what gear to mic a groom?

I do weddings and lost the guy who did the audio for us. I think he used a zoom h1 and a wired mic that he clipped onto the grooms tux. What solutions are out there? i have a zoom h4n but thats way too big to put into a grooms pocket. I am cutting it close on time, wedding is saturday so i need to get stuff ordered tonight or tomorrow! Thanks for any help!

The H1 looks small enough to put into a pocket and not cause any nasty lumps or wierd bumps and then to have it wired to a lav mic is a great idea. There are all sorts of mics out there that can do the job, but finding one that is wired correctly to work with the H1 is another matter.

I looked at the specs of the H1 to see if it needed anything special, but finding hard facts about this recorder is difficult. It is most often used for mounting on top of a DSLR. So Zoom hasn't really put too much info out there regarding the use of an external mic wired back to H1.

My biggest concern was power. Will the H1 power the mic properly? I haven't a clue, but here's where you go to find out: www.trewaudio.com

Look them up and then call them. They have several locations around the US and Canada. They can sell you everything you'll need to make this work. And you can have the satisfaction of knowing it will work instead of just hoping that the stuff you ordered from Amazon will work together. Also, they probably offer mics in different colors. Black, white, biege are the most common colors offered. Nothing looks worse than pinning a black mic onto a white tux, or vise versa. Give them a call and they can help you out.

mystic97z wrote in post #13329749
What solutions are out there?Thanks for any help!

The best way to go is to mike the groom with a lavaliere microphone and one of the best we have found for an application like that is the Shure SM-93 which is very small unobtrusive omni lavaliere.

Now you will still need to capture the audio and you did mention the size of the Zoom not fitting in the pocket, but is it possible to fasten the Zoom to the grooms belt above his rear end, if so you can jack the Shure to the Zoom turn on phantom power and capture audio that way?

Now I realize the Zoom doesn’t have a belt clip on it but what works well with a recorder of that size is to use a large rubber band looped behind the belt which is then stretched over the top and bottom of the recorder.

You’re other alternative would be to buy a nice long XLR microphone cord and run the microphone back to your camcorder if your camcorder will support a phantom powered microphone.

Wayne

I don't know if the Zoom H1 will provide power to a Lav but the similarly priced Tascam DR-05 certainly will ('cos I got one). It is a little bulkier than the H1, and the on board mics don't provide quite such a well centred pick up as the H1. Otherwise it's a nice piece of kit.

I doubt that any groom would want to be hardwired to a camcorder during his wedding cerimony. Don't most of them walk out of the church, hall or event center with their new bride ahead of everyone else usually? dragging a hardwired cable is asking for trouble and is way intrusive and limits mobility. I know he asked for any solution, but that would have to be at the very bottom of the list of things that you could do to get the sound of the cerimony. If that was the route you had to go it might be better to hardwire the priest. A small recorder in the pocket or rigged to the small of his back is a decent idea, but so is using a wireless system. Tx on the groom or also on the priest/preacher/MC and the Rx on the recorder or camcorder.

Sennhieser makes some very nice, small and very reliable units. Either get one of their new G3 systems or look for an older G2 system. Both are excellent at transmitting high quality sound wirelessly back to your location.

The other thing about putting a small recorder in the grooms pocket is that they are usually pretty nervous and figity. Grooms do all sorts of odd things before getting married. I know I did! You would hate, hate, hate having him accidentily turn off the recorder (H1) in his pocket right before the cerimony starts and you get nothing. With a wireless system, you control the recorder. And both the G2 and the G3 come with belt clips built in as well as all the cables and a mic you'll need to make the system work. Amazon and B&H sells the Sennhieser systems as well as Trew Audio.

How big is that recorder John?

John Sims wrote in post #13332216
I don't know if the Zoom H1 will provide power to a Lav but the similarly priced Tascam DR-05 certainly will ('cos I got one). It is a little bulkier than the H1, and the on board mics don't provide quite such a well centred pick up as the H1. Otherwise it's a nice piece of kit.

I ended up getting a zoom h1 and a cheap little mic. I will post the video when I get it finished so u guys can hear how the combo sounds.

So the Stereo mini plug in the side of the H1 powers your mic? Cool. Please let us know how it works out for you. Good luck as well!

please do!

ChasWG wrote in post #13332279
The other thing about putting a small recorder in the grooms pocket is that they are usually pretty nervous and figity.

Its got a lock. But even with a wireless, if the groom turns it off once things start, not much you can do.

Just watch out for cheap lav mics, the ones radio shack sells are pretty noisy.

ChasWG wrote in post #13332281
How big is that recorder John?

About the size of a bastard child from an H1 and H4 - 55mm x 26mm x 140mm

Good comparison here

It's not as convenient to use as you would a microphone in the way the Zoom is. It is a pain to shock mount where as there are several cheap proprietary systems for the H1. The H1 also looks better when wearing a dead cat.

John Sims wrote in post #13333200
... The H1 also looks better when wearing a dead cat.

And as we all know, it's how you look wearing the dead animal!

IUnknown wrote in post #13333144
Its got a lock. But even with a wireless, if the groom turns it off once things start, not much you can do.

Just watch out for cheap lav mics, the ones radio shack sells are pretty noisy.

That's cool that it has a lock. Good idea and a nice feature for a $99 recorder.

Well if the groom goes out of his way to turn off the mic, that's an oddity. I've been putting wireless mics on people profesionally for about 17 years or so now. In most cases, if done right, people forget that the mic pack is on there. A simple thing you can do is put a piece of black tape over the switch. With that in on there it takes one more step to turn off that mic. Also, if you are listening to your recorder, you'll know that the mic has been turned off and then you can correct it.

i recently started playing around using the H1 Zoom, attaching a Lav Mic on the groom during the ceremony. it has been good for what I need it for. i'm not a video guy.. just a still photographer, but always wanted to add a little audio and video clip in my still image slideshow for my client. after heavy research and wasnt about to pay $$$ for it... i purchased the ATR-3350. Highly recommended by Cheesycam.com (http://cheesycam.com/z​oom-h1-lavalier-winner/)

http://www.amazon.com …-Microphone/dp/B002HJ9P​TO

Edit: Sorry posted the wrong Mic Lav. its corrected now.

Zoom is great for recording audio especially if you are shooting with a 5D or similar. As for mics. Use a lav on the groom. you need to have the closeness to get good audio and the resonance from the chest is nice. Although wireless is prefered if you have to use a wired mic thats better than an of body mic. If you have to go of body a cheap shotgun mic is better than a normal cardioid hidden in the flowers. Shotguns are much more directional and the card will pick up way too much extra noise.