Bad sound/audio recordings in nightclub

[nittyg]

hi everyone, not sure if this is the right place to ask, but here goes

I was out with my friends in a nightclub and like to record videos of our night out , however when I use my Samsung galaxy 5 mobile, the picture is great on the recordings, but when it comes to sound/audio from the recording it can be a bit hit n miss , not sure if its due to me standing near the speakers or maybe I have the wrong settings applied

but on some of the recordings I get massive kind of distortions like when loud music is playing it doesn't record as it should as when u play the video back it kind you can hear the music in the background but listening to the words of the song in the playback its like boom boom like massive bass if I can put it like that

any suggestions on settings I should use when recording in a nightclub, or am I just unlucky when I stand (near speakers) or is there another issue ?

 

[SpookDroid]

Most mobile microphones will not perform well with loud music, and you also have to be careful where you place your fingers when recording, as some people might place their thumbs right on the pinhole. Also, if you have a case, the vibration of that with the phone might cause noise that's picked up by the microphone.

 

[nittyg]

thanks for the reply,

ive just read on someones link the following
"When you’re recording a particularly loud event, like a performance, the sound may well be beyond the microphone’s sensitivity range, meaning some of the sound simply doesn’t register. By using a bit of tape and placing it over your device’s microphone (making sure there are no creases or air bubbles), you can mute the input and record sounds that would otherwise be beyond a microphone’s sensitivity range. Different kinds of tape render different results, so experiment with using regular, duct, and paper tape."

when u say be careful not to put thumb on the pin hole, would this idea above be not advisable then? just wondering what I can do to improve the video sound quality if possible so willing to try anything

 

[can3gxw]

From a physics side, tape would be different than your finger. Your finger would shape to the crevice by the mic, and possibly even fit into the small mic hole and block the sound completely (or very badly muffle it). Using tape, simply over the hole will still allow the sound waves to cause the tape to vibrate still allowing sound to travel through it.

Just try it out and see what you get. Put your phone up to a loud radio/tv/sound source and try both options. You'll probably find that the tape might actually help you out.

 

[SpookDroid]

That. The finger doesn't really 'transfer' sound that well, and most of the time just blocks the tiny pinhole. Tape still vibrates and just muffles the sound. Low noises, though, would not register now, and loud noises would 'appear' to be toned down, potentially improving the way the phone's mic picks up the sound.

That little trick works also with windy situations.