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tunaman14

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I'm sure there's material here on this but with days of searching I can't seem to find any. My apologies if this is a newbie topic

There are different ways to mic different types of ties. I've done it in the knot and ran the cord through the collar. Some ties are loose and it's harder to hide the wire so I would cut a small hole and feed the wire into the tie directly. Then of course there's inside the shirt under a button. I've found that the knot system sounds best but is hard to hide the wire. 

What are some of your favorite tie rigs for tight and loose ties? Please be descriptive and photos are awesome! I really need info on this since I haven't been able to get much mentorship just yet. 

Thank you for all your help! 

Edited by tunaman14
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I guess it's a case of learning by experience and that is what lav use is always about.

So many shows now exhibit lavs in ties, times have changed.

mike

Seeing that bump at the bottom of the tie knot drives me nuts. Took screen caps of the phenom for a while, but had to give it up since it was ruining my audience experience.

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Seeing that bump at the bottom of the tie knot drives me nuts. Took screen caps of the phenom for a while, but had to give it up since it was ruining my audience experience.

Only we notice it Jan. the regular viewer would never notice nor care. They just want to hear it. 

 

With enough practice, you can get a mic in a tie knot and be completely invisible. The tie has to be done up tight to the collar though and sometimes creating a dimple in the knot to recess the mic helps to conceal. Bring the mesh of the mic right to the bottom of the knot so it's just out of sight. If it's higher in the knot, it sounds muffled with some material. 

Outdoors with wind is another story. 

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+1 to hush lav. If it's a full windsor knot, there's always going to be a side that is a little higher in the construct of the knot, so I always feed the cable on that side of the collar. I'll always put a loop in cable on back of the shirt under the collar, then transpore... Allows for some slack. If it's a loose tie or a little starchy, I'll take a small piece of Joe's Sticky Stuff and wrap it around the hush lav, place in knot then lightly squeeze the knot around the hush. This method works great for me with loose knots, pulled down ties and when there's a lot of running/movement/stunts. With a tie knot pulled down, I'll tape the cable behind the the neck loop of the tie and tuck the cable slightly around the knot. When its windy, I'll usually put a pop-on windscreen for the sanken's, and if it's really bad, I'll also hide a Rycote Overcover, which work really well!

Neck stubble, hairy chest's and starchy shirts don't help at all, but there are some things to help, like having talent wear an undershirt. When I wire on Veep, It's always a pain since most of the action happening on camera consists of talent looking down at their phones while they talk, but that's the least of my concerns. Once you find what works, you can do it in your sleep!

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Just discovered some new gadgets coming up for tie rigs

http://www.hideamic.com/
The website seem seems still in construction , but their facebook page works and has more pics and info

These look very interesting. I'm particularly interested in the fact that they have basically built a small cage around which the mic is suspended inside, like a mini blimp. This could be excellent for a lot of different things if it works the way my mind thinks it will. With some clever additions of Rycote overcover material or felt these could be really interesting. I'll definitely check these out, thank you!

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I don't care if most viewers won't notice a giant mic gap. They don't notice bad sound either. I'm not doing it for those people. 

We've had this discussion so often before. We ought to do better in order to raise the opinion of how other departments and producers see us. We should work to a higher standard. 

I try very hard to get the best sound out of a tie with virtually no visible impact. I don't find a hush lav accomplishes this.

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I don't care if most viewers won't notice a giant mic gap. They don't notice bad sound either. I'm not doing it for those people. 

We've had this discussion so often before. We ought to do better in order to raise the opinion of how other departments and producers see us. We should work to a higher standard. 

I try very hard to get the best sound out of a tie with virtually no visible impact. I don't find a hush lav accomplishes this.

Hear! Hear!

My goal is for my colleagues to want to how how the hell we did that.

That's part of the 'game' for me.

Here's a lav rigging Koan for you: less = more.

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I haven't been very lucky with hush lavs. I've come to use only Sticky stuff around the lav. Doesn't move, sounds good. Down sides: if Sticky Stuff isn't removed after use immediately, the tie is ruined. Stickds like hell to textile. I don't use DPAs in ties. Too big. A cheap OST TL40 sounds great on bassy males and is easy to hide, an MKE-1 is always great (I'm surprised it doesn't get more attention in places like here) and a B6 sometimes will be fine too. I absolutely agree with Robert and Jan. If a lav can be spotted in the tie knot (or pretty much anywhere else, for that matter) I didn't do my job right.

Edited by Christian Spaeth
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I agree with you Jan and Robert and I manage to hide in ties completely invisibly 99% of the time. 

My point is that unless we point out to people that there's a slight bump or whatever, they won't notice, even the crew. 

The other challenge we face on reality shows is time. I'm lucky to get 5 minutes each to mic my 2 hosts on a show I do and that's wiring them with ties (sometimes no ties ) and also induction neck loop, R1a and earpieces. 

We don't all have the luxury of having actors come to the cart for wiring with plenty of time and a nice chat. 

Sure my aim is to hide mics completely invisibly AND make them sound good but it's also to keep the day moving and not hear the dreaded waiting on sound remarks!! If that means a slight bump that no one will notice AND it sounds good, I'll go with it. 

Heck, people wear necklaces under clothing which shows a bump in real life, so no difference really. My Jade necklace shows a bump under my shirt every day! 

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