In article G7WXa.73276$o%2.35024@sccrnsc02,
David McCall wrote:
Perhaps you just got hold of a bad PZM.
I've tried a few. But not found them to work in this sort of situation.
Many recordist in the US swear by them.
I'd love to actually hear an example of one used for this sort of job and
make up my own mind.
They feel that a well placed PZM (mounted to walls, Ceiling, large
tables, the floor of a stage, even large sheets of Plexiglas). A PZM is
a "boundary" mic. It needs to have a proper surface to work.
I know the principle well. I use it for miking up cars - a decent small
omni on the windscreen works very well, a sort of mixture of boundary
effect and parabola.
Your suggestions are all involve individual close mics on everyone.
That creates a very dry sound.
Indeed. That's the whole idea.
Not everybody likes a dry sound,
The meeting is to be relayed to a large hall. That will provide all the
'wet' you need. When have you ever heard a radio speech studio that isn't
dry?
For drama, a bit of controlled acoustic is nice, especially when it
changes scene by scene, but plenty, it seems, don't agree. ;-)
and multiple mics moving around in close proximity cause nasty
acoustic phasing errors.
I'm assuming at a meeting they're fairly fixed. But if someone moves and
talks, they'll be the important one so dip the others.
Multiple mics are a Band-Aid solution that
is often used out of necessity, or laziness, but it isn't ALWAYS
the best or only solution (according to some audio purist).
If we're talking internally balanced acoustic music, then yes, a good pair
can sound great. But life is rarely that easy, and if you're going to use
one mic for several people talking you'd best have a good boom op waving
it around...
Multiple mics are safer. The room acoustics play a much smaller
role with the mics closer to the speakers.
Which is exactly what you want for clarity. It's possible to add reverb or
acoustic, but not remove it.
--
*Reality? Is that where the pizza delivery guy comes from?
Dave Plowman
London SW 12
RIP Acorn