best mike for a group sitting at a table

[Edward Chick]

Boundary mics are ideal. Go to peterengh.com.

[Ty Ford]

Phew,

That can be a recipe for disaster. Are they sitting around a table facing each other, eg like sitting at the dining room table?

The problems are that you need enough mics close enough to everyone so that everyone can be heard. The acutual size and shape of the table is important for where to place mics.

If they are ON the table and you get pencil tappers or paper fiddlers, you have a mess.

You need an automixer to turn off any mics not being spoken into or you’ll get really nasty audio.

AT and Shure both make 8 channel automixers. I’d start there.

Regards,

Ty Ford

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[Ray Palmer]

I agree with Ty. Use an automated mixer with the same type of microphone for each person or two.

We have three of the Shure 8 channel for a total of 24 at a time.
We tried at first to do a live mix with a standard board, but no one is that good.

One very big question though. You mentioned capture the audio. Will this be sent to a live P.A., Public address?
It is one thing to capture the audio for recording and another to capture and amplify the audio.

Ray Palmer, Engineer
Salt River Project
Phoenix, AZ
602-236-8224 office
There are three types of people in this world, those that can count and those that can’t.

[Steve Wargo]

How about a little more detail. Is this a one take deal or film style where you can repeat things? Will there be a wide cover shot and then close up insert shots? Does everyone talk? There are several ways to do this but it would vary according to your situation.

Steve Wargo
Tempe, Arizona

It’s a dry heat!

[Arty Gold]

we are being hired to shoot a segment in what they would like to be a “reality” based show

i think they are looking for as much natural conversation to happen as possible…

picture 10 loud men sitting at a table randomly conversating over dinner !

[John Fishback]

I’ve had good luck using PZMs taped to a table. There’s not as much table noise as you’d expect. You can prbably cover 3 people per mic. However, I’d experiment before the shoot with different mics and placements. Regardless of mic type and placement the automixers are a good idea.

John

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[Steve Wargo]

If you are using several cameras, you’ll need the sound from the shot that each camera has.

As a shot in the dark, you might want to have a monitor available for a boom operator so he can follow your action. That would go on ch1. Second, use the PZMs suggested by someone else. Put that on ch2. Repeat per camera.

this sounds like a complete crap shoot that could go either way. But, with a bit of planning, it should go well. The problem I see is people talking over one another.

Good luck

Steve Wargo
Tempe, Arizona

It’s a dry heat!