Wireless Microphone Placement

[Sean Gilbert]

I have the Sony Wireless mic set (UTX and URX) with the plain old clip on mic. What is the best location for the mic? Is there a way to 'hide' the mic and at the same time make sure there is no rubbing on the mic from people gesturing?

Its ugly and I dont want it on my films. How do the pros do it? Like in shows such as Top Gear were they clearly cant have mics on booms on the inside of Ferraris doing 100+ an hour, what are they using?

Sean.

[Mike Peter Reed]

Since I do so little lav work you might get a more qualified answer, but generally the sternum is considered the optimal location. Depending how the voice resonates depends where on the sternum.

[Ty Ford]

Hiding the mic without it losing frequency response because its buried, and not getting clothing noise, hairy chest noise, dangly earing noise and other noisey is an art in itself.

Your mics may just be too big to hide well.

Try a Countryman B6 wired for your xmittter. You can hide it behind a button, or in some cases, let it sit right out there and the camera won't see it. I did that once over a tie with a very wild pattern. The mic is so small the camera didn't see it.

Careful though, outside it'll get wind noise unless you bury it or put a pop filter on it. The filter makes it more visible.

Regards,

Ty Ford

[Dean Sensui]

My wife made tiny pockets out of felt in various tones: white, grey and black. The mic is slipped into the pocket and taped to the inside of a button flap. The very end sticks out slightly to keep the mic itself in the clear.

If the felt matches the color of the clothing, the camera hardly sees it. And the felt acts like a windscreen.

[Gints Klimanis]

Any good ideas for mounting a microphone in a protective shell ? I tried some body-mounted microphones on martial artists, basically, wrapping a black microphone around a black leather belt so it wouldn't be seen. I'm not sure what part of the microphone broke (diaphragm, connection near microphone), but it died in the first round. Any ideas for a protective shell ? I'm thinking about a fold of leather. Also, I'll just mount on the back side, near the spine, as that area is generally struck less.

[Dean Sensui]

Originally Posted by Gints Klimanis

Also, I'll just mount on the back side, near the spine, as that area is generally struck less.

Unless he's always running away! :-)

[Jim Boda]

Originally Posted by Sean Gilbert

... Is there a way to 'hide' the mic and at the same time make sure there is no rubbing on the mic from people gesturing?...

Hiding the lav is an interesting process. It's much easier to do on the ladies because of the natural God-given curves. Having the right tools and following good sound practices is essential to success.

1) Get the right mics. The countryman B6 and the Sanken COS11 are the easiest mics to hide in my opinion. Lower clothing noise and small top element are a great advantage. They come in different colors also...white, black, flesh-tone. Both of those mics work well taped to the chest or hidden in the knot of a tie. The B6 works well taped directly to clothing (like a T-shirt). And both are good for an under the collar or behind the button whole taping.

The Trams normally work well on the ladies (except for one time I could hear the lady's heartbeat...DOH!) and when the clothing allows you to use a vampire clip to an under shirt or coat.

2) Soft clothing is very important. Wardrobe design needs to go through the sound test. Communicate the necessity for quiet clothing up front. Don't wait till shoot time. Wearing layers or an undershirt is sometimes helpful.

3) Have the right Tools in the Lav kit: Vampire clips, surgical tape, Mole skin, gaff tape, windscreens/pop-filters for outside.

4) Leave proper cable slackage so it doesn't get ripped out of place. Make sure cable doesn't show when wearing tight clothing. (I spotted a lav cable on one of the actresses on CSI Miami).

5) Shave hair when necessary. Well, I talked to Eric Close of "Without a Trace" when I worked on a little project with him last year and he said that they shaved a little square on his chest where the mic was mounted on his chest. Tape ripping chest hair must be painful.

6) Don't use windscreen/pop-filter under clothing unless you have to. Lavs are normally bright sounding and hidden under clothing does cut down on the high frequencies.

I believe that the NFL uses the MKE2 Sennhieser lavs and hot glues the popfilter on to the lav.

Sometimes when hiding the mic in the knot of the tie you will need to use the pop filter (depending on the voice).

7) Experiment! There are mounting systems and mic cages available. But, sometimes just using Moleskin and surgical tape to secure the mic on the chest is the best option.

Sometimes you have to tape the clothing secure so that it doesn't move...but looks natural.