getting better sound from a normal camcorder

[thechidz]

I use a mini DV camcorder to record myself teaching and playing music. I would like to use my really nice microphones to get better sound for my music. How can I combine my mics with the camcorder? Can I just capture them both in iMovie seamlessly somehow?

Thanks

 

[Much Ado]

Plug the mic into the camera, and the audio will be recorded right onto the DV tape

(EDIT: Oh, several mics. I don't know about that... TBH, one decent mic is all you need.)

I really like radio mikes, as they let you move around as much as you want. They're very versatile.

 

[notjustjay]

It all depends on how much work you're willing to do in post production. You definitely have the right idea about using external mics. The closer you can get the mic to the sound source, the better it will sound.

You could connect one mic into the microphone input jack of your camcorder, and record the sound that way.

If you have multiple mics, you could run them through a portable mixer before running it into the input of your camcorder.

Or, you could record the audio separately from the video, and line up the separately imported audio and video tracks in your video editor.

 

[Much Ado]

Or, you could record the audio separately from the video, and line up the separately imported audio and video tracks in your video editor.

Yes this can be done quite easily, especially in Final Cut.

But i still maintain that you only need one microphone, unless you plan on doing something very specific with stereo. (If you use a mixer, and input into the mic, won't that still just be in mono?)

 

[thechidz]

yes, this should work splendidly... thanks!

 

[bigbossbmb]

if you're going to record video and audio separately, then you need to "slate" each take. a simple clap in front of the camera (that can be picked up on the mic as well) is all you need. Then you can use this as a sync point in FCE/FCP.

 

[notjustjay]

Yes this can be done quite easily, especially in Final Cut.

But i still maintain that you only need one microphone, unless you plan on doing something very specific with stereo. (If you use a mixer, and input into the mic, won't that still just be in mono?)

If the camera has a stereo mic input, you could set up a stereo mix from your mixer and feed it in. I've also had issues in the past where I fed a mono mic into my camera's stereo mic input, and got sound in one channel only. That was probably a setting I forgot to change somewhere.