STOP Buying Shotgun Mics for Video Production (Here's Why)
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- Опубликовано: 6 мар 2019
- Shotgun mics are fantastic, but they can cause real problems in a lot of common situations. This video walks through why you may want to consider a different microphone.
There is an identical compression applied to all three microphones throughout this video. There is no other noise reduction, EQ, or effect unless otherwise noted on screen.
I'm using an NT5, NTG3, and AT2020 for this video. Recorded with a Sony a7iii and a zoom F4 audio recorder. The new Aputure AL-MW is my fill light. A cloudy day is my key.
bit.ly/32417WZ
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Contact or Hire me at boomreactive.com
I've been looking at shotgun mics and I knew they were more "focused" than others, but this was by far the best explanation that I've heard yet. Thank you for simplifying this!
No problem, it was really fun to learn, myself.
I finally learned how a shotgun Mic works. Now I can make an informed purchase.
This is the only "before you" video I've seen that turned out to be extremely informative. Thank you so much!
Glad it was helpful! I'm always reluctant to make "clickbait" titles, but I'm glad this one lived up to the name (for you, anyway). Cheers!
Thanks mate. I never knew exactly how shotgun mics worked!
Crazy, right?! How did someone even think of that. Maybe that's the next video...
Incredibly informative my man. Loved it. Subscribed!
Thank you!
Man this is such a valuable information which I had to learn the hard way, got NTG4 Plus, it completely sucked in my room, then had it replaced with a Lav mic which worked much better until I just decided to get a large diaphragm condenser mic (which my audience voted for for better sound quality even with its visibility in frame).
Visible mics always make good sound easier. Glad you found something you like!
Which one did you choose finally?
Clear and lucid explanation with tons of context mixed in. Thank you, learnt a lot here!
Glad it was helpful! Thanks for the happy comment!
Your explanation is fantastic! So cool seeing you spread your knowledge on here. Keep it up!
"All i want is the perfect camera..."
Subscribed!!!
Haha, thanks for the love. Glad to have you on board!
I found this video from Camera Conspiracy. This saved me money from spending $$$ on shotgun mic. Thanks.
You just saved me a lot of time! Thank you so much!
Glad I could help!
This video is so informative and helpful. You saved me a lot of time and money...thank you!!!
Glad it helped!
Such a good video. I just got a Sennheiser MKE600 Shotgun Mic for a variety of scenarios and seeing this helps me understand why a Pencil mic is the best way to go indoors. Some sound absorbs and diffusers will help too 👌
Totally! The 600 is a great mic, just not in every situation. :-)
"I don't like seeing the lav mic most of the time"
has a microphone covering half the screen
Hahahaha
I was referring to interview setups for my video clients, but I didn’t pause to consider how funny it is that I keep my massive mic in frame as I say that.
@@ShaunHautly But it is different! Small lav mic = annoying, Massive studio mic = awesome! Ofc is should be in frame :D BTW Great video, I just bought a NX80 Camcorder and came across this video in my search for a mic for it. I thought a shotgun-mic was what I should have but maybe thats not the best. I will do filming both inside and outside. Any suggestions?
HAHAHAHAHA
And after clicking "read more" to see the other half of your comment, I get an option for "Show less." touche
This video is amazing. Thank you so much for taking the time to explain this simply and clearly. I've often wondered why my NTG3 sounds SO BAD in doors. Now eying up the NT5. Thank you sir!
You're very welcome! Good luck!
Bravo man, you did an excellent job explaining everything and dispelling some of the myths and misunderstandings with shotgun microphones. Phase issues become even more complicated, super complicated, with music or live event stuff. Especially when using more than 2 mics!
Thanks! I enjoyed researching this video to make it, and it changed how I approach sound for video production. The beast that is live event capturing is several levels of complication beyond this, and it's fascinating. Maybe next year I'll try to learn enough about it to make a video about it, too. But for now, I'm just in awe.
Thank you for such a nice comment!
This video was awesome. SUPER helpful and clear, and I loved the drawings to go with it. Thanks for laying this all out for us!
This video was so fascinating to research and write. I’m excited for a few more I have planned in this same field of sound science.
I've never had an issue using a shotgun mic indoors. The solution for me is to be closer / more on axis to the source and use the low cut filter to limit the proximity effect. Indoors, there will always be some level of phase cancellation-which is likely to cause "thinning" of certain frequencies-at wavelengths coincident with the room dimension and mic placement. But this shouldn't be so pronounced as to ruin your takes... Mic placement (finding the sweet spot) and having a good signal-to-noise ratio matters more.
Do you reckon it can reduce the empty room feel, by canceling some reverberations? I can't seem to tream my room enough. As long as diction is understandable I don't care about the exact sound. I am recording language lessons.
Sound waves do not actually move up down, the graphic on it is often confusing people. Rather you can understand sound "waves" when you imagine a straight line, and on this straight line, you will have repeatedly zones where there is low air pressure, and zones where there is high air pressure. The distance where each of these sound repeat is what makes the frequency.
Now the reason why the graph is a wave because the height of the line is showing the pressure or amplitude which is going from high to low to negative and back.
As a visual representation on a 2d plane, a sound wave would look more like this, the closer lines are high pressure, the more distant lines are lower air pressure, the arrows show the direction.
-> |||||| | | | | | | | | | ||||| | | | | | | | | | | | | ||||| | | | | | | | | | ||||| | | | | | | | | | | | | ||||| | | | | | | | | ||||| | | | | | | | | | | | | ||||| ->
Another thing is, the bass increase is not mainly caused by the phase cancellation you described, yes the phase cancellation that happens from the reflections will cause sound issues, but only partly an increase in bass. Mostly you will rather get thinning of certain frequencies. This is also very dependant on the room size.
The reason why shotgun mics cause a boomy voice is due to the "Proximity Effect", which basically means, the closer you get to a microphone that has any pickup pattern other than omnidirectional, the more bass you will hear. Oversimplified, this happens because lower frequency have longer wavelengths, and therefore dont have as much difference in phase. So the ups and downs will be closer to eachother and not cancel eachother out as effectively. Now this is as said rather simplified, but I just thought I'd add these things on to rid possible wrong understandings.
Shure has a good readup on this: service.shure.com/s/article/why-does-proximity-effect-occur?language=en_US
This is my favorite comment ever. Yeah, as I dove into my research for this video I learned a ton and was struggling with how deep to go. As a nerd, I'm infatuated with those details, I just thought I'd end up losing people by going too deeply into the woods. Thanks for taking the time!
@@ShaunHautly Oh I'm so glad I scrolled down! Just found your channel and was about to take issue regarding this, but see it's been addressed. The wave form is just a measure of the compression/rarefaction over time (as PhenizDj points out), and the movement of soundwaves through air is better depicted by 'Newton's Cradle'. Regardless, loved your comparo, thankyou! (I'm currently shopping for an NTG3 or NTG5, so I'm getting lots of recommendeds)
Yeah, after making this video (and expecting it to get the 20 views most of my videos get), I learned a lot more about sound waves and pressure. If I could remake it, I would!
@@ShaunHautly That's the cool part about the comment section, where everyone can learn from eachother :P
LOL. Why do "sound engineers" always assume that everyone else wants to be a sound engineer? This was the right video for the audience.
Excellent explanation! Thank you!
Glad it was helpful!
Bloody fantastic video, mate. Thanks for making it. Merry Christmas.
Thanks for the love! Cheers!
So that's the purpose of those grills. Nice!
You make some good points. One problem with most pencil mics is that they are designed for instruments and made very bright to cut through the music mix. They are too shrill for most people's voices. So whether shotgun or pencil mic you are probably going to have to do some Eq-ing. I use a Sennheiser mk600 in a treated room and there is little need to eq.
I always end up having to brighten up my shotguns, haha. While my pencil seems "brighter" than my shotguns mics, I've used it for an orchestra musician demonstration for kids, and the it was great for the piccolo, Tuba, and Timpani. So there's a ton of range for pitch, probably more than the frequencies of human voice. So I've found the NT5 to be pretty true to life for me. But you're right, everything needs a little EQ. Thanks for the happy comment!
In what universe are most microphones perfect out of the box with no potential for improving their performance by equalization (or whatever)? If you're serious about the results, chances are quite high you're going to apply some processing to pretty much every microphone you have. My opinion? A bias toward high frequencies is far easier to correct than a bias toward bass frequencies.
The only disadvantages of pencil condensers are:
Fast transients. You can account for that with a good shield, mic placement, and mixing.
Self noise. It's harder to make smaller diaphragm mics with low self noise... but they are genuinely good now.
Everything else is down to taste, EQ, and mic ethics. If you know how to use it. You'll be happy with it.
Otherwise. They can do anything a large diaphragm mic can do. They're just as good with low frequency sources without having too much omni-directional character in the low end. They excel at close mic'ing (be careful with fast transients) and far.
But yeah. Like Chuck said. You are probably going to run EQ on your sound source anyway and not having to worry about too much low frequency ER is going to be a life saver for some folks.
Great video! I definitely learned some new things. I've worked audio for a while now, in various settings. I use a Sennheiser MKH 416 shotgun mic and it does very well in all types of situations. I can understand where you are coming from with the annoying sound you get indoors. I usually get it fixed in post but it's a lot of work. Thanks for the video, I am going to do a shotgun video soon as well, i'll make sure you reference your video.
Sweet! Share the link when you do, I’d love to see it.
Hey I just put out the video on shotgun mics. I gave your channel and video a shout out. Thanks for the info on phase delay, it helped put the video together! Here's the link if you wanna check it out: ruclips.net/video/n_JD0cIei44/видео.html
This was great! Thanks for teaching and sharing.
Glad it was helpful! Thanks for the happy comment!
Sound waves don’t actually move up and down, they move in and out, compressing the air like a the wind. But we represent them as up and down on graphs to visualize the compression wave. Great vid!
Yeah, I’ve learned a ton more about all this since making the video and I’m excited to revisit it with all the extra things I’ve learned about pressure and stuff. Thanks for the love!
@@ShaunHautly looking for that content sir...
Truthfully, compressed air (sound) moves outward from the source in ALL directions forward from the source as well as behind to an extent. This is why when you move speakers closer to a boundary, the bass increases and imaging starts to suffer. Microphones differ in how they receive this compressed air and convert it to a digital signal that’s then fed to a digital audio converter and converted back into compressed air so our inner ear parts can vibrate and help our brain interpret it as “sound”. Pretty wild stuff.
What really should be addressed in this video is polar patterns OF small diaphram condenser mics. If indoors, you really should be targeting a supercardioid or hypercardioid pickup pattern as they will negate much of the room noise and target the talent rather than the environment. Too many of the small diaphram condensers in the more budget oriented range are actually cardioid polar patterns, which will NOT have the same effect.
You got my vote for breakdown of the year award🥇.
Amazing! When do the winners of that award get announced?
very nice and clear video !
thanks a lot.
Thank you for such lengthy yet very detail explanation that is easy to understand. I am on the stage where comparing different mics for different situation.
Glad it was helpful! Thanks for the happy comment!
Was about to buy a shotgun mic, this helped me understand what I need! Thanks alot
What did you end up getting?
@@ShaunHautly nothing yet, I noticed that my main issue is with the echo I have in my room, it’s big and fairly empty. So working on that for now before buying one :)
@@ShaunHautly however I already have Rode VideoMicro
awesome. I didnt know that was how shotgun's worked. awesome
Excelent info, delivery and examples by changing mics on the fly. Very informative!
Thanks!
I like how you mentioned the ambient sound of the environment when talking about bass sound. It makes a lot sense but I never thought about it. Nice view and nice video.
Thanks for the happy comment!
this was a suuuper informative video man, top notch information
Thank you! This was one of those videos that was fun to learn as I did my research to write it. Glad you enjoyed it!
@@ShaunHautly hi Shaun nice video, did you require to cancel noise in post after using the NT5 ??
Don’t use a shotgun inside. I saved you 13 minutes
Thanks a lot
Yeah seriously, I was like, wait a second, the title is incomplete!
Something I learned long ago... Shotgun inside is a killer but doesn't need 13 minutes to say why
There’s a human being who spent a lot of time making this video in hopes of helping someone out. A comment like this adds no value but hurts creators who are spending long hours making content just for folks to tear it down. It would do you no harm in just starting the video, realizing it’s not for you, and moving on.
@@RyanKemperinOhioNow you are hurting people who made an effort to sum it up. Just joking of course. STOP & Shotgun mic would have worked better with INDOOR & video sound in title. Otherwise one could think of it as a click bait praxis.Other than that, shotgun mic electroacoustic principle demystification might be considered a true value of this video.
Excellently illustrated and demonstrated video! Well done! Really informative!
Thank you! My illustrations typically don't get many compliments. Ha!
Excellent vid! Simple explanation + clear recommendations + cool dude who helped me avoid buying the wrong mic.
Glad I could help! And thank you for recognizing how cool I am... B-)
Thumbs up camera conspirators!
I feel famous! Thanks for coming by.
Very, very helpful. Thank you. Beautifully explained.
I'm so glad it was helpful! Thanks for the love!
Fantastic, and I’ve been around audio all my life. Wonderful presentation, good guy, and great information.
Wow, thank you! This comment made my night! Cheers!
Great video. Very informative, thanks.
Glad you enjoyed it!
This was so helpful at explaining what’s going on!!!! Thank you!
Happy to help! Who knew science could be so fun?!
Thank you! First video on mics I saw, where I could hear so good explanation on technical aspects of why specific mics work in their way.
Phaze delay and noise cancelation are my new words of the day.
Regards!
Those are good words of the day! Thanks for the happy comment. Good luck on your mic selections!
Great video and excellent info! Thanks!
Glad it was helpful!
Nicely done and very helpful. Was looking for a shotgun and your headline caught my attention. Now seriously looking into the pencil. Thanks!
My pleasure! I hate playing the "Clickbait Game," but I'm glad I did for this one.
Thanks you so much, Shaun! I've been into sound for a long time, and this is one of the clearest explanations of sound recording technic & mics. Great, man :)
Thank you for the happy comment! I appreciate that!
Great video and well put together, thanks !
Thank you!
It's super helpful. Thanks!
Great explanation! Thanks!
Glad it was helpful!
Hey Shaun... I love this...its great...well done, very informative, so after watching this I went to your RUclips channel... and your intro video was so different but so good that I had to subscribed...lol that intro with the idea of share what you know is so important for the future I think..thank you, keep doing what you do..
Thank you! It’s fun to get to follow any interest to make a video and not be stuck in any particular subject. It’s also always great to see a positive comment. Thanks!
Thank you so much, great help.
Glad it helped!
Awesome video, exactly what I was looking for.
Glad you liked it!
Awesome explanation, thanks so much!
My pleasure, glad it was useful!
This was one of the best breakdowns I’ve seen on shotgun mics. Thanks for the really helpful info! You’ve got me rethinking if the shotgun mic i have is really the best tool for the job. I’m definitely in a small echoey room
Thanks for the happy comment! Maybe try a different mic and return it if it doesn't work better for you. Good luck!
Such valuable info. Thank you for educating all of us. Using a pair of NT55s and 416s but ignorant me I didn’t know the difference.
I used to think that "muddy sound" of my shotguns indoors sounded good. Then I heard what it was supposed to be. It was neat learning about how and why. I'm glad you enjoyed it!
Yes! Good explanation! This is also the reason we never use shotgun mics in the studio for recording music. I always use pencils as overheads for drumsets or choirs.
Thank you! Yeah, I think it's funny that SO many young filmmakers only use shotguns, but you see shotguns so infrequently on actual film sets, music studios, etc. I feel like I see them most frequently on local news stories.
This is great, Shaun! Thanks for such an informative video.
Glad you enjoyed it! It was fun to make.
Thanks for this bro this is really helpful. Really good to know!!
I'm glad to hear it was helpful! Thanks for the happy comment!
Very interesting video. Never knew this amount of detail about shotgun mics.
Fascinating, right? And to think they started making shotgun mics DECADES ago. Smart people do pretty awesome things.
This is so helpful! Thanks for sharing your expertise!
To be clear, I think I shared more "experience" than I shared any "expertise." ha!
@@ShaunHautly either way it helped me in making a decision. Would you say the NT5 is the best for indoor dialogue? Or have you since updated to something else?
This is a very well-explained explanation dude! You explained this more succinctly than my college profs in audio school! I've always preferred small-diaphragm condensers in the studio as well!
Thank you! I've definitely learned even more since making this, and there are a few mistakes sprinkled throughout the video, but I'm glad it made sense! Cheers!
Thank you for the clear explanation! 👍
My pleasure! Thanks for the happy comment.
Smart explanation so what you suggest sir ?
I can't say without knowing what kind of room you're primarily filming in. My studio has hard walls and makes a shotgun sound like it's under a blanket. Yours may be fine. Buy one, try one, return it if it doesn't work for you. That's my non-specific suggestion. :-)
Useful information. Thanks.
Glad it was helpful!
The plot twist when you revealed that you were not recording on the audio technica at2020 was a real shock for me
I'm glad to "hear" that! Thanks for the happy comment. This was a fun one to make.
Great presentation and description of what happens. i totally get your excitement ! thanks for the really really super video
Glad you enjoyed it! It was one of my favorite videos I've been able to make.
Great explanations, thanks!
Glad it was helpful!
Very clear explanation. Never now this. 👍
Glad to help!
super helpful thank you! love your passion too!!
Thank you! It’s always fun to see a video resonate with people. I like knowing my nerd interests also interest other people. :-)
This is great! I've wondered how others came to this conclusion. Now I understand and will comply!
Well, try it for yourself! Sometimes the echo of a room is better than the off axis noise from traffic or something. Just gotta find what works for you! Today I filmed in an airplane hanger with a shotgun to try and minimize SOME of the fan noise.
Really instructive and interesting, thanks for that man
My pleasure! Glad you enjoyed it and left a happy comment. Cheers!
Informative and educational. Thanks.
Glad it was helpful! Thanks for the happy comment!
Amazingly interesting. I found this because my ntg-4 sounds terrible in my new (echoy) studio and i was looking for a better option. Thanks for this one!
Great to hear! Yeah, my pandemic home studio is quite unforgiving with its echo and reverb. I'm constantly trying to tweak things a little bit and the mic was the first big difference.
What was the problem and how did you solve it?
I'm asking because I'm looking for Ntg4 for my small room studio.
great explanation! thank you!
Glad it was helpful!
Exactly the right information at exactly the right time. Subscribed, thanks a lot!
Welcome! Thanks for the happy comment!
Mate, you've blown my mind and totally taught me something new. This is great. Thanks so much for making this video.
Glad you liked it! Thanks for the happy comment!
Extremely useful info, thanks dude
Glad it was helpful!
what a find! such a useful and well explained video, nice!
Thank you! I’m glad it was enjoyable!
Thanks for explaining this so clearly. Makes a lot of sense!
Glad it was helpful!
Very helpful, thanks for sharing 👍
My pleasure 😊
This makes so much sense. Just shot an interview / voice lesson indoor and had so many issues with my shotgun mic as a boom mic. Definitely investing in the NT5
NT5 is a good one, but there's also a ton more that have great reviews. I just don't have experience with them. But try something and if it doesn't work, return it and try something else!
Great Video! Helped a lot!
Glad to hear it! Good luck!
Great explanation
Glad you think so! Since recording it, I've learned so much more and I'll have to make a follow up eventually.
@@ShaunHautly Right on, I've been trying to pin down what to get as an upgrade. My green screen setup is in a regular room and looks like I'll be spending some $$ on sound absorption as I'm considering upgrading from my lav to www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001TQ0RHU/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?tag=timligmusonth-20&ie=UTF8 one of the shorter type shotguns.
Thank you so much for clarifying this, stumbled across this video and best thing I've heard for audio recording.
Great to hear! Thanks for the happy comment. Good luck out there!
Wooowww. I just learned so much:) Subscribed! And this is great because I’m looking into dealing with music. Thank you!!
Glad to hear it! Cheers!
"you may sound deeper and beefier" just sold me on getting a shotgun mic after all. Not what you set out to do, but for my needs this is paramount. Thanks for that excellent description. I have a decent handle on physics of waves, but my working knowledge of how different types of microphones harness and use those waves is deplorable.
Haha. Well, depending on your location, a shotgun might be best. Otherwise you can get a good capture with another kind of mic and adjust your EQ in post to give you that deeper and beefier sound.
@@ShaunHautly my current plan is to get entry level shotgun and pencil mics, and see which gives me better results in my space. Then if I ever do find myself filming outside, or with a lot of background noise and need to focus the mic better, I'll have the former to play with too.
Awesome video Shaun!
Thank you!!
Fantastic video! I am looking into shotguns and this was very helpful. Thank you!
My pleasure! I'd love to know what you end up choosing.
Very good. I learned a lot 🙏
Glad it was helpful!
Really interesting this is crazy I never heard about that. Thanks for this video !
No problem! Thanks for the happy comment!
Thank you for the valuable lesson! 🙌
Happy to help!
Fantastic video, really well explained- cheers
Glad it was helpful! Thanks for the happy comment!
That was very helpful to me. Thank you dearly 🙏🏼
I’m so glad to hear that! Thanks for the happy comment.
Very informative. Thank you.
Glad it was helpful!
My 8 year old son and I both found this video to be incredibly interesting and informative. Thanks for sharing. Subscribed!
Awesome! Thank you! I'm JUST finishing (like literally uploading as I write this) my follow up video about which mics are best for which situations and the most common questions I answer. It definitely isn't a nerdy and fun, but hopefully it's useful!
Dude
..perfect explanation of the inner workings of the shotgun microphone... awesome job
Thank you. This video was fun to make because it was really fun to learn about all this stuff. I'm glad so many people have enjoyed it. Thanks for the happy comment!
@@ShaunHautly yes sir you are more than welcome. Keep up the good work
THANK YOU SO SO MUCH FOR THIS INFORMATION!
You are so welcome! Thanks for the happy comment!
Thank you for your perspective!
My pleasure! If you have any questions, let me know. I'm always eager to find out what I missed.
Super great info - thanks!
Glad it was helpful!
Thank you for such a good job on the subject Sir!
Thank you for such a lovely comment!
Crystal clear explanation. The visual illustrations are helpful. Like to know why your mic points up
I think you're talking about the AT2020. The AT2020 (at my face) is a "side address" microphone, meaning that you speak into the side of it, instead of the top.
So, it's "pointing up" with its form factor, but if you were to speak into the top, it would sound weird. It's designed to be spoken into from the side.
I hope that answered your question!
Thanks for the happy comment!
@@ShaunHautly Thanks for the apt responses.