lavalier clothes noise

[stickytapenrust]

What is the best way to attatch a Lav to an actor so that you don't get the clothes noise? We tried to tape it right to them but we are still getting a lot of noise from their clothes....

Any help is appreciated.

[sf sound]

There are many ways to attatch a lav - tape, blue tack, viper clips (like for Sonotrims) etc. I usually use 2 pieces of tape folded inside out like a "paper football" (remember thak kid game?) Try to keep the head of the mic inside the tape but leave an opening for the audio to reach the capsule. This works well becauuse the cloth can not touch the capsule. That is key to reducing cloting nosie.

Often you will still have issues w/ clothing noise. This can be due to where you put the mic or the material the clothing is made from. Whenever possible talk to the director and or producer befroe production starts. You don't want to have your main actor in double knit poly or taffita for instance. If you can work this out ahead of time life will be much easier. Going directly to wardrobe is best - again prior to prodcution. Natural fibers like cotten are usually best. If you are stuck w/ a bad material, try to place the mic in a place where it will be as effective as possible. Hiding it under a collar can be useful but you have to be careful about which side the actor talks to. In a tie can work well... etc. Also consider using a directional lav as opposed to an omni.

I had to do an entire feature w/ a the main actress in double knit poly for the whole movie. It was so bad, I finally stopped micing her w/ lavs and she had to play her lines towards the other actors lavs for those really wide scenes. I was very lucky and between the lavs and the shotgun, I pulled it off.

[philper]

The best way to avoid clothes noise in lav mics is to have the actor wear clothes that aren't noisy.
If their clothes make noise, because they are synthetic fibre, silk etc or have noisy attachments, there isn't a lot you can do. The various tape and vampire solutions help with cloth rubbing directly on the mic only. Make friends w/ the wardrobe dept..

Philip Perkins

[arvid.lind]

I´ve started to use a tiny plastic thing from http://www.dpamicrophones.com/ called Concealer. They are made to fit dpa-mics, but I think that I´ve used them with other mics as well. Anyway they are quick and easy to work with.

The only problem I can think of is that there´s no room in them for a windjammer, but I guess there is a workaround for that problem.


Arvid- post and field-stockholm

[Branko]

Maybe something like THIS

[actualsizeaudio]

Maybe something like THIS

I use those, but they don't do too much for rubbing noise. they help some, and mostly help attatching other clips and such to talent. sanken has these rubber things my sanken mics go into that prevent the mic from rubbing. Also, I use countryman mics with tram cages, that sometimes works, but like everyone on here says; If the clothes themselves are noisy, you are hosed.

Has anyone on here gotten the button mic, I just bought a couple.

[philper]

I use those, but they don't do too much for rubbing noise. they help some, and mostly help attatching other clips and such to talent. sanken has these rubber things my sanken mics go into that prevent the mic from rubbing. Also, I use countryman mics with tram cages, that sometimes works, but like everyone on here says; If the clothes themselves are noisy, you are hosed.

Has anyone on here gotten the button mic, I just bought a couple.

Do you mean the "Pin Mic" (Ricsonic)? It is useful but not in all situations. I've done the button thing with it, but in 35mm or HD video they can often see that that button looks different, so no sale. I doubt I would ever be able to convince any female talent or wardrobe person to use one of their "brooch" mic covers. That leaves situations where they will live w/ seeing the mic but don't like the cable, and there they have worked out quite well for me.

Philip Perkins

[tomcat]

my favorite position for a lav was always in the hair, just at the hairline. It is rare that a shot/hairstyle/wardrobe allows for this, but when it does, it sound like a perfect boom, and it travels with the mouth. Just be carefll to put it as far forward as possible. The hi freqs do not wrap around the head at all.

similarly, if someone is wearing a rimmed hat, i would put it on the bottom of the rim. Often, I could even stash the transmitter in the hat too.

otherwise, yes, make sure to be in touch with wardrobe in pre-production. The material makes the most difference,