recording a speaker in a loud environment

B

bennniii

New member
dear folks,

i am working on a project that demands for a possibly very complicated solution: i am trying to record a speaker from a far distance (~3m / 10f) in an environment that is rather noisy. i have tried several directional microphones (rode ntg2, sennheise mke600, t-bone em 9900), yet none serve this purpose and i am starting to think, that a "normal" microphone won't be of use.

anybody any clue as for what i could try? wireless clip-on microphones would be an option, too – although it'd be a precondition that they don't have a (big) transmitter. another thought was looking into directional spy-microphones, yet i have absolutely no clue about this stuff.

i'd be super-gracious if anyone had an idea.
thanks!
 
- What is the device you are recording to?
- Is the speaker at a podium or moving around?
- Is it possible to use a mic on a boom pole over the speaker?
 
thanks mark for jumping in!

1) i'm recording to a computer (that's located "behind" the scenes) with a decent, optionally phantom-power interface
2) the speakers are moving around within a range of 2f (only forwards and backwards, not left and right) and may vary in size (from children to grown-ups)
3) boom-pole is not possible :/ the microphone needs to be stationary (or as mentioned clipped on to the speaker under the condition of being very, very small (no transmitter?) and effortless to attach)
 
There is one solution to this problem - reduce the distance between mic and mouth. Shotguns and parabolics are hopeless. Hence why they don't use them on F1, where budget is not the issue, physics is! Pointing a directional mic narrows the pickup angle, capturing more of them, but it still captures what is behind them - and in a noisy environment, behind the speaker is still XdB of noise! You need to improve the signal to noise ratio, and that means using mics that can do it well. In F1, they'll use an omni on a long handle - M58s are my favourite, and they put them virtually on the lips - or they'll use a wire type headset, typically DPAs being my favourite, into the corner of the mouth. Looks odd, but is the only solution to loud environments. If they don't like this idea, then walk away because you are on a hiding to nothing.
 
If you ware working for the speaker, he will have to accommodate what it takes to get the job done. Wireless lavaliere or headset mic is the way to get the job done.

Unless the speech is at a nudist colony, or the speaker is wearing swimwear, the transmitter pack can be stuck somewhere.
 
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