Audio pick up at Weddings
16/04/10 15:59 Filed in: Wedding, wedding video, audio, microphones
The importance of multi-miking at your ceremony
I need to explain again why successful and good sounding audio is crucial during a ceremony. Video is nothing without good sound. Wedding video is become more and more about making a movie than just a straight turn on a camera and forget it. Production standards are starting to become very prominent with the stars of the show, the bride and groom, almost becoming actors. Why? Because it looks so much more professional. It is just like a photographer who gets you to pose and places you in attractive backgrounds or a studio setting.
It is industry standard to mike both the groom and the celebrant. This is because I think you need to hear the sound of intimacy in a ceremony. A soft voice, well miked, gives that feeling. The celebrant is speaking to the whole gathering. His/her voice is usually booming. The couple's voices are softer, more intimate, more nervous and you can hear it. As well, a videographer needs back up, and a back up of the back up. Wedding video only has one chance to get it right. You can't stop the ceremony and say, please wait while we adjust and fix the sound pickup! So, to cover this eventuality ( and it does happen ...ask any videographer) we always double mike the groom and the celebrant. Each has a lavalier mike with a wireless transmitter. And, each has second lavalier connected to a small pocket digital audio recorder. We use the Marantz 620. On the groom, the mikes are placed at waist level, so they the pick up the sound of the bride very well and the sound is balanced between the groom, the bride and celebrant. In addition, we have a shot gun mike aimed in the general area. We don't always use all these sources of sound, but they are there to ensure a successful production.
I know some couples are worried about what the mikes will pick up and would rather not take the chance of embarassment. My response is that such material can be taken out. What gets picked up before the ceremony and immediately afterwards is removed unless you want it left there!
The aim of all this is to provide you with excellent sound quality, so that years from now, in a quiet moment, you will be able to play back just the audio of the ceremony and hear all that detail, from the ambiance of a church to the sound of birds at an outdoor wedding.
It is industry standard to mike both the groom and the celebrant. This is because I think you need to hear the sound of intimacy in a ceremony. A soft voice, well miked, gives that feeling. The celebrant is speaking to the whole gathering. His/her voice is usually booming. The couple's voices are softer, more intimate, more nervous and you can hear it. As well, a videographer needs back up, and a back up of the back up. Wedding video only has one chance to get it right. You can't stop the ceremony and say, please wait while we adjust and fix the sound pickup! So, to cover this eventuality ( and it does happen ...ask any videographer) we always double mike the groom and the celebrant. Each has a lavalier mike with a wireless transmitter. And, each has second lavalier connected to a small pocket digital audio recorder. We use the Marantz 620. On the groom, the mikes are placed at waist level, so they the pick up the sound of the bride very well and the sound is balanced between the groom, the bride and celebrant. In addition, we have a shot gun mike aimed in the general area. We don't always use all these sources of sound, but they are there to ensure a successful production.
I know some couples are worried about what the mikes will pick up and would rather not take the chance of embarassment. My response is that such material can be taken out. What gets picked up before the ceremony and immediately afterwards is removed unless you want it left there!
The aim of all this is to provide you with excellent sound quality, so that years from now, in a quiet moment, you will be able to play back just the audio of the ceremony and hear all that detail, from the ambiance of a church to the sound of birds at an outdoor wedding.