pillepalle

I also use the Gefell M310 (you can see it in my avatar) mainly for indoor booming but also for outdoor booming of small groups of people, or soon ambient recordings (in a stereo setup) but I have no comparision to the Schoeps or Sennheiser. But I love the sound. For me it was a no brainer, costing about half of the price of a Schoeps, or a Sennheiser. In the future I want to use it also for music applications (mainly on acoustic guitars). I had the AGK C480 with a couple of capsules some years ago. For booming they have the disadvantage to be very sensitiv to handling noise. Much more than the Gefell I use now. Greetings

Sweat is salty and maybe the salt conducts... you might try this: Greetings

I can imagine to use them just for monitoring my lavs. I use the small Tascam DR-10C recorders instead of wireless systems (so I always have clean audio) and one disadvantage is that I don't monitor them. Putting a Rode Wireless Go on the output of the Recorder would enable me to hear at least possible rustling or wind noise. Greetings

Ciao Giuseppe, I guess the problems you have with your sound are a result of the wrong microphone placement. Therefore an upgrade to a MKH416 won't really solve the problem. Even the best microphone sounds bad if the placement isn't right. That's why I would think about changing the recording technique instead of just replacing the gear with more expensive stuff. Greetings

@ Jim Feely Well... I'm surely the last person to ask what is comon on sets *g* But all the sound guys that I've asked recommended M/S. With every other technique you have a fixed recording angle, that might not be right in that certain situation. It's super flexible because you can use it with nearly every microphone as Mid-Channel, depending on what you want to achieve. And it's super compact and easy to use. If you have little time to setup it might be the best choice... Greetings Ps: Interesting Poll, Vincent. So most people go for an 180 degree recording angle and good localisation of the sound sources.

Thanks for the suggestion, borjam. I'm sure it could work like that but it looses it's practicability. One reason why M/S is so popular in documentary is that it's a very compact setup that fits in comon windschreens and suspensions and has a fast setup time. You don't have to think about recording angles and how to position the mics, because there's only one way to use them. The whole point for me was, that it's difficult to boom dialogs in a documentary and you have to find a way to get them nevertheless. I'm not so interested in having stereo recordings of dialog as you usually pan them in the center anyways. For the stereo recordings I do (mainly ambiece), I'll use xy (when localization is important), or spaced supercardioids (in various angles) when I want to get more envelopement. Greetings

Thanks Constantin! Yes, maybe you're right. For now I have to work without M/S anyways in lack of a figure eight capsule. When you start (usually on a small budget) you have to make some compromises regarding the equipment and the tecniques you can use. There is so much gear one can buy, but only a few things you really need and use later on. So I have to start simple and improve on time. But it's good to know what options are available and to talk to experienced people. Greetings

@ haifai actually I use a Zoom F4. I didn't check the manual in detail regarding M/S Options because I've never recorded in M/S 🙂 I could try to use an y-cabel to split the M/S Channels. So I could record two isolated tracks and two matrixed to M/S... have to think about that. First I will try out how it is to monitor a non matrixed M/S signal. I have no idea how that sounds. I wanted to get Y-XLRs anyway to use it for saftey channels. The recorder has a function to record saftey tracks simmultaneously, but makes this on all channels. So you have two mains and two safeties. With an y-cable I could coulpe only the first two channels and use the other two channels seperately. Greetings

@ sinnlicht Thanks again. Yes, I guess I have to practice it a couple of times before using it on set 😀 Greetings

@ sinnlicht Thanks Your monitoring tip surprised me. I didn't even thought about that. So it might be useful to matrix the monitoring headphone signal directly in the recorder? Greetings PS: ...not even shure if my recorder is able to matrix only the monitor signal. I guess it will matrix also the recording channels 😕

@ sinnlicht Thanks for the advice. I've already speculated in my post that it might not be good to move the M/S mic around and you seem to confirm that. One question I have is this one - do you record the ambience sound always seperately and when? During the take, or afterwards? Greetings

I use the rycote baby ball gag with or without a fur: http://mymic.rycote.com/products/windshield-solutions/bbg-windshield/ works great for me. They are similar to the cinela leo ball but they start at 20mm diameter. You might put a piece of tape on the mic to make it fit. Not sure if you will have enough room for the suspension. The mics I use are about 5 inches long. For two onmis you need a certain distance, otherwise you get a true mono recording up to a certain frequency. So you have to use two baskets when you go out with omnis. Greetings

@ haifai Yes, Neumann actually has the KK120 figure eight capsule together with the analogue output stage KM A. But it's about the same price as a Schoeps CCM 8... something I could afford to buy only on a later date this year. Funny that you also have a Gefell M310. There are not too many around. I love it and will surely get a second one for stereo use Greetings

@ r.paterson Yes, thanks An interesting option. I don't know Pearl as a microphone company, but it's maybe worth a try. Unfortunately there's no reseller in Germany so I would have to buy it in the UK. The other thought was to get just a figure eight mic and make a mic sandwich, as I already have a nice Supercardioid (the Gefell M 310), or if I would like to use a different mid-microphone. But on the other hand a single M/S mic is smaller and easier to rig. Greetings

Thanks for your suggestions. The Sanken CMS-50 might be a good option for ambience sound, but for dialogs it seems to pick up too much from the sides... a cardioid is already wider than a supercardioid, and the only thing you can do in post is making it even wider adding the figure eight. At least looking at the specs you have about 6db of reduction from the side in the cardioid pattern. Maybe the interference tube makes it a more directive - who knows... And then you always have a fixed relation between dialog and ambience if you record both with the same mics. The other thing is that your dialog may start to jump around between your loudspeakers as you move your mic. If you record the dialog seperately from the ambience you can pan it always in the center and let the ambience move if necessary. Wouldn't that be better? Greetings

I also start a small documentary project but I'm not quite sure which techniques to use. An M/S mic is a common choice because you have a lot of flexibility in post to decide how wide the pattern should be. But it also has some downsides as you've already mentioned (very sensitive to wind and handling noise, price for a decent sounding figure eight capsule). I will always have someone to boom near the camera, so I don't see the point to have an additional camera mic. Maybe to record the ambient/atmosphere sounds simultaneously from the camera perspective and to be able to mix it with the dialogs from the boom in post. But probably it's better to try to get the cleanest dialogs as possible when rolling and to record the the ambience sounds later, or in between takes. This way you can choose the right stereo pattern for the ambient sounds you want to capture (more directivity, or more diffused and uncorrelated sounds). In some circumstances I can put some lavs on the main charachters but in others I can't do that. Often I'll have more than one person or small groups of people in front of the camera and it would be difficult to boom with a very directional shotgun mic. I guess you'll always be late. That's why I thought to use a supercarioid for small groups to have smoother levels. Any opinions on that? Greetings

Thanks again for all the comments. It's really usefull to get some personal experiences on this topic. Greetings

Unfortunately wireless is actually no option for me, because looseless transmission is still quite expensive. I mostly work on own projects, or ones with very small budget. Greetings

Yes, if most boom ops use external cables maybe that's the way to go. At least I'll learn how to handle it And in case the cable get's me often in trouble I still have the opportunity to cable the pole by myself. So I think I will look for an uncabled boompole. Greetings

Thanks Philip, so you think there is no right or wrong way to go? No, I've never used a longer pole. I just thought that the longer the pole the more difficult the cable handling will be. Greetings

Hello, I have a 12' Boompole that I mainly use for indoor work. But in the future I would like to get a longer pole (about 18') for outdoor work. As a boom operator on a beginner level I wonder if it would be easier to work with a pole with internal cabeling, or is it no big difference? I mean, handeling an external cable on a longer boom might be trickier than on a short one. Are there good ways or tricks to fix an external cable (clamps, or velcro straps)? What's faster to use? Thanks in advantage pillepalle