lavalier microphone to a female officiant

Brian Drysdale · May 5th, 2011, 08:52 AM

Hopefully done with more grace and humour.

Mark Holland · May 12th, 2011, 01:16 PM

Most officiants I work with are like me, been there done that, so I usually just let them mic themselves while I look on...sometimes I give guidance, sometimes assistance, mostly they do a great job on their own...

Elias Neris · July 28th, 2011, 12:06 PM

my Question is with the H1 it doesn't have a clip. Is there a case for it with a clip in situation where you might have a female officiant with no pocket?

thanks.

Johannes Soetandi · July 28th, 2011, 06:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Elias Neris

my Question is with the H1 it doesn't have a clip. Is there a case for it with a clip in situation where you might have a female officiant with no pocket?

thanks.

Try finding a mobile phone case/clip that fits your Zoom H1. If you can't find one that fits, innovate with some tapes. :)

Angelo Ucciferri · July 29th, 2011, 05:10 PM

I suggest you all keep a wide elastic bandage (aka "Ace Bandage") as part of your audio gear. It can be used to make a waist or thigh belt which you can clip the mic on to. If the officiant is wearing a robe, this is easily concealed. If not, you can ask her to strap the mic to the back of her thigh - but above the skirt line.

I work at a tv station, and our female meteorologist wears dresses a lot. She always keeps her wireless pack strapped to her thigh with the elastic, and it works great - and is easy to remove.

Philip Howells · July 29th, 2011, 06:50 PM

Angelo

I may be under-rating the average female celebrant but my sense is that they'd be less than happy to strap a radio mic transmitter to their upper thigh than you suggest. It's a good idea though.

David Payne · July 22nd, 2014, 02:33 AM

quite a bit of discussion about touching females here which I'm sure we can all deal with sensitively (would it be the same with a female putting a mic on a male I wonder.. a silly debate waiting to happen!) HOWEVER... what do you guys do if the female has a dress on with no waistband, pocket or anything. My recorder (zoom h1 in a phone case) is way to big to hide under their hair.. This stumps me regularly!

Nigel Barker · July 22nd, 2014, 02:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by David Payne

quite a bit of discussion about touching females here which I'm sure we can all deal with sensitively (would it be the same with a female putting a mic on a male I wonder.. a silly debate waiting to happen!) HOWEVER... what do you guys do if the female has a dress on with no waistband, pocket or anything. My recorder (zoom h1 in a phone case) is way to big to hide under their hair.. This stumps me regularly!

In a professional video production you would just tape the recorder to her thigh. I don't know if female celebrants are likely to be as co-operative but you can always ask:-)

David Payne · July 22nd, 2014, 03:43 AM

maybe I'll give it a go! If you never hear from me again you know it didn't work and I can be contacted through her majesty's prison service!

Peter Riding · July 22nd, 2014, 04:50 AM

For female celebrants you can forget it - it simply aint gonna happen most of the time. Even if they are willing then more often than not they will not have suitable clothing to attach to, you can't put a belt on them, and you can't start messing around with hair bra straps or thighs. The male celebrants are not much easier. And if you do get one wired up there is a strong chance that they will forget and rush off to their next appointment before you get the chance to retrieve your gear.

The good news is that frequently the groom is sufficiently close enough to the celebrant for his lav to pick up usable audio. Also you can hide lavs / H1's etc in suitable nearby flower arrangements etc.

Or get a feed off the celebrants deck into your recorder if available - or tune to their wireless frequency if you are both using compatible gear (unlikely!).

If the celebrant is going to be too far away from any lav or recorder and cannot be wired up a trick I have used is to attach a Sennheiser G3 transmitter and lav to the folder which they almost invariably carry. The G3 transmitters clip works fine but if I were attaching an H1 (or preferably a much smaller "dictafone" type device including lav) I'd gaffer tape it down to the folder. Don't be tempted to just use the H1's onboard mics as you are likely to get a lot of handling noise.

Here is a photo of a G3 attached to a folder:

http://www.ashtonlamont.co.uk/images/dvi/celeb1.jpg

Or again if the celebrant is using some form or wired or wireless mic you may be able to tape a small Yamaha or Olympus type recorder to it.

Pete

Adrian Tan · July 22nd, 2014, 05:03 AM

One way we did it once was scrunch up the fabric of the dress under the armpit and clip the transmitter there.

Don't know how many female celebrants would agree to such a procedure. These days if they show up with a sheer dress, I just get my audio from elsewhere.

Paul R Johnson · July 22nd, 2014, 06:58 AM

For this kind of thing in theatre, we usually just use a small pouch, usually white, with a couple of ties to go around their waist. As to a celebrant wanting to do this, I'm not sure.

Rather sadly, I've noticed over the past year and a bit that many male sound people are much more concerned than they have been previously to touch. In the past, in theatre, the girls would just pull their skirt up and you fixed it - now, in the wake of the Jimmy Saville trial, people are more wary. I bumped into an actress and her husband, when I was with my wife - she said "Hello Paul, haven't seen you since the last time you hand your hand up my skirt" Everyone laughed, not so sure now - it's a bit sad.

Robert Benda · July 22nd, 2014, 09:40 AM

The most obvious first step in all this is, the Monday before hand, contact your celebrant/pastor in advance to introduce yourself, and talk about potential issues.

Along with audio, we also talk about camera positions, and ask if they have any concerns.

If they're amiable enough, I simply ask if they can wear an outfit with pockets, or a belt. I let them know our unit is about the size of, but lighter than a deck of cards, and I take care of everything - they don't have to deal with anything (other than wearing it). I also make it clear its audio for the video and the guests won't hear it, and that I edit it, so they don't have to worry about asides or instructions they don't intend to be broadcast. If a little extra sugar is needed, I might slip in that we're just trying to make sure that the lord's message is included in their wedding video as much as the songs or vows ;)

David Payne · July 23rd, 2014, 01:17 AM

Robert I agree and it's easy as pie in a church environment but in the UK often registrar's are not allocated their weddings until the morning of the wedding itself and they have 5 or 6 to do in a day sometimes so phoning round trying to work out who the registrar will be before the wedding is always going to be a bit of a nightmare.

David Payne · July 23rd, 2014, 01:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Peter Riding

Here is a photo of a G3 attached to a folder:

http://www.ashtonlamont.co.uk/images/dvi/celeb1.jpg

Thats a nice idea Pete, obviously depends on what the registrar is holding a lot of the time but it doesn't look too bad clipped on the back with a lav stuck to a blank part of the folder, obviously some wind noise when turning page is likely but thats a small price to pay,

I just wish I hadn't sold my sennheiser transmitter and lav mic through lack of use (I only ever use the receiver to take a wireless signal at a venue)

If I find a decent Zoom H1 (or even buy a new smaller recorder for it .. any recommendations?) clip on case instead of the flimsy phone case I use now, then attaching this to the rear with the lav mic might be a good solution.

May 5th, 2011, 08:52 AM	#16
Brian Drysdale Inner Circle Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Belfast, UK Posts: 6,152	Re: lavalier microphone to a female officiant Hopefully done with more grace and humour.

May 12th, 2011, 01:16 PM	#17
Mark Holland Major Player Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Central North Carolina (Raleigh, Durham, & surrounding areas) Posts: 301	Re: lavalier microphone to a female officiant Most officiants I work with are like me, been there done that, so I usually just let them mic themselves while I look on...sometimes I give guidance, sometimes assistance, mostly they do a great job on their own... __________________ These are my own opinions, based on my own mistakes...

July 28th, 2011, 12:06 PM	#18
Elias Neris New Boot Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Chicago IL Posts: 14	Re: lavalier microphone to a female officiant my Question is with the H1 it doesn't have a clip. Is there a case for it with a clip in situation where you might have a female officiant with no pocket? thanks.

July 29th, 2011, 05:10 PM	#20
Angelo Ucciferri Regular Crew Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Central NJ Posts: 106	Re: lavalier microphone to a female officiant I suggest you all keep a wide elastic bandage (aka "Ace Bandage") as part of your audio gear. It can be used to make a waist or thigh belt which you can clip the mic on to. If the officiant is wearing a robe, this is easily concealed. If not, you can ask her to strap the mic to the back of her thigh - but above the skirt line. I work at a tv station, and our female meteorologist wears dresses a lot. She always keeps her wireless pack strapped to her thigh with the elastic, and it works great - and is easy to remove.

July 29th, 2011, 06:50 PM	#21
Philip Howells Trustee Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Manchester UK Posts: 1,212	Re: lavalier microphone to a female officiant Angelo I may be under-rating the average female celebrant but my sense is that they'd be less than happy to strap a radio mic transmitter to their upper thigh than you suggest. It's a good idea though.

July 22nd, 2014, 02:33 AM	#22
David Payne Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2014 Location: UK Posts: 32	Re: lavalier microphone to a female officiant quite a bit of discussion about touching females here which I'm sure we can all deal with sensitively (would it be the same with a female putting a mic on a male I wonder.. a silly debate waiting to happen!) HOWEVER... what do you guys do if the female has a dress on with no waistband, pocket or anything. My recorder (zoom h1 in a phone case) is way to big to hide under their hair.. This stumps me regularly!

July 22nd, 2014, 03:43 AM	#24
David Payne Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2014 Location: UK Posts: 32	Re: lavalier microphone to a female officiant maybe I'll give it a go! If you never hear from me again you know it didn't work and I can be contacted through her majesty's prison service!

July 22nd, 2014, 04:50 AM	#25
Peter Riding Major Player Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Reading Berkshire UK Posts: 872	Re: lavalier microphone to a female officiant For female celebrants you can forget it - it simply aint gonna happen most of the time. Even if they are willing then more often than not they will not have suitable clothing to attach to, you can't put a belt on them, and you can't start messing around with hair bra straps or thighs. The male celebrants are not much easier. And if you do get one wired up there is a strong chance that they will forget and rush off to their next appointment before you get the chance to retrieve your gear. The good news is that frequently the groom is sufficiently close enough to the celebrant for his lav to pick up usable audio. Also you can hide lavs / H1's etc in suitable nearby flower arrangements etc. Or get a feed off the celebrants deck into your recorder if available - or tune to their wireless frequency if you are both using compatible gear (unlikely!). If the celebrant is going to be too far away from any lav or recorder and cannot be wired up a trick I have used is to attach a Sennheiser G3 transmitter and lav to the folder which they almost invariably carry. The G3 transmitters clip works fine but if I were attaching an H1 (or preferably a much smaller "dictafone" type device including lav) I'd gaffer tape it down to the folder. Don't be tempted to just use the H1's onboard mics as you are likely to get a lot of handling noise. Here is a photo of a G3 attached to a folder: http://www.ashtonlamont.co.uk/images/dvi/celeb1.jpg Or again if the celebrant is using some form or wired or wireless mic you may be able to tape a small Yamaha or Olympus type recorder to it. Pete

July 22nd, 2014, 05:03 AM	#26
Adrian Tan Trustee Join Date: Oct 2012 Location: Sydney, Australia Posts: 1,149	Re: lavalier microphone to a female officiant One way we did it once was scrunch up the fabric of the dress under the armpit and clip the transmitter there. Don't know how many female celebrants would agree to such a procedure. These days if they show up with a sheer dress, I just get my audio from elsewhere.

July 22nd, 2014, 06:58 AM	#27
Paul R Johnson Inner Circle Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Lowestoft - UK Posts: 4,045	Re: lavalier microphone to a female officiant For this kind of thing in theatre, we usually just use a small pouch, usually white, with a couple of ties to go around their waist. As to a celebrant wanting to do this, I'm not sure. Rather sadly, I've noticed over the past year and a bit that many male sound people are much more concerned than they have been previously to touch. In the past, in theatre, the girls would just pull their skirt up and you fixed it - now, in the wake of the Jimmy Saville trial, people are more wary. I bumped into an actress and her husband, when I was with my wife - she said "Hello Paul, haven't seen you since the last time you hand your hand up my skirt" Everyone laughed, not so sure now - it's a bit sad.

July 22nd, 2014, 09:40 AM	#28
Robert Benda Trustee Join Date: Dec 2012 Location: Crookston, MN Posts: 1,353	Re: lavalier microphone to a female officiant The most obvious first step in all this is, the Monday before hand, contact your celebrant/pastor in advance to introduce yourself, and talk about potential issues. Along with audio, we also talk about camera positions, and ask if they have any concerns. If they're amiable enough, I simply ask if they can wear an outfit with pockets, or a belt. I let them know our unit is about the size of, but lighter than a deck of cards, and I take care of everything - they don't have to deal with anything (other than wearing it). I also make it clear its audio for the video and the guests won't hear it, and that I edit it, so they don't have to worry about asides or instructions they don't intend to be broadcast. If a little extra sugar is needed, I might slip in that we're just trying to make sure that the lord's message is included in their wedding video as much as the songs or vows ;)

July 23rd, 2014, 01:17 AM	#29
David Payne Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2014 Location: UK Posts: 32	Re: lavalier microphone to a female officiant Robert I agree and it's easy as pie in a church environment but in the UK often registrar's are not allocated their weddings until the morning of the wedding itself and they have 5 or 6 to do in a day sometimes so phoning round trying to work out who the registrar will be before the wedding is always going to be a bit of a nightmare.