our backup mics are often further away from sources than we'd like.

Mark says he puts a mic on the groom, but he doesn't tell us where he places the mic from the digital recorder.  Perhaps, as he writes later, he just uses its internal microphone.  Just about ANY lav mic you purchase will be better than a digital recorder's built-in mic.  First, because of quality and secondly because of placement.  You can't get that recorder as close and positioned as well as a lav.

The wedding we shot last weekend, was miked like this - a wireless lav on the officiant; wireless lav on the groom; wireless lav on the father of the bride; Shure handheld mic on stand connected via XLR to digital recorder for pianist and another for the trumpet player.  Static cameras had shotgun mics for guests applause, laughter, etc.

Our minister's; groom's and fob's mics all backed each other up.  I specifically had the trumpet player stand near the piano so those two mics backed each other up.  (Yeah, connected to same device, but if a mic got turned off or bumped, etc...)

As it turned out, we got interference on the minister's mic for a few seconds early on and had to get him from the groom's mic.  The minister stood just a couple feet back from the couple, yet the difference was amazing.  At a total distance of about three feet, the groom's mic didn't do nearly as well as the minister's own mic which was maybe ten inches from his lips. (Groom's wireless set cost over $700 & had a good Sony lav.)

I am totally befuddled at Mark's advice to "never change the settings or use it for anything else".  Reminds me of a baseball pitcher who never changed socks after pitching a perfect game. 

He's certainly got the right idea when he says, "a $50 microphone placed 5' away will sound immensely better than a $500 microphone placed 50' away."  But again, I"m afraid there will be misunderstanding.  Mark should have added to that that the difference will again take a quantum leap when you move the five foot mic to within ten to twenty inches.

Lastly, as for his advice to tap soundboards - I say, "Don't".  If it's your church's board and you are the one who operates it, fine.  Otherwise, no way.  Instead, take a decent (Shure - $99) handheld mic, place it in a mic stand about a foot or so away from a loudspeaker and you'll get good, dependable audio.  But if you do tap a board, look for a "Tape Out" set of RCA connections.   These will do just fine and, depending on the board, are often less susceptible to operator adjustments than a quarter inch connection.

Too many times, we've tapped a soundboard, only to have something the dj did, cut off our sound feed in the middle of the reception, often right before the toasts!  When you put a mic in front of his loudspeaker, you're assured of capturing the audio the way the guests hear it, and the little bit of ambient you'll get with it, will make it sound "real".

 

Not only should you place a mic in front of a speaker (back it up and check on it often), but use shotgun mics during the reception. You probably won't use much from the shotguns, but if the DJ's system dies, you can get up close to a speech-giver and still have audio.

 

I agree with Foley about doing your best to get good audio during the event,  but as for handling audio in post, there is always stuff you should do and often things you'll need to do.  Those should be handled in a seperate article, but I'll touch on them here -

1. ALWAYS compress  your audio.
2. Noise, whether intermittent or constant, can often be mitigated with software.
3. Finally, normalize your audio so that volume is consistent throughout.  Your viewers should never have to change volume.

I hope this helps those who are trying to learn the right way to get "good and consistent EVENT AUDIO".  If you have questions or comments, please post in our forums.

Finally, in Mark's defence, I imagine it is hard to get all that info onto one page, which he was apparently limited to.  Also, editors can make changes that inadvertently, but totally change the meaning of a sentence or paragraph.

 

Response from Mark Foley (emails)

 

Stuff. It's relentless. You're either needing to buy or upgrade - constantly.

For someone new to the business, it can be daunting. Manfrotto or Satchler? Most newcomers couldn't afford either.

What to do? Velbon? That was my choice when I got back into this business nearly a decade ago. But it was a mistake.

Middle of the road gear sounds like a good compromise, but often it is a waste? Why? Because sometimes only the best will do and anything less just won't cut it.

So what is a newbie with limited funds, to do? You'll find some surprising answers in this article!

I found myself facing a similar situation on a wedding shoot in Seattle recently. We'd lined up a well known rental firm, weeks in advance and I personally made arrangements with the owner to rent tripods and a camera crane. The amount of paperwork was ridiculous. I filled out at least eight pages with references, credit info, etc. The next day, the owner said we were all set and our gear would be ready for us the day before the wedding.

But when we arrived at the film & video equipment rental office, the owner was nowhere to be found and the office manager had apparently slipped out for an early weekend. A creative, artsy-type, scatter-brained, chatterbox lady was unable to locate the paperwork after twenty minutes of looking into the same three places over and over.

Disgusted, I walked out and visited a Best Buy store. Surprisingly, they had a Manfrotto tripod with head at around $200, but it was very lightweight and would never work with our hdv cameras. Besides, I thought it felt cheap.

Then I tried their Sunpak 7500 tripod ($79). It was also lightweight while still having some heft (if that is possible). We bought three and they were great. I even braved a pan attempt or two and they worked out ok. No, probably not as smooth as my Manfrotto 503 fluid head would have allowed, but at least as good as my Velbon which cost more than twice as much, and all three Sunpaks weighed much less than my single Manfrotto tripod.

Am I recommending Sunpak 7500 tripods for wedding work? Not exactly. I wouldn't trade my Manfrotto tripod with 503 head for 100 Sunpaks. But I will keep them around for those shoots that require a lot of hiking or for boating shoots. And if I were just getting started in this business and flat out could not afford Manfrotto or Satchler, I would definitely buy Sunpak and put the money saved into a jar until I could afford a "real tripod".

A $300 field monitor? (you may need to click the "read more" link)