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Posted to rec.audio.pro
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Need help on recording small conference tomorrow
On 14 May 2006 20:58:10 -0700, wrote:
I'm recording a conference tomorrow that will involve a main speaker at
a podium and several others gathered around a table. I will be
recording this setup to 2-track DAT and one other format as backup.
This is mainly being recorded for archival and transcription purposes,
so quality is only important for the purposes of being able to
understand what is being said at any given time. I plan on using a
cardioid mic for the main speaker, but I am floundering between several
options as to how to mic the rest of it, as well as what other format I
should record to.
Whatever you have. laptop, minidisc, cassette (ugh), CD recorder.
CD recorder is my last choice since I've seen a lot of flaky CD
recordings.
For the micing option, here's the situation - there will be 2-4 people
on either side of a large table (possibly two tables with a gap in the
middle). Both sides will need to be heard equally as well. Would an
omni-directional mic, a bi-directional mic, or one of those flat table
mics be best for this? Or would it be in my best interest to use TWO
other mics, one for each side of the table?
If you can use one or more mics for each side of the table that would
be best. You'll get the best recording if you can get each mic as
close as possible to the panelists.
As for the recording process, I plan on panning the main speaker left
and the rest to the right, so that when I load the audio into the
computer, I can separate them out and edit them separately if
necessary.
If you can do this and if you edit later, that will improve your
chances of getting good audio.
(One portion of the conference is requiring me to record
two individual groups simultaneously, so this setup will be necessary
to make each group's discussion able to be edited). My only concern is
that if I do this that there could be potential editing hardships later
on. Thoughts?
As far as I understand, what you suggest will make editing easier than
if yo recorded all onto the same track. If you separate the tracks
and put them in a multitrack program like audition you can eq and
process each track separately to eliminate room noise as best as
possible and then mix the two signals together as needed to get the
cleanest end result. If I had the luxury of post editing, I'd do it
the way you suggest too.
One other option I'm kicking around is hooking up my laptop with a
FireWire audio interface and going ahead and recording each mic on its
own channel, but the extra equipment required to make that work gives
me reason to balk. Is it worth it to carry the extra equipment simply
for backup purposes, or would a simple analog cassette deck suffice
(again, quality is not an issue with the recording)?
Well, assuming only one person at a time will be speaking and assuming
it will be either the main speaker on ch1 or a table speaker on ch2,
I'd think that'd be good enough. If you planned on using a mic on
each individual panelist then I;d say yes, record every mic on a
separate channel. that'd give you the highest quality and most
options post editing, but as you say also the most difficult to set
up.
Julian
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