Hahahaha

oh hey heres a loogy for ya...

shot a wedding last weekend at this upclass eastern suburbs church and ive NEVER had interferance with my mics EVER... From shooting on cruiseliner through to boats and military bases where radio interferance should run wild, i am yet to have a mic drop out... by the way im using a G1 Sennheiser for weddings and use the G2 as a backup.

now the system they had was also UHF and pretty decent, but they stuffed up.. instead of adjusting the volume from the PA system, they adjusted the "volume" from the mics line input...
needless to say when they boosted the volume up a little, feedback rang through the church, they all turned to me thinking it was our system (which it wasnt) either way i turned off the grooms transmitter and the feedback continued for about 5 minutes until they turned off the PA... <if it was my system, it should have stopped as soon as i killed the transmitter and reciever>

the point here is that irrespective of how good a wireless sytem u have, or how ingenous you can be with planting a microphone, if the venue is run by morons who havent a clue, then be prepared for the worst... and be prepared to accept that maybe your system COULD be the one at fault and be prepared to sacrifice it if you have to. If just to shut them up about their "concerns" which are uneducated.. we might KNOW that its not our systems, but theres really no time to argue, so do what they say, and when THEIR system continues to fail, then youve saved face anyway...
then advise the couple of the actual problem.
In my case i took the details of the PA people who set up this particular sound system and forwarded them to my client. At least this way, If they want compensation, im not liable for the venues stuff up which caused me to disable my own audio equipment....

you gotta cover your arse...

I did a wedding in a large church over the summer (one of those churches with all the latest greatest technology). Anyway, the church was micing everyone and had their "sound guy" running the board. He wanted us to just record a stereo feed from his board, he would be mixing, turning mics on/off as needed etc. I told him that it is nothing personal I just would rather not rely on him, and the churches stuff for audio.

My company usually mics everything and then records to an 8-track ADAT for mixing in post. This guy from the church assured me that he has been doing this for a long time, and that everything would be fine. He does this every weekend. What do you know... the ceremony started and forgot to un mute the officiants mic. It took about 10 seconds for the mic to switch on, and it would've been longer if it weren't for my audio guy in the booth with him saying I don't have a signal!!

Luckily I had a camera about 10 feet away with a shotgun... so was able to cover with that... but it was noticeable in the video, especially when I was able to switch over to the house sound.

You can't ever trust anybody.

You (or a female partner) would need to approach her with a lot of tact, but one location that is used in a lot of film and TV productions is centered inside the bra between her breasts where her cleavage leaves a space, especially if her gown has a low neckline.

That just goes back to the saying if you want it done right do it yourself. ThHe people that work in churches, schools, etc. might be able to run the stuff fine, but they just don't have the experience. The problem is they think they're experts at what they do because they do it once a week/month or whatever. I wish they would just leave it to the pros...

Very Much Agreed.

We bought XLR splitter boxes and if the church is running their own sound, we can usually arrange to split the mic signal just before it goes into their sound board, allowing us to record each mic seperately, without any concern of what the guy running the churches board might do.

Good idea... I'll have to keep that in mind

Well... from experience on the other side (yes... I'm the soundman that runs sound "each week" but I'm also the soundman that connected all of the wires in our current system), I wouldn't let a videographer mess with the inputs to my sound board. Many sound boards have a direct output per channel. With a quick test, I would allow connecting there.

Usually, the soundmen that understand signal flow, understand something about running sound. When boards do have direct outs on each channel (especially pre-fader) it makes the job alot easier for everyone.

If I were you I wouldn't let a videographer mess with the I/O on my board either. For as many videographers who know what they are doing, there are 3x that many who don't.

If I plan on recording anything through the churches sound system I always contact the church and the soundman in advance. I talk things over with the tech (some aren't very technical/some are), usually find a manual for their board, analyze the best options, talk with them again, work something out, attend the rehearsal, and then arrive plenty early before the wedding to test thorougly. Their job is just as important as mine and I would never jeopardize that.

That sounds like the best option - plan ahead of time. Right now we're in the process of building a new sanctuary. When it's done, we'll have signal running to the soundboard and an identical signal running to the "video room" (as well as a mix signal) so at some point in the future the video room can mix it's own audio. In our case, that would be an excellent place for people like you to get a signal - until we get a board there connected. If a board is already connected, you could actually run your own sound from that location.

Matt,
As a church soundman I would be delighted if someone called ahead of time and showed up with splitters. The last time someone wanted to patch into our board they showed up with a 6' RCA to stereo 1/8" cord. I have the equipment to hook them up but not 10 minutes before the wedding.

A note to Peter, your mics could not cause feedback unless they went through the PA. They might cause drop outs or splitting but not feedback.

Sam Gates

My interest in audio led to my introduction to video. Because of this I tend to take audio very seriously. To me getting the best audio is more important than getting a good picture, though I strive to get both. Good audio makes a video infinitely better.

I dont see what the problem is fitting a mic to a bride. Either cover the lavier in fabric similar to the dress,or color with paint so its not distracting.Now the fun part is fitting the mic between her boobs.That all depends on what type of dress and bra setup she's wearing. Sure, you might get a bit of squelching when she walks, but during the important vows , she'll hardly be moving.

The 'squelching' will be when you try to fit her with the mic and body pack. Let's see...do they make tulle colored stage tape?

I'd like to see video of when a videographer explains to a bride that he would like to place a mic between her breasts.

Of course, Mr. Videographer explaining to the groom where he'd like to place that mic would make for more of an action scene.

LOL, no doubt. I'm thinking about promoting the "boob mic" service on my website from now on . . . complete with a free fitting session . . .

Be careful with the flowers - I have a wonderful clip of groom audio brushing up against his corsage where everytime he moves you get a nice crunching sound from the mic as it rubs the flower. This is not something that you can pull out in post either especially when someone is talking at the same time.

ML

I was using an iPod at a wedding once as a trial to see what kind of sound I could get from it. The officiant, two minutes before the ceremony was supposed to start, was fiddling with it in his pocket for some reason and pulled the cord for the mic right out of the iPod. I got no sound from it and it was the last test I did with it.

d:-)

Yes, put the mic NEAR the flower, but don't let it touch anything. Also, don't even think of putting the mic inside clothing as it will likely sound like someone is bailing hay during your video. Yes, with time and just the right application, you could devise a way to put the mic inside, but there isn't time to go through all that before a wedding. The bride and groom have other things to think about.

Yet it is a very common placement of lavs for theatrical and broadcast productions. For example, I saw on another discussion site a mention by Mick Fowler that that's where he often mics the female principals on "CSI." Of course, they and their wardrobe assistants have been taught how to do the actual placing of the mics themselves. But you might be surprised how matter of factly many women would treat such an option if presented in a professional manner as just one more of several options for them to choose from, each with their own pros and cons.

I know dude, thing is THEY DIDNT... GGRRRR

I had a situation that seemed similar to this EXCEPT, when I turned off my mic, the feedback stopped. It gets even stranger. The feedback was in the PA, obviously. It only happened when the priest approached the podium mic. Why he went to the podium mic, when he was wearing a lav, I don't know. This was one of my first one-man weddings and I had a cheap lav. I don't see how this could happen, but maybe our wireless frequencies were clashing? How could my lav, similar to the priest's lav, cause feedback in the PA? I don't believe it is possible, but when it was shut off the feedback stopped.

I switched to a Lectrosonics wireless years ago and never have any problems.

Ok, in response to the interest in this topic, I soon will be introducing:

THE BRA-MAPHONE!

Each cup will incorporate a high quality, professional omni directional microphone for stereo reception. Our ingenious intergrated bra strap/antenna system will insure perfect reception even during ham radio conventions. The transmitter inself will be encased in our patented "gel-packs" for those brides who want a "little more" on thier special day.

Remember gents, speak into the microphones.....

Mike

I can only imagine where the actually mic is on the cup . . .

Travis,

typo on your website. Page "Marketing Solutions Services"

"guerrilla marketing consulations"

I think your missing a T

Mike

You mean you've never had a marketing consulation? d:-)

Thanks for the catch.

I think it's clipped on the bra where the two cups are joined together over the sternum and there's a natural space formed in the cleavage. Could be inside or outside the bra depending on her endowment, the cup style, and the type of outer garment worn.

I hesitate to partake in silliness regarding bosoms...but here goes...

Can the Bramaphone be used in reverse as a stereo parabolic mic? Is there a sports model available for rough service?

Trying to mic the bride seems a bit absurd to me. I'm pretty sure trying to put a mic on a bride would allow me to find out the grip strength of a 385 pound Samoan male. I'll just be happy not knowing that information.

ROFLMAO - very true. Only said it was a workable way to place a hidden lav on a female - never said it was very smart to offer to place it there yourself (unless you are a female videographer). But it's a rare woman that is embarassed by the fact she HAS a cleavage or that people notice she has one. We men tend to be more sensitive about such things than they are.

Perhaps micing the bride is something to be attempted successfully by certain videographers. I agree that many women don't mind most people noticing their cleavage. Unfortunately, I am not one of those people. This is a surprisingly small island socially, so I don't think I will confront the issue why women don't want me noticing their assets. I'll just mic the groom.

Actually I think the real issue in micing the bride would be more of where to hide the transmitter than where to hide the mic. The all-white version of the Countryman B6 is so tiny - 2.5mm across by about 4 mm long - that it could go almost anywhere and be invisible to anyone who didn't know it was there. It could be disguised as a seed pearl on the bodice of the dress for example or taped to the fabric just inside the neckline or in a button hole

I do a lot of outdoor weddings and have learned (painfully) that I must keep a windscreen in place. This makes the mic too large to ever hide on a bride. For indoor weddings, it might work if transmitters get really small. Wedding gowns seem to be rather tight in fashion, so I haven't seen a place to put a transmitter anywhere near their current size.

transmitters
 

this is for guitar, but something like it may be along the right lines of a transmitter to hide on a bride.

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/produ...ess?sku=271148