How To Record DJ Audio For Wedding Videographers

How to record audio at weddings is a topic we've covered before, but in this video I want to show you specifically how I plug into the DJ system.

How to record wedding audio can be a scary topic, and I totally understand that. You are presented with a whole suite of components that aren't necessarily in the wedding videographers wheelhouse and expected to get great results. We have multiple videos on the channel about how to record audio at a wedding but in this video I want to specifically show you how to record board audio and how to plug into a mixer for your audio feed.

There are no real secrets or shortcuts in recording audio from a mixer or recoding audio at weddings in general but sometimes it can be much easier to watch someone plug into a sound board than to describe it. So, I filmed myself going through my standard process when approaching any wedding ceremony or reception audio setup. I talk about exactly what I look for, the advantages and disadvantages to different places you can plug into and the order in which I like to take an audio feed from a dj at a wedding.

Many more tips for wedding filmmakers to come! See you all in the next video!

💻 Partner with a reliable and affordable editing studio:

🎥 Deliver your wedding films online in HD

✅ Need song ideas for your wedding films?

📷 OUR FAVORITE CAMERAS

FAVORITE LENSES

FAVORITE CAMERA GIMBALS

FAVORITE LIGHTS

FAVORITE AUDIO

OTHER ESSENTIAL GEAR

FAVORITE CASES

👋 Let’s Get Social!

Wedding Film School is part of affiliate programs for Amazon, B&H and Musicbed. Some of the links we provide earn the channel money without costing you anything, but help fund the free educational content we deliver to you.

#weddingfilmmaking #videography #filmmakingbts

[VivianEcclefield]

Hey Bobby thanks so much for this video, very helpful! I could sure use a video about the Tascam set up in this situation. I recently got my Tascam connected to a sound board but then had a difficult time getting the Tascam itself set up. Even the sound engineer struggled with it. Thx!

[TheRealMikeEdwards]

This was very very VERY helpful! Sound has always intimidated me. No more. Thanks Bobby.

[bboymac]

As a DJ I like having video guys plug in my soundboard, this way they can control their volumes independently from me.

[TheSeanBampton]

One rule of thumb I've always gone with is, the further from the mic your recorder is, the more that can go wrong. Of course you always want 2-3 audio sources, but if you can get a voice recorder onto the mic itself (Sony TX650), you'll be further ahead.

[mpsinghphotography]

The way you explained it is very nice. Great tutorial.

[filmandflourish]

Super helpful video, Bobby. This is what I wish I had 3 years ago when I started. It would've avoided so many audio mess ups. I find it crazy how many people don't ever plug directly into the receiver! I recently posted a video about this on my instagram story because the DJ had music playing during the speeches. Fortunately, I was plugged into the speaker AND the receiver. The receiver didn't pick up the music :)

[nightdonutstudio]

I am always confused by male or female xlr. I started by brought wrong xlr connector to the dj and could not record that day. Even to today I still do not know which end should use on dj mixer or speaker. But since now I just bring one cable end at male and another one end at female. So if one is not right just use another one. But I would be happy to figure out which end we should always use.

[WBTuckCONTENT]

Thanks! This helped. I'm trying to figure out how to record direct mic input through a restaurants PA system. I do video for a comedy show hosted here so I'm on a mission to figure out how I can get that to sync it with my videos

[filmsrobert]

Hi Bobby! Best video by far for learning how to record for reception and Ceremony. I actually have my first wedding in 2 days and I am so worried about how to set up my Zoom H5. I just got it recently not exactly sure on whats the best settings. Please let me know if you can help me out on this. It does 24 Bit.

[robertogonzalez]

Great video bro, what MODE YOU RECOMMEND STEREO??

[RodieOsc]

Gracias amigo ! I was worried about how to do this

[TheDavan]

Helpful as always thanks!
In which scenarios do you put the recorder in line mode and in which scenarios in mic mode?

[ShhhhNobi]

Would like to hear the differences between each option 🤙🏼

[violetwendling]

Do I need stereo/left and right audio for wedding or is it more common to just use mono? Also if I just plug into the left xlr will it only capture the left side or will it be mono?

[ChrisA]

Great video man. I've been shooting weddings for years and I always ask the clients to make sure that the DJ has a line out from his soundboard for speeches etc. I have almost never had a good experience plugging into speakers. The feed into the recorder isn't clean and is often distorted/noisy/hot. A sound buddy of mine told me that the signal is looping through not only the board but the actual speaker and it's never a good idea to use it for a clean feed. Just curious if you ever run into this problem.

[dmgfilmproductionandphotog]

how about bringing own audio interface then plug the mic there? so you can record with separate tracks.i havent tried it yet but i saw here youtube do that.

[Luiseo]

I would also listen to a DJ’s point of view. Nick Spinelli recently posted a video about this topic. I can tell you I wouldn’t let you plug into the back of my speakers. Mic system I can accommodate but please don’t touch my boxes I’ll gladly do it for you.

[bospitality]

How would I input audio from my DJ mixer straight to my camera? Do I need audio limits so I don’t blow the camera audio?

[itzik_levi]

I HAVE BOYA BY-WM8 Pro-K1 UHF transmitter
Sometimes I can't get a signal from the mixer and sometimes I do, it's clear to me that it's something in the mixer because the transmitter is working.
Is there something special in the mixer that needs to be activated in order for it to send a signal?
In the same connection another receiver like ZOOM1H does work and my transmitter does not receive a signal

[zajefajnylogin]

Do both xlr / jack inputs support + 4dBu line signal or only jack is for line signal?