OT: Clean, live laugh track

smashguy37 wrote on 9/19/2008, 4:36 PM
Some co-workers of mine have a stand up comedy troupe gig on the side that they do on the side. They've filmed two shows so far. The shows typically consist of on stage comedy and video sketches played back on projectors. They have another show coming up in a few months and the one comedian, who also edits all the material, isn't sure how to set up the shows so they can capture a clean laugh track from the audience *while* a video sketch is playing back.

So when he edits and brings in the audio, during the video sketch, the mics are also picking up the live audio of the video sketch being played back on PA speakers which is undesirable. I'm going to try to give them a hand setting up for their next show, so I was wondering if anybody had any good tips on minimizing the PA speaker sounds (directional mics, placement, etc.)

I'm not sure what the venue is going to be like at this point though.

Comments

Bob Greaves wrote on 9/19/2008, 6:30 PM
I prefer to use either completely different microphones or a completely different mixer for recording than for the PA. You should always avoid recording the sound coming from the PA speakers.

Two or three judiciously placed microphones in the audience should be going to an independent audio recorder that never feeds the PA. The microphones feeding the PA can be used to also feed a separate tape recorder or the audio input on the camera. Avoid using the microphone on the camera.

Although you might be able to use the microphone on the Camera to capture the audience laughs. It should not be too difficult to resynchronize all the audio tracks in Vegas and mix them as needed.

Find a good book on audio for video. I do not have anything in mind but someone could suggest a good one. Capturing audio is not always easy. You may find that a separate laugh track allows you the luxury of reusing or moving some laughs around.
Coursedesign wrote on 9/19/2008, 7:03 PM
"Great Sound for Digital Video" by Jay Rose is a very clear and informative book.

musicvid10 wrote on 9/19/2008, 8:21 PM
Well, you could set up a couple of mics on the LR downstage wings pointing TOWARD the audience, then patch them to the stereo inputs on one of your cams (assuming you are using two cams), then take the other cam's audio from the board feed. Of course, if your sets are so long as to require a tape change, this doesn't work. In that case, it's better to use a separate recorder like an H4, then line it up in post.