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Wedding Audio Setup
I recently video taped a wedding for a friend with two Canon XH A1 cameras. We were restricted to balconies. On the side balcony closest to the action I used a Sennheiser MKH-416 shotgun microphone in one channel and plugged the other channel into the church’s sound system.
The church’s sound system had noise and the shotgun microphone track was OK, but not great. What is the best audio setup for this type of situation?
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1 Reply
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Hello Dan and welcome to the Cow Audio Forum,
You (or they) present a typical wedding video problem. Can’t get close enough. Must record blasphemous church PA. Which one sounds worse?
Shotguns don’t work that far away inside a space, Even my Schoeps supercardioid would sound bad. Too far away.
Church PAs can sound OK, but you have to know how to tap into them to get the good stuff. Each one is different and each situation is different. You may have been put in a no win situation.
Good wireless, on each person would be the best technical solution. Maybe even putting the receivers closer to the action and cabling back to your mixer. Or maybe even using shark directional antennae so you can get a good solid signal from a distance.
Weddings can present wardrobe problems and weird attitudes from the pastor and the bride; you can’t go here, I can’t wear that, etc. Wedding videographers are looked down on by some shooters, but their jobs are frequently incredibly difficult and their clients — the bridezillas — can be just awful.
Oh, and take the cell phone away from the groom and pastor until after the ceremony. You could also cross your fingers and hope that lavs and minidisc recorders on each person will continue to function during the time needed. It would scare me silly to do that, but wedding videographers do it.
Regards,
Ty Ford
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