Whether you are creating a long video tutorial for YouTube or a short and entertaining video for TikTok, you could argue that the audio quality when you hit record is paramount. Not only must it be good so you can effectively communicate to your audience, the audio can also set the overall tone for your video. Photographer and YouTuber Miguel Quiles agrees with the importance of audio quality and says that over the years he’s probably spent as much on audio solutions as he has anything else in his studio. “Just like photography where you can’t buy one lens that does everything, you need different types of audio solutions for different situations.” In this episode of Artisan Advice, Quiles walks through audio solutions for a variety of content creation scenarios. The audio in this video was recorded entirely in camera using the Sony ECM-B1M and Sony Alpha 7 IV. Check out more vlogging content at alphauniverse.com/vlogging.
Product Preview – In This Article You'll Find:
–Sony UWP-D27 Wireless Audio Package
Talking Head Videos: Sony ECM-B1M & Sony ECM-B10
First in the video Quiles shows a common situation in content creation – the talking head. Maybe you have the camera on a tripod, or you have it on a grip of some sort so you can walk around while talking to the camera. For this type of video content creation, Quiles says he prefers to use a shotgun microphone like the Sony ECM-B1M and the Sony ECM-B10.
“When you use either of these microphones on a camera like the Sony Alpha 7 IV, you get digital audio captured directly onto your memory card,” Quiles explains. “And you know what the best part is? You don’t need to connect a cable to the mic jack on your camera. That digital audio is going through the multi-interface shoe which is pretty awesome. And of course, the compact size makes it pretty easy to take anywhere. You could also change the pickup patterns on these mics depending on what you’re recording, along with several other features on the back of the microphone.”
Videos With Multiple People: Sony UWP-D27 Wireless Audio Package
What if you need a way to capture audio where the person is not directly in front of the camera? And what if you wanted to do that while recording two people at the same time? In the past you would need a lavalier pack on each person or maybe even two separate cameras recording separate audio. These options are a little messy because they require some synchronization in post-production, so Quiles suggests a different solution for these types of videos – Sony’s D27 Lavalier Microphone System.
“What’s unique about this setup is that you can have a single Sony receiver connected to your camera while having two separate lavalier packs feeding audio to it. Let’s say you’re doing a collab video with someone, you would just have each person with a lavalier mic, and the audio from each one would go directly into your camera. The receiver can be connected via the 3.5mm input on your camera or if you pick up the multi-interface shoe adaptor you can actually use it without cables, similar to how you could use the Sony ECM-B1M and the Sony ECM-B10.
Want to watch more content about video creation? Check out this playlist on the Alpha Universe YouTube Channel.