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Matt Geldof

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About Matt Geldof

  • Birthday 05/05/1977

Profile Information

  • Location
    New York
  • Interests
    Production Sound, Music, Composition, Modular Synth, Sound Design, Biking, Hiking, Camping, Reef Aquariums, Investing
  • About
    I've been mixing sound for doc and television in NYC and surrounding area since 2003.
  • Interested in Sound for Picture
    Yes

Contact Methods

  • Yahoo
    m.geldof@yahoo.com

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  1. My bowtie's have worked well with my SRC's... blocks 19, 21 and wideband Lectro LR. They really shine when you need to get an antenna up above a group of people, to establish a clean trajectory between TX/RX. Quick to deploy and attach to anything, so long as you have long enough 50ohm BNC's. I carry a pair of 10 footers with me everywhere, which work 90% of the time.
  2. I worked on a show many years back.. one of those love/taxi gigs that were so popular. We shot for weeks, audio bag in car, with two shotgun microphones mounted, along with the lavs hidden on talent. I placed a 200mw Lectro RX in the trunk, 4' away from the bag, to transmit audio to the follow vehicle plugged direct into the 15 pass stereo aux in. I needed to rescan occasionally, depending on which area of NYC we were in. The high power TX worked well. I had a 302 in the follow car, with a good pair of headphones. In addition I mounted a 100mw TX in the trunk, that gave me a confidence monitor for the lavs and a second RX plugged into the 302 for the two shotgun microphones. This setup worked perfect for weeks of filming. I was able to isolate audio issues, from the follow vehicle, quickly pull over, solve them and be on our way. It's been awhile since I have been on a show like that, but even with today's tech / and my kit being mainly Lectro and Sound Devices, I'd likely still do something similar.
  3. I own both. Only use the Bowties now. Mounting convenience is not even a comparison. Far as performance, very similar in almost every way to the Lectros,. When they work, they add some range. Nothing crazy. They won't fix a RX that is struggling in a congested RF environment, especially in NYC. Where I love them the most, is when I am in a sort of bag / cart hybrid situation, where I need to move into a tight space and put some antenna's up high and away from the bag. I carry a couple 10' BNC cables in my bag so I can quickly clamp the bowties up on a nearby stand or railing, clearing walls, video village or whatever obstruction is in my way. I never even bothered clipping the folding Lectros to my bag. Didn't think I'd get along well with the bowties clipped on either, but they are so easy to articulate and fold into whatever position I need. I often clip them on, even while doing run and gun in tight quarters. The whips are always close by, if I need to stash the bowties.
  4. There is some good advice here. I use the stingray harness with my 664 and mix pre 6 setup. It is pretty good, but no substitute for eating healthy and exercise. With that said, there is not much you can do about taking care of your knee's / hips, if you are on your feet all day with a bag that is too heavy. The 'work smart' part is propping the bag on my extended pelican case handle or hiring a boom operator/A2 whenever possible. Having a backpack with some of the stuff that would be in your main bag, can help balance things out. Keep a rolling surface with you to place your bag on, even if just the aforementioned pelican case. Fortunately equipment is only getting lighter and more reliable, so at least there is that.
  5. At the moment, I have one instance on my mix pre 6. I generally only take the mix pre sound package out for run and gun / doc work in and around NYC. I have found that noise assist works well for steady background issues, similar to most sound scrubbing software. It also seems that there is an algorithm built in for removing some echo. To get a similar effect in Protools, I need to use both echo and sound scrubbing software. Of course, when using plugins I get much better control, but noise assist is optimized for cleaning up production sound. I generally only use the noise assist on the boom mic, in sit down interviews and dialed into the output no higher than 6/7, leaving the iso track clean. Higher settings can work, but will start to thin out the dialog if the background sound overlaps the frequency range of the person speaking. I take some care in when and how much is implemented. I find it a bit jumpy, using it in situations where we are moving around a lot, especially if monitoring boom / lav split L/R, so mainly stick to controlled environments. I do like having the option enough to consider switching from my trusty 664 to an 8 series. At that point, I'll have to up my rental, but for now include the plugin in my current package rate. Just need to decide which model makes the most sense.
  6. I have used the 2080 IEM receivers, in combination with my Senn G3 TX. Similar or the same as the above mentioned receivers. 40 channels arbitrary selections from 572-603.5 MHz. I use Senn IEM's for the director / Script / AD / Prompter and everyone else gets one of the 2080's with some nice headphones. The range is good in most situations, though I have had to get the TX very close on a few roof tops in Manhattan, which makes sense. Sound quality is quite tinny and mono, but perfectly adequate and intelligible. Similar to comteks. They are not stereo, as advertised. They use 1/8 trs plugs for the headphones. Build quality is decent, but not nearly as nice as the IEM's. Battery life is about 10 hours on good quality Alkaline batteries. I place all my units in hip bags, to protect them, as they will break apart if dropped. Here are the step for the first group of 10 channels, as an example. B1 - 572 - 572.6 - 574.4 - 575.3 - 576.5 - 577.5 - 578.1 - 579.3 - 580.1 - 581.5 I have a cheat sheet in my phone, so I can quickly scan and dial in a frequency, if I end up using any of the 2080's. Good units for low budget gigs, where additional ears are needed, but depend on my comteks and Senn IEM's for higher end stuff. Hope that helps.
  7. I had a similar issue with an ancient UM200B, used as a backup TX a few weeks back. I thought it was shot, until I sprayed some contact cleaner on the battery tabs. Good as new.
  8. Ah, good to know that Gotham now rents out 8 series recorders. Have a great shoot and best of luck filming here in NYC.
  9. This is a good reminder. For this reason, I don't leave a boom extended on a stand over night, even is a seemingly benign sit down interview type situation. Also the boom is always the first thing to come down, as soon as I hear "wrap". Obvious stuff, but reading about bent poles, just re enforces the practice. I have not actually had this happen to one of my poles yet, but have gotten the cable twisted to the point where it will not seat completely. One of my older backup poles, a CF K-Tek Avalon, has a rear facing XLR that is flush mounted. The internal cable seems to get twisted up, more often than I like. Probably because it is also the one I use, when I need a PA to help out in a pinch and the collars are not the best design, which encourages twisting of the pole to release the ring. I keep a spare female xlr end in my kit, so I can stick it in there and unscrew the connector while on set. I can then release any knot or tension in the coiled cable, without damaging a critical XLR. Not fun. Thank you the info.
  10. Thank you for sharing your very nice DIY rig, using the extruded aluminum. It's helpful to see one in action. I really like this setup, for the fact that everything you need is self contained. I do appreciate the idea of a follow cart, but in my world, largely working on varied sets and locations in NYC, my backpack/pelican, is my follow cart. Even when I am on shows, the studios and locations are tight, so a follow cart is not exactly practical. I appreciate how you've organized everything in a way where it is instantly accessible and thoughtfully adaptable to bag moving on and off the cart. Also, your IFB TX / RX antenna setup makes a ton of sense. What hardware are you using for that? Really, I just need to pull the BNC and install the whips, when moving around. This is making me think about incorporating an aluminum frame into a dolly that can covert to a horizontal or vertical setup. It would be robust, but maneuverable enough to move through challenging spaces and maybe even throw some additional bags on top, when the entire crew needs to cram into a single freight elevator. I have to go back through and re read all of the details, but this is clearly getting the juices flowing. Much appreciated.
  11. Wow! Great stuff. John, your cart is a work of art. It looks like Zuca may be where it's at, for a small footprint when vertical space is at a premium. PSC too. I really like the straight forward nature of Constantine's Concart, especially for work where a bag is moving on and off the rig. With that said, also need a quick disconnect solution for shark fins and bowties. Another topic. This has been pretty helpful. Please keep posting, compact DIY builds too, with T-slot aluminum or something similar if they are out there.
  12. Much appreciated. That is a great story Jeff and can relate. I do feel like this will be a bit of a re purpose, but I am game. I very much enjoy building and customizing anyway. Trey, the PSC euro cart looks like it could work. How easy is it to break down and setup? The gallery is amazing. Was about to say to go ahead and close this topic, but I think it could still be helpful to revisit, given some of my needs for a smaller footprint. So post if you have something small and portable with a some specific ideas to share. DIY or off the shelf.
  13. Post your sound cart pictures please. I am researching potentially adding small, light weight sound cart to my kit, for an upcoming series. I typically mix out of a bag. I'll convert my pelican case into a sound cart when needed, or borrow a rolling table from whatever department will lend me one. Basically, I work a lot in NYC on varied types of productions, have to stay light and portable. It is not always feasible to drive to a location with a cart in the trunk. I've had a number of medium / large / custom carts in the past, all of which were not quite right for 99% of the tight spaces and productions I work on. Often it's getting up a laughably small freight elevator, that is the main obstacle. That said, I'd love to see what all of you are using, especially portable / modular / DIY solutions. Ideally, I can easily setup and break down said cart, or roll in and out of a car/van and it doesn't cost as much as a new mixer/recorder. Please post your pictures and some brief thoughts, for inspiration. Larger setups welcome too. Whatever you works for you. If this topic already exists on JWSG, feel free to link to it. Thanks!
  14. Thank you for all you do Jeff. This site has been my go to, for real information, from actual professional sound mixers for many years. Needless to say, I am most grateful that this resource exists.
  15. I can still find what appear to be usable frequencies in the block 25, duplex gap in NYC. As with anything related to production in NYC, the availability of frequencies change significantly from city block to block. With that said, I still have two Lectro 401s on block 25, but it has been some time since I have actually used them. I once in awhile bring them to locations in Manhattan, to scan and have ready, in a pinch, but have mostly moved over to 19-21. It is all quite congested, at this point.
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