Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Lavalier Mic's picking up clothing movement noise.

Using a lavaliere microphone when shooting an interview or group of actors can be a tricky job.

Often you need to hide the microphone under the clothing.  When the actor moves a certain way you get a scratchy sound from the clothing material rubbing against the capsule or mic cable.


On some projects where you are on set for a film shoot you might be lucky enough to have a wardrobe person who can fix the mic into the fabric of the clothing minimizing the noise when the actor is moving around.


If this is not the case and you can use a simple thing to help this issue out, its called “Blue Tape”  or painters tape.  It will not damage or leave sticky stuff on the clothing.

Do this by forming one or two complete loops of the cable just below the mic capsule. The loops should be around one inch in diameter.

Tie the loops in place with a piece of thread or dental floss, or even a thin strip of blue tape sticky side out. The loop should be secured loose enough to open and close freely when the cable is tugged.


This becomes your strain relief. Secure the mic capsule within two small triangles of sticky tape.
I make these triangles from a 1" wide by 2" long piece of blue tape, folded corner to corner several times like a flag, sticky side always out.

The mic is centered within the two triangles. Be careful not to tape over the grill or holes of the mic.
These few thing will make a difference in the quality of your audio.


Good luck !



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