I'm just curious how you guys record your audio when the party uses a house mic that is hooked up to the DJ booth. I've used the record out on dj mixers and it sounds pretty good, but other times it sounds ok in the headphones but really loud and somewhat distorted on tape.

What I did for my last wedding is hook up my extra video camera to a wireless mic and put the transmitter connected to the DJ.

I should of used my h4n, but nobody had a proper connector for it.

How do you guys record the speeches, toast and anything that comes through the mic.

Any tips to improve the quality and make sure the DJ doesn't turn up the volume too loud throughout the night.

Note: I shoot on a Canon 7D. I have a h4n device and a Senheiser Wireless G2 system.

Hi Kelly,

We have h4n with wireless g2 and also an Olympus digital recorder.

This is what we do:

SCENARIO 1: RECORD OUT IS AVAILABLE AND THE DJ LOOKS RELIABLE
mic the board to h4n through wireless g2
put Olympus on the lectern/speaker system.

SCENARIO 2: RECORD OUT IS NOT AVAILABLE OR THE DJ DOESN'T LOOK RELIABLE
mic the speaker system with h4n with wireless g2
put Olympus in the lectern

:)

Santo

I have an old beat up Sony MiniDisc recorder that I connect to the DJ mixer tape-out jacks. It has automatic level control which apparently does a very good job because in ten years I've never once had unacceptable audio. In mono mode it'll record for about 4.5 hours, so I set it up as far ahead as I can and just hit record. Unfortunately, I have to ingest the audio at 1x speed. That's not a big problem, I just advance to the part I need and start it playing.

Kelly, I use XLR cable for the feed from DJ's board, connect it to my sony UTX transmitter and capture a great sound. I found those XLR-RCA, XLR-stereo adapters really useful since some DJs may face you with the fact. I control levels from the camera end, but in your case you may find this a useful tool to avoid picking Shure | A15AS - In-Line Attenuator | A15AS | B&H Photo Video

As someone who DJs and does video I can tell you for the most part DJs have the technical proficiency of a rock. If its not one of our own DJs or someone I know we usually just use our shotgun mics and a wireless mic on a stand close to the speaker. Never had any problem doing it that way.

I also have a H4n and Senheiser Wireless G2 system. I made myself a cable, which splits signal from DJ board (from Tape or Record Out) into both G2 transmitter, and H4n. My cable has 2 RCAs on one end (from my experience, mostly available is RCA Tape Out) going to 2 1/4" for the Zoom in parallel with 1/8" for the transmitter. I have multiple adapters to accommodate XLR, RCA, or 1/4" out - you never know, what is available on the board...

Very important is to use right cables for Line level output: Sennheiser makes one for their transmitters:
Sennheiser | CL-2 Transmitter Line Cable 1/8"-M to | CL2 (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=details_accessories&A=kitInfo&Q=&sku=217589&is=REG) (uses the middle ring, not the tip of the connector; the tip is grounded...) For very loud DJs use -30db sensitivity on the transmitter. Also, for H4n you need to use 1/4" tips, not XLR, for Line-in...

Using correct Line level cable also guarantees you won't blow the board because a typical board Line-out (impedance 47K or even less) goes to at least, 100K Line-in of a recorder or transmitter...

If it is not possible to connect to the board, I use mic (with wireless plug-in) and H4n (using internal mics) into DJ's speaker.

I also put a wireless transceiver mic in front of the DJ's speaker, with this I can go around while maintaining the same audio level, monitoring it at the same time, also I use the Tascam DR 100 and connect it to the DJ'd audio input, to capture the whole recorded event.

As someone who DJs and does video I can tell you for the most part DJs have the technical proficiency of a rock. If its not one of our own DJs or someone I know we usually just use our shotgun mics and a wireless mic on a stand close to the speaker. Never had any problem doing it that way.

I like the way you put it. Some years ago I worked a "DJ" that had less technical knowledge than my 2 year old grandkid. Seriously, he didn't have a clue. I don't how he even got the gear setup. Anyway, I plugged in as usual, and intros, toasts and the first dances went fine. When he opened the dance floor up he cranked his levels of course (about the level of a 747 taking off) and it took me about 15 secinds to get to the mixer and pull my plug. Needless to say the first part of the song was the worst audio I had ever heard.
Immediately after that I started using a mic in front of the DJs speaker (Sennheiser E604 drum mic) and a hypercaroid on the camera. I haven't had a single problem since then. Good muci track thru both mics with the 604 doing most of the heavy lifting and the hyper gets nice ambient and music. It took me a while to figure out the best mic to use, I tried shotguns, lavs, a couple of different handhelds and then someone here mentioned the 604 and I haven't looked back since. I've never had a complaint about audio using this system.

*Slighly Off-Topic*

To hook into the DJ's Mixer with a Zoom H2, I would need a XLR to 1/8" miniplug cable right?

Depends on what the DJ has open in his mixer. It might be XLR or 1/4 or RCA. Gotta have a little bag with all the connections. I'd be lost without my little bag of audio and video "tricks". Ya never know what you're gonna need or when you're gonna need it.

Thanks for all your input. I def have all the parts to do anything that comes at me.

Sorry, got another noob question. For plugging from an H2 into the DJ's Mixer, the cable (whether XLR or RCA) would have to be female on the end connecting to the mixer right?

No the cable would be male. Inputs on the boards are female.

Thanks for your responses guys, I appreciate it. My primary area of knowledge is video, so I'm struggling a bit to learning the audio side of things.

I now use Zoom H4n.

this discussion really helps alot. i wish i had known about this a few months back. i just order the h4n and in reading this discussion i'll be buying a good number of cable adapters just in case the djs have different outs. luckily for me, i have 2 friends who are aspiring djs which help me alot. but i do agree with some folks here the number of djs i've dealt with in the past weren't exactly helpful or knowledgeable. thanks all for the info.

One DJ I've worked with a bit lately really knows his stuff and I've plugged into ihs board a few times, but many of them don't have a clue.

However I never expect them to have a spare line out. If they do, and they are kind enough to let me use it, then that's great, but I want to walk into a reception venue knowing that under any circumstances I can independantly get usable sound. This usually means a shotgun mic and a wireless on the lecturn. However, the wirelss has a tendancy to pick up and amplify any small bumps, knocks or nervous tapping on the lecturn. This weekend I am going to try placing the wireless lav on the speaker as Rickey suggested. I've thought about it before but for some reason it just feels like I'm using 'dirty' second hand sound - although I suppose the camera-mounted shotgun mic is too, so it can't be any worse than that!

Don's right - carry a range of logical connectors and don't assume anything.

We find the only music the clients remember is what they chose for the first dance. We ask for a copy of exactly what they're giving the DJ and sync up the disk with the live material and seque to and from the disk in the mix.

With judicious cutting/syncing any dance music can be used to cover other general dancing.

All of the techniques here, from plugging into the DJ's system to relying solely on your own equipment and mic'ing the speaker are good techniques. I will say that regardless of your approach, the most important thing is that you monitor and adjust your levels. If you monitor your levels properly from your on-camera mics (I have a Canon A1 and also a Rode Videomic on my 5D) it is possible to get very good and clean-sounding audio.

Whatever you decide to do, be sure to get not only the feed from the DJ, but also at least one source of room audio (with levels adjusted manually/properly) that you can mix with the feed from the DJ. Some of the most important moments at the reception are the crowd participation/noise/singing, which you won't get on the DJ feed. I just did a wedding where the entire groom's party broke out into singing along with the song being played for the son/mother dance. Without my on-camera mic recording the room at a good level, I wouldn't have gotten it and it would have been very disappointing to the bride/groom!

If you can get good at setting and maintaining levels during the reception with good room mics, you won't ever need to get the DJ feed, in my experience. The overall ambience of the room is recorded with the track, but in my experience this is preferable to the sterile feed from the DJ and is a better representation of what the people heard as it was happening.

This works ALL the time. Place a wireless handheld mic in front of the DJ's speakers. It's the final output. No need to worry about the mixer and other variables. What the bride and groom hears, is what I hear.

I have tried for several years to get a board feed but in the end it's too many variables for my taste. I use two Tascam Dr-100's angled at almost 45 degrees toward the tweeter. This will lower the "proximity effect" and give you less muddy (low mids) build-up. I put one on each speaker in the event that one of the speakers is blown. I set each at a slightly different level and remember they have hardware/analog limiters that form a safety net as well. Like Bill, an additional shotgun room source is a good call as well. This works for me.

We have been using a Zoom H4n with success.
We plug a pair of Shure SM35 mics into the recorders XLR ports and mic the PA stack individually. One mic on woofer and one on tweeter.

We then make sure that the H4n's onboard mics are facing the crowd and use the onboard mics to record ambient crowd reaction. This turns out a nice 4 channel mix, which we sue as our master audio in post.

We used to use an Edirol R44 4-channel recorder in the same manner.
But, even though the R44 produces betetr audio (cleaner pre amps), the overall small size of the H4n is great. As everything can be mounted on one mic stand or clamped where needed.

I plug a small recorder sometimes into a board for backup audio.
But as a rule, I don't trust someone else (unless I know that they know their stuff) with my audio, as I like being in control of my productions.

Michael, have you tried using the Zoom's onboard mics to record the speaker sound while the device is actually on top of the speaker?

The reason I ask is that we used to use this method all the time with DVR's, and we just picked up a Zoom H4n a few months ago and planned to use it the same way. The problem is that the sound is all muddy (a lot in the lows and not much in the highs). We never had this problem with the DVR's, which by the way cost half as much as the Zoom. Go figure.

As for DJ's .. we NEVER attempt to hook up to a DJ. Too many opportunities to have the sound screwed up. Heck, we shot a corporate gig at the Taco Bell Arena and the sound tech there managed to screw up our line feed. Luckily we anticipated this possibility and had 3 other sound sources going. Don't rely on DJ's.

What's most surprising about my setup of putting the handheld mic in front of the DJ speaker is that 99.9% of DJ's have absolutely no problem with me doing so, I guess because I'm leaving the guy alone who's in charge of the board. However, one DJ Company here in New York repeatedly asks me, "Can you tap into our board? Your mic is ruining our look". Meanwhile, their "look" is not terribly fancy, and I'm using a black mic stand, and black mic. With the lights off in the reception hall, my setup isn't doing much of anything to their work of art. Some DJ's just want full control, and aren't willing to recognize that we all work together.