[Nfb-history] Recordings at Convention

[Steve Jacobson]

Peter,

You have a lot of experience thatI don't have, but I have had some experience in this area recording our local conventions as well.  Everything you say in 
your note sounds reasonable, but I am not certain that it is possible to develop a solution that will work well with a variety of  sound systems.  When you are 
investigating, I would suggest looking at an additional option.  That would be to simply have two microphones available for connection to the recording 
source.  One could be placed on the table or podium and the other would be used to pick up audience participation.  The second microphone would need 
to be directional to some degree.  Particularly in a medium to small sized room without a sound system, this works pretty well.  Attaching a microphone 
physically to the sound system microphone also works pretty well, taking care to attach it somewhat behind the main microphone to avoid wind and 
popping.  The standards for recording are not as high as they once were because of the thirst for information.  We want good recordings, but I am not 
convinced that missing a recording that could have been good but not excellent makes sense.  We need to figure out how to have a flexible approach to 
recording that gets us useful information, not to try to compete with professional companies that charge high prices for their recordings.  I completely agree 
that a recording made from the audience is usually not going to be sufficient, but I think there are compromises that can be made that can provide an 
above-average recording without necessarily being perfect.  It is in my opinion a mistake, for example, to require a sound system to get a recording in a room 
where a sound system is not required to carry on a meeting.  That gets to be the tail wagging the dog.  

Sometimes we need to look at procedures, too.  It is common practice in corporate meetings now to have people participating remotely, and it is considered 
to be protocol for the person at the microphone to repeat questions, for example.  I have been in meetings where participants were required to wait until a 
wireless microphone was passed to them, but frankly, this can slow down participation and I'm not sure that it is the best solution.  It also seems like overkill 
in a smaller room.  There is getting to be some interesting directional microphone technology out there and I have not had a chance to play with that but that 
also offers some options.  In one case, and I really hate to admit this to you because you are going to think it crazy, I was forced to make a recording of a 
meeting by aiming a microphone toward one of the loud speakers.  You and I probably both did this when we were kids and the results were dismal.  
However, using a good microphone aimed at a high quality speaker and adding a touch of equalization resulted in a recording that you truly would not have 
known was not made directly.  I do not propose this as a general solution as it is simply way to variable, but I think we need to think out of the box 
sometimes.

Best regards,

Steve Jacobson

On Thu, 14 Jul 2011 21:11:18 -0500, Peter Donahue wrote:

>Hello everyone,

>    Since returning from convention the list has been quiet. I'd be curious 
>to know what everyone was able to record at this year's national convention. 
>I'll start this show.

>    One activity that has been requested to be recorded for several years is 
>the annual employment seminar. I'm pleased to announce that this was done 
>with success. Details on how one can obtain copies of this seminar will be 
>posted later. I also recorded the Seminar for Spanish speakers and the 
>Writers' Division Annual Meeting.

>    I'm sorry to report that due to the inability to connect to the sound 
>system in the room where it was being held plus not being ready by start 
>time the recording of this year's Back to Basics Seminar was aborted. 
>Although I brought my own sound system with me it could not be used 
>successfully in those Panzicola Rooms as they were quite large. The Back to 
>Basics Seminar was held in one of those rooms. Without a direct connection 
>to the sound system I could not obtain a high-quality recording. Keep in 
>mind that these seminars have been posted on our national Web site hence the 
>need for them to be of the highest possible quality.

>    I've discussed this issue with Mike Freholm before and during the 
>convention. He plans to discuss it with Dr. Maurer and Mrs. Jernigan during 
>the coming year in the hopes we can find a favorable solution which will 
>allow us to "Bleed" in-room sound systems without first visiting the local 
>mortgage company.

>    I've had several brain storms and have a few possible work-around for 
>this problem especially next year since the national convention will be back 
>in Dallas. As it happens our state affiliate has its own sound system. If 
>there are affiliates that want their activities recorded perhaps they could 
>be scheduled in a room where the sound system could be set up to avoid the 
>costs of patching in to the hotel sound system. As I recall the sound system 
>in the Wedgewood Room at the Hilton Anatole had problems.

>Perhaps Florida could do likewise assuming they have their own sound 
>equipment and would be willing to allow it to be used to provide sound for 
>convention activities and so these activities can be recorded. Many of the 
>smaller rooms at the Rosen Shingle Creek did not have P.A. systems in them. 
>It's a darn good thing I was able to finance the purchass of a small pear of 
>speakers so I could not only record the above activities but provide a sound 
>system for these rooms.

>    a dreamer's  approach would be to find equipment that could capture live 
>audio from an in-room sound system for recording without the need for a 
>physical connection to the in-room P.A. system. If the in-room sound systems 
>are digital this might be possible. Since I have an entire year to research 
>this possibility I will do so. There are hardware and software solutions 
>that allow audio and video signals to be sent from a PC to  a T.V. or a 
>stereo system for playback without the need for a physical connection to the 
>receiving device. I need to see if there are such solutions to do the exact 
>opposite and how expensive they are and their transportability. One way or 
>other we need to whip this problem so the issue won't keep coming up every 
>year.
>    These are my recording adventures at this year's national convention. 
>All the best.

>Peter Donahue




>_______________________________________________
>Nfb-history mailing list
>Nfb-history at nfbnet.org
>http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfb-history_nfbnet.org
>To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for Nfb-history:
>http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nfb-history_nfbnet.org/steve.jacobson%40visi.com