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Keith Kyker and Christopher Curchy
Making Magic with Microphones
When it comes to recording sound, don’t rely on that camcorder microphone! While it is often fine for recording ambient sound (classroom action, school locations or even sports events), it is not equipped to handle the finer details of sound recording for interviews, school news shows, school plays, guest speakers, reporter intros, or even student presentations. A variety of inexpensive microphones can be used for these situations. Like a good fisherman with numerous lures and hooks in his/her tackle box, a good video production program needs a variety of microphones and some expertise in selecting the right microphone for the right job. The following microphones and descriptions can assist you in providing these resources for your students.
Hand-held Microphones – Often used in reporting and interviewing activities. Usually very durable, may be omnidirectional or unidirectional.
33-3018 Radioshack Hand Held Microphone |
Omnidirectional microphones pick up sound from all directions. These are useful when the ambient sound is not too loud and will add character to the reporter’s introductions or interviews. Interviewing a teacher in a classroom with some background noise of students working can be accomplished with the use of an omnidirectional microphone. These also work well with younger students that might have trouble “pointing” the microphone back and forth between themselves and their guests during the interview. |
33-3030 Radioshack Hand Held microphone |
Unidirectional microphones work best when used in a noisy location, such as a pep rally or dance. Using a unidirectional microphone will allow the videographer to record what is being said and not as much of the ambient sound. |
Radioshack Lavaliere Microphone |
Lavaliere Microphones- Small, clip on microphones that attach to a person’s clothing. These microphones are good to use in situations that you do not want the microphone to be obvious or when you need the speaker’s hands to be free to manipulate an object. Generally, lavaliere microphones are used on a single source ( 1 speaker-1 microphone) Many school news shows use lavaliere microphones for recording their news anchors announcements and scripts. |
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PZM or Boundary Microphones – These omnidirectional microphones lay “flat” on a surface to pick up sound. They can be used for groups seated around a table or can be mounted on a wall to pick up sound. Easily hidden, they make nice desk microphones for school news teams, especially at the elementary or middle school level. Only one microphone is needed to pick up sound from 2-3 students seated at the anchor desk.. I have also used PZM microphones to record school plays or other stage presentations. In this case, I would place two or three PZM microphones on the stage (depending on stage and production sizes) and connect them to an audio mixer. The audio mixer is then connected to the video camera or VCR used to record the scenes. In this situation, each microphone can be controlled separately, increasing or decreasing the sound as needed. |
AudioTechnica TR55 Shotgun |
Shotgun Microphones –
Used to record sound from a distance,. very unidirectional.
These microphones can be “pointed” at a sound source, even mounted in a parabolic dish. Shotgun microphones are great for making “movies’ when the microphone needs to stay out of the camera shot, or recording sports action sound from the sidelines. When you have to record a guest speaker in a classroom, a shotgun microphone can do a pretty good job when mounted on the top of a video camera placed on a tripod. Although some ambient sound will be recorded, it is much more effective than just using the camcorder microphone.
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Buying a Microphone
When purchasing a microphone it is important to consider the following items:
- Sound quality- Does the microphone have the frequency response needed to pick up the necessary sound levels?
- Situation – What microphone best suits the situation it will be used for during the production activity?
- Compatibility- Will the microphone be compatible with the audio and video equipment you will be using? Do you need a high or low impedance microphone? Do you need any adapters?
Microphones are not very expensive. A good
microphone for school use can cost as little as $25 or as much as $150 (still a
good bargain!). With some shopping expertise, all the above microphones could be
purchased for under $250. I look for sales at local electronic stores, or have
even been successful shopping online or using catalogs obtained at state and
local media conventions. Some very good online sites that can assist you in
purchasing a microphone include:
Shure microphones are some of the top-selling microphones in the industry.
Inexpensive microphones available
online or at your local dealer.
Another great site by one of the leading manufacturers of microphones.
So start today and begin building a “collection” of microphones for your video production program. I have!
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