Need suggestions for live interviews

[jazzcorner]

I'm doing a series of podcasts and live interviews of musicians in their home environment using the MZ-M100 with its provided stereo mic. The mic is excellent for voice quality, however, I'm picking up all the ambient noises such as air conditioner in another room or a fan. Any suggestions on what to do to improve the quality. Should I get another mic, if so what kind? Budget is about $200 unless I can use this one

I'm not recording music.

[Richard]

* Moved to appropriate section of forum

[greenmachine]

Have you tried moving the mic closer to (and directing it towards) the source? If this doesn't offer enough rejection, you'll propably need a highly directional shotgun mic.

[jazzcorner]

The mic has been placed very close to the person I'm talking with. Which direction shotgun mic would you recommend and what are the connectivity issues to the MD

thanks

[jazzcorner]

The mic has been placed very close to the person I'm talking with. Which direction shotgun mic would you recommend and what are the connectivity issues to the MD

thanks

Any suggestions for software to get rid of ambient noise or at least reduce. Currenly using Adobe Audition....

thanks Lois

[A440]

I don't have my Audition installed in this computer at the moment, but look under Effects and see if it has noise reduction (or check the help file).

The free program Audacity

http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

has noise reduction under its Effects. Basically, you give it a sample of the ambient noise alone and it subracts those frequencies from the recording. Sometimes it helps, sometimes it just sounds weird. Audition must have a similar function--you just have to find it.

Do you have the microphone clipped to the speaker's lapel? Sitting on a table or something, it will pick up room noise, but if it's a few inches from the speaker's mouth ambient noise shouldn't be a problem. Directional mics are called cardioids because they have a heart-shaped pickup pattern, or shotguns if they pick up very narrowly in front of them. I doubt you need something as specialized (and bulky) as a shotgun mic.

Here's a good source for microphones:

www.soundprofessionals.com

A little clip-on lapel mic--even a mono mic if it's wired to a stereo plug for your MD--should do the job.

Also, how about turning off the air conditioner or fan for the length of the interview?

[The Low Volta]

if you are not really sure where the noise came from, just check these possible sources:

- did you record with the ac-cord attached? this can create a serious buzz due to bad earthing -> solution: record with (fully charged) batteries instead

- is the mic plugged into the MD directly? (without any cable between mics and machine) as the MD has to physically spin a disc, motor noise can be picked up by the mic. This could also be the case even when the mic has a longer cable if you place mic and MD on the same (sound-conducting) surface (like a wooden coffee table). -> solution: use an extension cord with your mic and/or put the mic/MD on different surfaces (and if not possible, place the mic or MD on something isolating like a neoprene pouch, which dampens the motor noise)

- stuff that has a stronger elektro-magnetic field could cause interference (like large speakers or TV screens nearby etc) -> solution: avoid

noise reduction is useful to save a recording when it can't be understood otherwise... but unless applied VERY carefully it will not improve the sound quality of a recording IMHO. It causes unrealistic sound as it eliminates things that are meant to be there as well as the noise...

Edited August 5, 2006 by The Low Volta

[fatmuttony]

To add to the above comments, I think using the LOW setting on Mic Sens will make the ambient noise less prominent on your recording. Are you using Mic Sens = HIGH? It's worth a try to turn this to LOW and use Rec Level = MANUAL and set the recording level so that the meters are peaking between the middle and upper dots on the MD's recording level indicator.

Also, cardioid microphones usually reject ambient noise and are more suitable for voice recordings as you don't need to capture the entire sound spectrum, just the range of frequencies covered by the human voice. You could try out recording your own voice with different mics (shotgun, cardioid, omnidirectional) at a store, if they allowed you, to see the difference in recordings.

I hope I am not unnecessarily repeating any information that you already know. Best of luck.