Mic for audience recording

[UBC]

We have separate audio mixer that we use to record sound for video and it also broadcasts live audio. I would like to make sound recorded on DVD more richer. I was thinking to install additional mic somewhere in the ceiling and mix it with the rest of the sound. No idea what type of mic i need. The ceiling is about 25' tall. Budget up to $150. Anyone else have this kind of setup? Or maybe there is a better way to fix this... any idea is appreciated. Thank you.

[EmilBarnabas]

Most any kind of mic you have at a church should work. I see a lot of SM58s used as audience capture mics.

When I do on-location recording I usually use a SDC (small diameter condenser) mic like an SM-81.

The delay between the board mix and the live mic might make for an unpleasant sound. Put the mic as close as you can to the stage and point it towards the audience. I place mine on a stand on stage pointing towards the audience.

Ideally you would delay the board mix to match the delay in the audience mic, but if you are doing live video, you would have to delay the video that much too.

[Jay M]

I don't know what mics we use, but I wanted to do the same thing. The video editor referred to it as the cough track. It did sound richer, but the added distractions- coughs, babies crying, doors closing and such king of made it not worthwhile.

Our congregation usually doesn't audibly respond during the sermon, so there really is no need for room mics except to add ambience.

A friend of mine who does post production on feature films told me that those distractions are ok for a live event, but not for a pre-recorded one. He suggested I just add reverb.

For about 2 years I had been making a surround audio track for DVDs and a Stereo for TV. After that input, plus my opinion that the audio should be as intelligible as possible, I decided to just use the Pastors mic and nothing else. It's much less work, and everyone is happy.

As Emil said, you do need to time align the room mics for it to sound right if you end up trying it.

For live, and if you are also recording the music, I think room mics will be well worth it. For just preaching, I think it's more of a distraction than anything else.

I don't have a specific mic recommendation, but I recently purchased some CAD condenser mics for about $75 each. I use them for drum overheads, and piano. They sound great for the money.

~Jay