Topic: NEWBIE: Non-stealthy school live performance video recording

[orange-man]

I am a first timer and am looking to record my children's high school concerts, variety shows, musicals, etc.  I have a Panasonic HDC-TM900 camcorder and am looking to improve via an external mic.  I would be approximately 20 rows from the stage.  I don't need to hide the fact that I am recording, but I can't be obnoxious with placing mics by the stage or having a pole.  I need something that I can either put on the camcorder or keep on a tripod within my seat area.  I would like to use the miniphone mic input rather than going XLR, since that area is unfamiliar to me.

I would like to get as high a quality as possible.  My son plays the upright bass so getting the bass frequencies are highly important to me.

I don't know how to think about this.  I think that the Rode VideoMic are more for spoken word and isolation of surrounding noise.  Maybe the Rode VMC, or maybe there are better mics for getting stereo sound from this type of distance. The auditorium has a good sound system, so it will be reaching my camera pretty well via the house speakers.

I would greatly appreciate any suggestions.  While value is always important, the the quality is the most important.  Sorry for the long post, but I wanted to provide as much information as possible.  Thanks in advance.

[acidjack]

I am a first timer and am looking to record my children's high school concerts, variety shows, musicals, etc.  I have a Panasonic HDC-TM900 camcorder and am looking to improve via an external mic.  I would be approximately 20 rows from the stage.  I don't need to hide the fact that I am recording, but I can't be obnoxious with placing mics by the stage or having a pole.  I need something that I can either put on the camcorder or keep on a tripod within my seat area.  I would like to use the miniphone mic input rather than going XLR, since that area is unfamiliar to me.

I would like to get as high a quality as possible.  My son plays the upright bass so getting the bass frequencies are highly important to me.

I don't know how to think about this.  I think that the Rode VideoMic are more for spoken word and isolation of surrounding noise.  Maybe the Rode VMC, or maybe there are better mics for getting stereo sound from this type of distance. The auditorium has a good sound system, so it will be reaching my camera pretty well via the house speakers.

I would greatly appreciate any suggestions.  While value is always important, the the quality is the most important.  Sorry for the long post, but I wanted to provide as much information as possible.  Thanks in advance.

A lot of people are going to just outright recommend the inexpensive and fairly high-quality Church Audio CA-14s.  Those mics are great for what most of us do, and are inexpensive, but if you're willing to invest a bit more, I would consider other alternatives.

I would think something like the Rode NT4 fits your bill: http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/NT4  or the Audio Technica AT8022 http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/602080-REG/Audio_Technica_AT8022_AT8022_X_Y_Stereo_Phantom.html

Single mic, easy to mount, easy to use, and can be phantom-powered OR run off 9V battery (in the case of the Rode) or AA (in the case of the Audio Technica).

I'm not terribly familiar with your cameras inputs, but if you're willing to get more complicated, you will get better sound if you rig up the NT4/8022 to a small preamp and run that through the balanced XLR connection rather than the mic inputs.  The XLRs and use of Phantom Power (as opposed to alkaline battery) will give you greater tolerance for higher sound pressure levels, which may or may not be necessary for what you're doing.

I will let other video-inclined people chime in here, but again, if your budget is high enough, I think the Rode or AT mic or another single point stereo mic will serve you well and not make this too incredibly complicated. 

The Audio Technica mic is $400.  The Rode is a bit north of $500.  CA-14s are $150.   This is a very inexpensive ($50) preamp: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/747361-REG/Nady_DMP_2_DMP_2_Compact_Microphone.html  This is a slightly nicer one: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/406896-REG/Denecke_AD_20_AD_20_Portable_Microphone_Preamp.html (but note it only has digital outs, so you'd need to run digitally into the video camera)

[Brian Skalinder]

I'm not really a video guy, but I think I know at least this much...

You'll likely achieve the highest quality results recording the audio separate from the video, i.e. mics / preamp / ADC / recorder independent of the audio track on the videocam.  In parallel, you could record your audio on the videocam as you do today.  But afterwards, you would replace the videocam's audio track, syncing the independently recorded audio with the video source.  This likely would require additional software, learning the new software, and taking the time to do the replacement / sync for every recording.

The real question, in my mind, then:  are you willing to run an audio recording completely independently of the videocam, and do the necessary post-production sync?

If so, great, even if it's a bit more complicated and more effort, and there's no limit to your options in this scenario.  But if not, and you'd rather stick with audio into your videocam, that works, too -- but people need to know so they can recommend gear that will integrate directly with your videocam.

[orange-man]

It makes perfect send that running the audio independently would give the best results, but I don't have the time, nor knowledge to mess with it.  I would want to keep it as simple as possible, preferable mounted on the video camera.  I know that limits my options and in my dreams I would love to explore those other options.  Realistically I would want to just plug a miniphone into my camcorder mic jack and let the camera do it all. 

[acidjack]

^^^ In that case, I reiterate my recommendation of the AT 8022 or the Rode.