Can someone offer tips on micing a person? Specifically, here are the questions.
If not trying to hide the mic:
1. On a guy who is wearing a suit, would you put the mic on his suit jacket or in the middle on the shirt?
2. What do you do with the dangling cable?
3. where do you attach the wireless transmitter?
4. On a girl wearing just a shirt, not button shurt just regular that goes all the way to her neck, where do you attach the mic?

Thanks

I'm not being sarcastic but.. It depends..
- Hiding or in plain sight?
- Does the talent wear a tie?
- One or more persons and how many mics ?
- What brand/model of mics?
- Walking and talking, sit down interview or other?

I would suggest picking up some books. Start with 'Audio Bootcamp Field Guide' by our friend Ty Ford.

You might get some info from this: http://filmtvsound.com/phocadownload/presentations/audio-technica/rigging%20lavs%20n%20wireless%20mics.pdf

I'm not being sarcastic but.. It depends..
- Hiding or in plain sight?
- Does the talent wear a tie?
- One or more persons and how many mics ?
- What brand/model of mics?
- Walking and talking, sit down interview or other?

I would suggest picking up some books. Start with 'Audio Bootcamp Field Guide' by our friend Ty Ford.

plain sight
no tie
1 mic, 1 person
Sanken COS-11D
sit down interview

Thanks for the book suggestion, I will check it out

You might get some info from this: http://filmtvsound.com/phocadownload/presentations/audio-technica/rigging%20lavs%20n%20wireless%20mics.pdf

Great. I just looked at this quickly. Will read in more details tonight.

sit down interview

Kathy, for an interview, you can't mic both the interviewer and subject with one lav pinned on just one of them, basically
you won't hear enough volume from the other one .. or am I missing something here?

You might be better with a boomed overhead mic.

Cheers.

plain sight
no tie
1 mic, 1 person
Sanken COS-11D
sit down interview

I would put the mic to the direction the person speaking to, not talking 'away' from the mic, generally about 3 or 4 inches below the neckline.
A boom mic just out of frame and/or the lav is also common.. on separate channels of course and not combined in post... use either or... having both on would create phasing issues when summed to mono.
A small diaphragm hyper-cardioid condenser is a typical interior boom mic.

Kathy, for an interview, you can't mic both the interviewer and subject with one lav pinned on just one of them, basically
you won't hear enough volume from the other one .. or am I missing something here?

You might be better with a boomed overhead mic.

Cheers.

I don't want the questions recorded. I was asking about specifics on how/where to put a lav on a person, not where to put it in order to capture the sound from two people.

I would put the mic to the direction the person speaking to, not talking 'away' from the mic, generally about 3 or 4 inches below the neckline.
A boom mic just out of frame and/or the lav is also common.. on separate channels of course and not combined in post... use either or... having both on would create phasing issues when summed to mono.
A small diaphragm hyper-cardioid condenser is a typical interior boom mic.
OK, sorry should have been clearer. Lav mic and only interviewee is being recorded. I am just asking specifics on putting the lav on the person.

I don't want the questions recorded. I was asking about specifics on how/where to put a lav on a person, not where to put it in order to capture the sound from two people.

Well if the interviewer is in the room the problem will be they'll overlap each other, especially if it's a long interview.
Even if you warn them not to, it's natural human interaction.

A way round this will be to record it in smaller sections, or am I missing something again.

Cheers.

Well if the interviewer is in the room the problem will be they'll overlap each other, especially if it's a long interview.
Even if you warn them not to, it's natural human interaction.

A way round this will be to record it in smaller sections, or am I missing something again.

Cheers.

I am just asking on clipping the mic on the person, what to do with the cable etc. Not how to mic the person so you don't hear the voice of the person asking the question. The question being asked is never at the same time as the other person is talking so you can cut it out anyway but assume there is only one person, no one is asking any questions. What is the proper place to put the mic, how far from their mouth, should the cable be hidden out of the person's reach etc. to get a good sound not how it looks.

Can someone offer tips on micing a person? Specifically, here are the questions.
If not trying to hide the mic:
1. On a guy who is wearing a suit, would you put the mic on his suit jacket or in the middle on the shirt? Make a fist, place the fist centred on the subject's chest, nails against the chest, middle-joint of the thumb touching the Adam's Apple. Mic goes where the middle-joint of the little finger falls.
2. What do you do with the dangling cable?Thread it through the button fly of the shirt and loop it around to the back between the undershirt and shirt, out at the belt line in the centre of the back.
3. where do you attach the wireless transmitter?On the belt in the middle of the back. If this is a sit-down situation where mobility is not required consider dispensing with the radio and go hard-wired
4. On a girl wearing just a shirt, not button shurt just regular that goes all the way to her neck, where do you attach the mic? In the V-gap at the center of her bra, thread the cable under the shirt to the back. Use a mic such as the Tram TR-50 that has a bit of crispness to compensate for the loss of treble caused by being under the shirt

Thanks Steve. That's exactly what I needed. I am using Sanken COS-11D mic, I think it should be good under a shirt.
What if a guy is wearing a sweater?

Thanks Steve. That's exactly what I needed. I am using Sanken COS-11D mic, I think it should be good under a shirt.
What if a guy is wearing a sweater? Get a vampire clip for the mic so it can be pinned directly to the sweater. Sanken: Vampire Clip for Sanken Lav Mic | Trew Audio (http://www.trewaudio.com/store/Sanken-Vampire-Clip-for-Sanken-Lav-Mic.html) or http://www.trewaudio.com/store/Sanken-Vampire-Clip-for-Sanken-Lav-Mic-with-Windscreen.html Would work for the girl's shirt in your original question as well. Dressing the cable is a bit more problematic in that situation as you don't want it dangling in the breeze but a bit of gaffer's tape can help secure it.

Get a vampire clip for the mic so it can be pinned directly to the sweater. Sanken: Vampire Clip for Sanken Lav Mic | Trew Audio (http://www.trewaudio.com/store/Sanken-Vampire-Clip-for-Sanken-Lav-Mic.html) or http://www.trewaudio.com/store/Sanken-Vampire-Clip-for-Sanken-Lav-Mic-with-Windscreen.html Would work for the girl's shirt in your original question as well. Dressing the cable is a bit more problematic in that situation as you don't want it dangling in the breeze but a bit of gaffer's tape can help secure it.
Thanks.
I do have avampire clip, this one: Vampire Clip for Sanken COS 11 | LMC Sound (http://lmcsound.com/products/vclip/)

Steve - great description:

Make a fist, place the fist centred on the subject's chest, nails against the chest, middle-joint of the thumb touching the Adam's Apple. Mic goes where the middle-joint of the little finger falls.


So far I've been more or less just winging it but your description helps to zero in on a local really easy.

Yesterday it was really blowing outside and between vehicle traffic and overhead airplane traffic I went with my lavalier and it worked well. Had the mic a few inches higher than your location though.

The rest of your bullets were helpful tips too. Thanks.

Prologue
Okay, I have to edit this post. I just told my wife (she was wearing the lavalier yesterday when we had discussed where the mic should go), anyway, told her what you wrote with the fist. By the way, was that a left or right hand fist???

She asked "What if there is nothing there?"
I asked, "You mean, like if you're naked?"
[Laughter from the talent]
Then she said "Well, if it's a guy he can always clip it to his chest hair."

Oh well. And I guess there is always duct tape option.

Well, you might use the vampire clip. OK except for the subject's screaming....:)

Steve - great description:


She asked "What if there is nothing there?"
I asked, "You mean, like if you're naked?"
[Laughter from the talent]
Then she said "Well, if it's a guy he can always clip it to his chest hair."

Oh well. And I guess there is always duct tape option.

You laugh, but it's not an uncommon situation. Decades ago I saw the touring Broadway cast of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat - and in it, the singer Sam Harris was on stage for most of the first act performing in the Egyptian theme scenes in what was essentially an oversized diaper!

I knew he was mic'd and couldn't figure out how. At NAB the next year I happened to mention it at the booth of one of the major manufactuer's reps - and he lit up and mentioned that their team had supplied all the gear for that touring cast's staging.

The solution?

Transmitter in the diaper. Hair mic middle of the forehead. And the wire between them run directly up the spine, covered in surgical tape and makeup to blend it in.

When it's got to be done - there's a way to get it done. Lesson learned.