Topic: 'PENCIL' CONDESER FOR LECTURE/SPEECH?

[kono]

hi,
i need to record speech/lectures. but the person who speeks has a 'wide dynamic voice' - sometimes normal speaking level, sometimes shouting, sometimes whispering, even occasionally singing. a very dynamic lecture.
i guess the 'best' mics for this job are the large diaphragm mics. the recordings takes place in to main scenarios: 1. inside a classroom, being amplified through speakers. where i can put the mic on his table.
2. outdoor, in a open field, beach shore, dirving car, street - virtually any place outside the classroom.
few main points: i'm looking for a mid-high pro audio mic. it's not possible for the lectern to wear any lav mic. it's very impotant to eliminate ambient noise in the classroom and outdoor as much as possible. i wish i could find one mic to do this job - or maybe there's some kind of a modular system so i can switch quickly between the mics. but if two seperate mics will give me much better results, than that's the way.
i want the mic/mics to be as small as possible cause in the classroom he's also being videographed, so i don't want the mic to be intrusive. second, for outdoor, i need much mobility i.e smaller mic, and also i don't want to draw people attention like walking in the street with a boom or 40cm shotgun. i need something much smaller.
becuase of the above, i figured i should go cardioid, and also maybe trying 'pencil' condenser mics (because of their relative small size and shape), such as the AKG BLUE LINE, AKG C480B+CK61 ,AT3031 ,AT4051 ,KM 140 ,RODE NT5, DPA 4041 SP, MXL 603S, AUDIX MICROS, SENN K6 SYSTEM, EARTHWORKS SR SERIE and plenty of others. the thing is that most of them are designed for instrument recordings, and not for speech/vocal, though they have great specs high spl, low noise, great dynamic range ect..
So, basically my question is: WILL THE 'PENCIL' CONDENSER MICS GIVE ME GOOD RESULTS IN SPEECH/VOACL RECORDING AS ANY OTHER 'REGULAR' HANDHELD MIC DESIGNED FOR THIS JOB?
thank you very much.

[kono]

hi, thanks for replying. first, he can't can't put a lva on him.
second, might be nice the over head mic. but i want it to be close to the ceiling so it's not noticeable, but yet capture quality sound. what should be the distance? i'll do the measuring.
third, o.k, you say a 'pencil' mic would do the job right. how they compare regular vocal mics? i just noted a few mics in a much bigger list i have, so what pro model should you suggest for male voice?
thank you very much.

[Kyle]

Is ths person gong to be moving around or speaking at a lecturn? I used to work at a school and had to do this all the time. Usually, our speakers were at a lecturn. I would usually clamp a AKG c460b/ck3 to the front and center of the lecturn and run it to the mixer. We had a PA and it was quite easy to get a good signal (for projection and recording). IF the speaker is mobile make him/her use a lav. I found after doing many events (I know this sounds bad) that most people are not good public speakers and really do not know what they want or what they are doing. It seemed that to minimze their decisions often worked best - for example, "we have this lecturn and this lav -that's it - take your pick". It's not about being negative, more just  offering a guiding hand to ge the job done right.

If the above options do not work try the overheads. They can do a good job as well.

Do you have wireless mics? Our lav and handhelds were wireless - I had good luck with the full size hand held wireless mics - people really seemed to like those - mount it on a podium - walk around with it - whatever....

Do you have a comp/limiter? A little bit of compression on a really dynamic voice can help....

[goose]

If this is a situation when you are simply attending readings/lectures/speeches etc, and you can hear the results, you can wear mics on your person to capture the results if the peaker is using a PA or you are close enough to hear clearly.  There are many small mics that will accomplish this for you. 

If you are doing more of news gathering and recording speeches for re-distribution, you likely need the approaches that have been mentioned, for best results.

Best of luck.