Basic question: 2 mics or 1 for seated interview?

[grapefruitvendor]

I'm interested in doing oral histories in the homes of friends. I have no gear and am starting from scratch.

I don't want to hold a mic or pass it back and forth, but I do want my questions recorded. So, do I have a setup with two desktop mics- (one facing each person) or 1 interview mic between me and my interviewee? I don't think I want to record using the onboard mics of whatever portable recorder I buy.

I'm having a hard time finding concrete advice about this online...

Thanks!!

[rumleymusic]

In interviews, each person needs a mic. Or you can overdub your questions later. One shared, sitting by it self, will not cut it.

[Rolo 46]

Of course they don't
An overhead boom with a good card will easily cover two persons.
An electric shaver on a boom or table top ditto.

[rumleymusic]

Eehhhh....If you want it to sound professional, or unless you plan on conducting the interview while french kissing, better to stick with two mics. I've been in radio long enough to know that much at least.

[boojum]

One mic might work, if it is a figure-8 and each party is sitting in the center of one of the two lobes. I got that to work for me. But, two mics is safer.

[richgilb]

And one mic overhead might pick up the dog barking, the tv in the other room, mobile phones,the teenagers doing whatever they are doing in their rooms etc etc.

2 lapel mics for me I think.

[rcrowley]

Originally Posted by Rolo 46

An overhead boom with a good card will easily cover two persons.

As long as you have an experienced boom operator at the other end. Oh, and a good quiet location. "Ideal" solutions have a tendency of not always working in the Real World.

[Rolo 46]

Rubbish.
A good cardioid split between 2 seated persons will be fine.
This is radio not tele.

[richgilb]

Always good to see a newbie getting sound advice on gearslutz, with everyone marching to the same drum,

[rumleymusic]

Rubbish.
A good cardioid split between 2 seated persons will be fine.

An interview is not a sports cast press conference. I wouldn't expect them to be seated at the same side of a table, each leaning in to the mic when they need to talk. I have recorded hundreds of interviews and shared mics have never worked well. More than one person can share a cardioid in certain circumstances, but not in a formal setting, across from each other at a table.

[PoxyMusic]

If you want your questions recorded for posterity or transcription, then one mic should be fine. If you want your questions to be part of the final product, you may need two mics.

Try one mic first and see how it goes.

Make sure not to step on their lines, as we do in everyday conversation...it makes editing a real hassle. Give a good pause before speaking after they finish...but tell them you're going to do that so that they don't think you're weird! Make sure to record around 30 seconds of "room tone" at every recording. Room tone is the sound of the room with no talking, used in editing. It's a very good habit to get into.

[PoxyMusic]

Originally Posted by Rolo 46

This is radio not tele.

Yeah BBC radio does suck, be there are actually a few really good radio shows in the states.

[Rolo 46]

American presenters seem to eat mikes
Very testosteronne driven, discuss.
A wide card overhead ,on a music stand, split between 2 ,on a table works fine.
BBC Talks used 8's at eye level, but 8's are expensive.
Main idea ,don't intimidate the talent.

[Don S]

He might be able to get away with a fig 8 between them if they face each other. But pretty much what Rumley said - 2 decent mics close will sound better than a condenser far away. Especially for speech.

[Matti]

2 mics panned slightly and having the interviewer bit lower in the mix?

Matti

[Plush]

Always two mics
Don't screw around, don't be lazy.

[rumleymusic]

2 mics. Good wind padding, shockmount if able. A bumped table top can transfer alot of noise to a microphone.

[LX3]

Two mics I would say. A boom operator could do it on one by swinging or turning the mic, but if it's an informal sit-down chat situation and you're setting the mics yourself, and not necessarily monitoring them throughout, use one each and put them down to separate tracks on a recorder. Then mix afterwards (typically muting any mics when they're not spoken into.... but listen and decide).

It's funny, if in any doubt, I always mic the interviewer, even if they insist that they're not going to use the interviewers voice in the mix. A few years back, I recorded an interview with a rock star for some DVD extras (not filmed, audio-only. They used a montage of archive pictures on-screen), and the interviewer/producer told me "Oh no no no, I'm not going to be on the DVD, we're definitely going to edit the questions out so that it's only the artist you hear talking." So to keep things quick and simple (working very quickly in the artist's hotel room) I put up one good shotgun in the best place to pick up the artist. Then they made sure to get the artist to repeat the question in their reply, so that it would make sense without hearing the interviewer....

Some noise reduction to get rid of the aircon whoosh in the background. All sounded great.

...and then when the DVD came out, I discovered that they'd decided to use the WHOLE interview including the interviewer's voice (which of course was massively off-mic).

Probably blamed the sound recordist (me).

Don't believe what the idiots tell you, because they inevitably change their plans. Cover yourself.

[Thomas W. Bethe]

In the days of mono radio one bidirectional figure 8 microphone between two people seated at a table worked GREAT. Today no one wants to sit that close and so two cardioid microphones would be the way I would do it. FWIW and YMMV

[Rolo 46]

8s great for radio
The nulls perfect for script page turns
Proximity brilliant.
The BBC 4038 was a 50's general purpose mic for talks and music
What a cracker, with a perfect presence lift and weight.
Stereo killed em of, pity.
A crossed pair could have covered a table full of talkers, now they eat dynamic mics and still don't sound as good.
I love my MKH 30's, the modern equivalent of a 38, imho
Use em in any situation I can.

[Jim Williams]

Get 2 lav's and clip one to each person's shirt. Be a pro, not a dolt. Watch Jay Leno for examples or Fox News (oh, the horror!) or even CNN. Even Lady Gaga can find a place to put one.

That mic on Jay's desk is a prop BTW.

[rcrowley]

Originally Posted by Rolo 46

American presenters seem to eat mikes
Very testosteronne driven, discuss.

Dunno about that. The UK appears to be the source of all the "lip mics" (Coles, et.al.) I have ever seen.



And the mic on Letterman's desk is also a prop. (Although they seem to have it potted up slightly and/or gated so that you can hear when he beats on it with his pencil.)

[Rolo 46]

That was the mic that enabled NASA blast offs to be commented on live,something that eluded American Broadcasters previously......

The lip mike was BBC design for Footy and Sports
Very effective
Even used in vision!

[grapefruitvendor]

After hours of perusing on GS and many other forums, I've made a decision:

Zoom H1 with splitter and two ATR-3350 lavs. Very low tech, and $150 for the entire rig. But I tested last night with great results.

My guess is I will evolve/upgrade as I figure out what I need. For now, just going to do some informal oral histories and give CDs to my interviewees......

[rcrowley]

Originally Posted by Rolo 46

That was the mic that enabled NASA blast offs to be commented on live,something that eluded American Broadcasters previously......

Perhaps an urban legend. Reporters and observers are not permitted within a couple of miles of the pad during launch.

[Rolo 46]

They distorted badly.
The best take off I saw on tele was with James Burke
He walked down the side of aTitan(?) doing a piece to camera about vacum flasks ,reached the engine ventura and said' the end result is this' and aTitan took off the pad behind him.
Great timing (he had Nasa command in an earpiece feed) and professionalism.
He wasnt on a lip mic just an ECM 50 but he was at the NASA museum site some miles away .
I was at a night time pool party for another launch ,that was great fun,and noisy as hell.

PS just found it on the tube, there is a cut.... but its still v clever and cool.http://www.youtube.com/view_play_lis...571&playnext=1

[jazzdog]

In this situation I'd use 2 cardioid mics with pop shields on stands, set up fairly close to each person, facing each other, but ideally without a table in the middle, as there might be additional reflections from that. I'd close mic, as the room acoustics are probably far from ideal, so I don't want the room sound or background noises. It's much easier to balance the levels later if both voices are on different tracks. The interviewee is likely to be much less disciplined in staying on mic and their levels will probably vary a fair amount.