Help with audio when filming a single musician on 5D2/7D

<p>Hi everyone, I have a 5D Mark II and a 7D but I've never really used them for video very much other than testing, but recently a friend of mine asked if I could film him playing guitar and singing a song he wrote to send to his parents. I know my way around the cameras well enough to create a good visual setup (i.e. lit/focused properly, etc.) but what I really seem to be struggling with is audio. I know the built-in microphone is pretty much garbage, but I tried it anyways and it sounded as if he was singing inside a tin can. So I bought the Rode Videomic which records a significantly higher quality audio, but my problem is that because all the sound is coming from relatively the same direction, the audio in the video doesn't do his song justice because there's portions where the guitar will sound much louder than his singing and vice versa...as if it's not balanced, or, I don't really know how to describe it.</p>

<p>I realize there probably isn't a specific solution to this issue, but I'm really just looking for some ideas or advice from anyone who has perhaps filmed something similar or who is more experienced with filming/audio in general. Is there a certain kind of setup that would work better for recording this? I know that the ideal thing would likely be to have two separate microphones (one for the guitar and one for vocals) but to be honest like I said I don't know a whole lot about video/audio and I really don't know anything about combining audio tracks or whatever. But is there anything I can do with the equipment that I have to improve the result? I've only tried mounting the Videomic on the hotshoe because I don't have an extension cable, but would there be a better place I could put the mic so that the vocals aren't constantly being overpowered by the guitar? I certainly don't have a problem getting an extension cable, I just don't know what I'd need to do with it to make it better. I tried searching for tips about this on google but all I really found was people talking about the 5D2's video capabilities/pros/cons/etc.</p>

<p>Also, just in case there's anyone out there with experience with the Rode Videomic specifically, can you explain what the high-pass filter is? I've read the manual and I've looked it up online but I still can't seem to notice any difference between when it is engaged and when it is not. Thanks very much for any help that anyone can provide!</p>

<p>Ideally, you would want two mics, one for the vocalist, one for the guitar, and a mixer to adjust levels and combine the audio before sending them to the camera (or to a computer to be combined with the video later). Such a setup can cost anywhere from a couple hundred dollars to almost a thousand, depending on the gear you buy.</p>

<p>Short of that, mic position is everything. Similar to light, sound falls off with distance. Also, like flash, the first thing most folks will tell you is to get the mic OFF the camera!</p>

<p>In this case, I'd try to get the mic closer to the singer than his guitar. You may need something to suspend the mic from or support it. If it's a low ceiling, you could even tape the cable to the ceiling and let it hang. But if the singer tends to keep his head down, that may be a problem.</p>

<p>Experiment with different positions & locations for the mic, keeping it from pointing at the guitar, if possible.</p>

<p>As far as your mic's hi-pass filter, in general this type of filter will "pass" (allow through) frequencies that are <em>above</em> a certain threshold (in your case 80Hz), and block frequencies below that threshold. In a mic, a Hi-Pass filter is likely there to cut off bass frequencies, which can easily overwhelm other frequencies you may desire more. (similarly, a low-pass filter passes frequencies below its set threshold, and a band-pass filter allows frequencies to pass that are between two thresholds).</p>

<p>IMHO, the way to essentially guarantee a good recording (both audio and video) is to separate the recording of the audio from shooting the video. This is probably a bit more complicated process than you expected but you can get superb results this way.</p>

<p>First, get a really good quality audio recording without any thought to the video. Since you state that you don't know much about audio recording, find someone locally who does (...say, a member of a band), and has some basic equipment, ie, decent mikes, a simple mixer (and/or software), and access to an acoustically nice room (ie, reasonably large and broken up with as few parallel surfaces as possible) .</p>

<p>One fairly standard way to mike a guy and an acoustic guitar in a good room is a pair of figure-8 studio mikes, about a foot or two in front of the guy and his guitar. The front lobe of one points at his mouth, the front lobe of the other towards his guitar. The rear lobes of both mikes pick up room ambiance / reverberation. Lots of nice tutorials about this setup, e.g.,

<p>If you aren't in an acoustically nice room, mike him like one would for a stage performance: one cardioid pointed to, and near his mouth, a second pointed towards his guitar. The exact placement of the guitar mike is always the subject of personal taste, style of music, etc.<br>

<br />Once you have mixed it down and have a good audio recording, put him in an appropriately lit, visually nice environment without any mikes, play the recording back to him and have him play and sing along (ie, lip sync) while you are shooting video.</p>

<p>Add the good audio to the video tracks, and presto, you have the best of both worlds.<br>

<br />Just my $0.02,<br>

<br />Tom M</p>

<p>PS - The purpose of the high pass filter on your mike is to minimize very low frequency mike handling noise, vibrations from the floor coming up through the mike, the very low frequency sound almost all air handling systems generate, etc. You won't hear these unless you are playing the recording back through a good sound system. </p>

<p>The cutoff frequency of the HPF on your mike is well below the lowest frequencies put out by a singer and his guitar, so don't worry about it interfering with your recording -- just leave it on (should you wind up having to use your current mike).</p>

<p>I record solo musicians and try to keep it simple: DLSR video, outboard audio on a Tascam DR-100 MKII and stereo mic. I use an acoustically pleasing room, do an test recording to tweak mic placement and levels and let her rip. You can always do minor touchups to EQ, remove AC hum, etc., in PP. Stay away from compression and auto gain as they squeeze the life out of the dynamics. Here's a kid I recorded last year:</p>

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<p>Puppy Face. </p>

<p>Would your basic setup using a stereo mic also work if the guitartist was singing as well? What stereo mic do you recommend?</p>