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Ideal Body Mic Rig?


randythom

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Hi, All!

I’m looking for some advice regarding an out-of-doors voice recording session I will be doing in six weeks or so.  I want to cover it in every possible way.  There will be no cameras, so we don’t have to worry about hiding microphones.  There will be at least one Soundfield mic, at least a couple of mics on booms, and I’ll want to put lavs, or some kind of mic, on each actor, about a dozen in all.  My question is this:  When you don't have to be concerned with hiding a body mic, what are some of the best options for mounting a mic on a person so that he/she can be fully mobile, clothing noise will be minimized, and a good sounding close-mic'd sound can be had?  I'm thinking about some kind of apparatus on the person's head, maybe similar to the one in the attached photo.  Does anyone on the forum have experience with similar mounts?

Thanks so much,

Randy Thom

Head Mount.jpg

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Follow each actor with a Boom/use handheld mics, and or/ and use a mic clip lavs outside the talents shirt. 

Depending on how physical the activity is, I've had great success doing head mounts with hair clips and tape.

 

Not too sure what the shoot is for but sounds like you may be over thinking it...

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For non-camera location voice recordings (radio spots, voices for games, voices for puppets and animation) we've used either custom head band/boom rigs (like the Muppeteers use), regular head-set mics like E6 and small mics clipped to the brims of ball caps (sometimes two, for stereo), usually through wireless, for talent moving around.  We also boomed them too, as though there was a camera. to get that kind of perspective as well.  Sometimes the boom was a stereo mic (we used a Neumann RSM190) with flankers some distance away on stands (for surrounds etc), sometimes a mono shotgun worked better for following action.  Nowadays I guess I'd think of adding an Ambisonic mic if I could figure out a good place for it in the action, and have the tracks available.   NOT mounting lav mics on clothes is a great idea, but you'll have to add wind protection for them (that is quiet).  I think the box in front of the actor's mouth in that picture is actually a mocap camera, not a mic....

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FYI, Randy is one of the premier post sound guys in the world and a really nice guy to boot.  I'm pretty sure he's very familiar with traditional micing techniques.  My guess is he's asking if anyone has seen a rig that fits his needs that's not normally used in conventional filming. 

Here's his IMDB link.

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0858378/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1

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First, let me say that I love all your work and commitment to the craft. You're one of the people (out of maybe three) who have inspired me to do this in the first place. Thank you!

Second, I did a weird recording job a year ago where the two actors were rigged with a gopro each. They had like a helmet with an arm, as pictured. We put a Tram on the inside of the arm and boomed it. I think that helmet was just a standard bicycle helmet with a standard gopro arm, that you'd put on car panels and windows etc, on it.

The actors were playing the voices of to-be-animated characters, so I guess the gopros were used for visual reference. No tracking.

That lav sounded awesome of course. The only thing would be that the arm might obscure the actors sight... But those two didn't seem to care. I'm thinking that an arm like that from the forehead would be better since it won't be physically in the way on the sides, if you catch my drift... That apparatus looks like a great idea, but it also is a little movement prohibiting I guess, at least thinking as an actor I'd feel it would be.

However, keeping it really simple, and possibly with even less rustle, the trick that (you're probably familiar with) you put a band on the forehead and put a lav under that. Accomplishes full mobility, always on axle, small and ubiquitous. Light. Won't introduce unwanted plastic or metallic noise (like from fast movements or whatever). Likely less clothing rustle because it's higher up... I dunno. On an arm I guess you'd be pointing down towards the mouth and possibly getting some of the torso too..
You'll figure it out. What a fun project!
Have fun!

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Hi Randy,

In the theatre world, we simply mic them up on the forehead so the mic stays with them regardless of turning heads.  Simply mounted underneath a headband pointed downward would do, as you've pictured Andy there.

In the animation world, we also mic the actors the same way for VO.  Up on the forehead.

In the film world, sometimes we have to get creative and mount them up in wigs or near the ears.  When opportunity arise, hiding in hair is gives us an almost perfect sound similar to a boom microphone.

Alan

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In my experience the same DPA capsule mound centre forehead will usually sound better than the equivalent headset version (some head shapes can be problematic). Headset mounts are a bit better for gain-before-feedback in the PA world, and easier to put on - hence their popularity, but in your case a headband is acceptable visually, so forehead is easy. The DPA 4060/4061 which is inherently flat rather than with a top-end peak assuming it's going to be mounted under clothes, works best for this.

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It's already been mentioned, but wind protection may need to be added. The steel mesh that comes with a lot of mic's like the cos11 isn't enough for exterior. A little creative work with some tape and a rycote overcover can handle a fair amount of wind. If it really gets windy, you may be struggling.

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19 hours ago, nickreich said:

In my experience the same DPA capsule mound centre forehead will usually sound better than the equivalent headset version (some head shapes can be problematic). Headset mounts are a bit better for gain-before-feedback in the PA world, and easier to put on - hence their popularity, but in your case a headband is acceptable visually, so forehead is easy. The DPA 4060/4061 which is inherently flat rather than with a top-end peak assuming it's going to be mounted under clothes, works best for this.

12 hours ago, soundpod said:

It's already been mentioned, but wind protection may need to be added. The steel mesh that comes with a lot of mic's like the cos11 isn't enough for exterior. A little creative work with some tape and a rycote overcover can handle a fair amount of wind. If it really gets windy, you may be struggling.

Hi Randy, just thinking off the top of my head here, but based on above two comments I might consider trying to rig some kind of 'enhanced' wind protection over a DPA on a headband - something like a fur covered decent sized mic foam ball, maybe half the size of a small softie. Also, if headbands or even 'wooly-style' hats might end up being comfortable and far easier to rig (= put on) than standard theatre / PA / film solutions.

Jez Adamson

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On 9/24/2016 at 11:02 AM, Philip Perkins said:

For non-camera location voice recordings (radio spots, voices for games, voices for puppets and animation) we've used either custom head band/boom rigs (like the Muppeteers use),

I had the pleasure working with the muppets team a few years ago and their workflow of having sweatbands on the heads of all the muppeteers + a lav pointed down from the forehead sounded perfect pretty much every take, no matter how "animated" the muppeteers movements were.  If you don't have cameras rolling, I'd highly recommend doing this as I wish lavs sounded this good all the time!  Good luck with your project.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Hi Randy, I've used DPAs with the remote audio micro cat (because of its size) as wind protection mounted to the forehead in a broadway mount style for some wild recordings which had lots of movement - products from bubblebee and rycote would be worth looking at too. I didn't use headbands but hairclips and a piece of tape at the end. I find that the headset mics don't have the same tone and pickup much more sibilance, some times so much so that it feels too close miked at times and not "real". The head mount on the other hand can pickup a lot of nasal sounds/whines especially if your actor has a cold or blocked nose but sounds very much like a boom.

Best,

Ayush

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When you don't have to be concerned with hiding a body mic, what are some of the best options for mounting a mic on a person so that he/she can be fully mobile, clothing noise will be minimized, and a good sounding close-mic'd sound can be had?  I'm thinking about some kind of apparatus on the person's head, maybe similar to the one in the attached photo. 

I haven't actually tried this myself, but it must be one of the nicest sounding headsets available:

http://www.schoeps.de/en/products/hsc

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