karlw

My string quartet was hired as extras a few years ago for a shoot in Santa Fe. It was a long day: call time was 3pm, then we were bussed from base camp to the actual set. There, we were fed, before sitting around for several more hours. It turned out (we didn't know this beforehand) that it was set outside, and at night. Problem: it was raining. We were told that shooting had to wrap by the break of dawn due to the light... finally, at about 11:30 PM we were moved up into position. Shooting began and of course it was quite a few takes, with different camera angles, scenes, etc. We wrapped at about 4am if I remember correctly. Then bussed back to base camp and our cars for the drive back to Albuquerque. It was an awfully long night but not unpleasant, really. I felt for the extras that had to stand around in their evening wear and high heels... that looked kind of rough. One of the funny things I remember is that everyone seemed surprised that we were actual musicians and even a quartet that could actually play. For all but one of the takes, they wanted us to "pantomime" in other words pretend to play without making any sounds. Then for one take, they let us play, although I don't think they miked us specifically. We were paid 300 each which compared to the other extras, was pretty good. I was worried about the rain with our instruments, though - not knowing it was to be an outdoor shoot, I had brought my loaned 1775 Gagliano viola... we lucked out - no rain. Not a drop. I got back home in Albuquerque just in time to drive myself, wife & daughter to the airport - we were headed out on vacation. When we got settled on the plane and the fight attendant took our drink orders, I got a scotch, drank it, and fell asleep. This was 9am...

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Those, and the RCA "Shaded Dog" records engineered by Lewis Layton, are still some of the best recordings made in terms of musicality. Technology has changed a lot since then, but those records still sound good today!

Love me some Flamenco & that kicks butt. Thanks for posting! Interesting comments about the mic techniques, too.

Thanks! I didn't know Sanken made the COS-11 in desert camouflage...

We, the willing, led by the unknowing, have done so much, with so little, for so long, that now we are qualified to do anything with nothing.

It does not matter whether you are licensed or not, using Block 28 in the US has been illegal for years now. Will someone catch you? Probably not. More likely is that a powerful intermittent signal will blow you off the air one day. Maybe not today, but it will happen eventually. Either way, it IS possible to be caught if someone happens to see your signal and report you. The consequences are not fun and may include hefty fines.

The problem only in right channel as others have said. To me, it sounds like the RF is 'not strong enough' then, temporarily, it is 'strong enough'. It sounds a lot like the transmitter is being turned on and off, actually.

Should work well and I've seen this, and similar things done. I was looking for a video I saw a few years ago with a newscaster that jumps out of a plane live on air, and had live audio and IFB. There was a short dropout just as she jumped out of the plane but otherwise, audio seemed good. Stunt pilot Will Allen sings the National Anthem live from the cockpit: he uses a UM250 from what I remember - it's strapped to the seat behind him. I'd suggest using a pair of helical antennas pointing straight up at the skydiver, and as much TX power as you can get. Line of sight gives you real advantages.... although 10K ft. is almost 2 miles... that's a long way!

Give a man a match and he'll be warm for a minute. Light him on fire and he'll be warm for the rest of his life.

No, I think they have a little hand that comes out the side and turns the crown every few hours.

Been doing photography since the '80s but only got "serious" about 10 years ago, when film was still king. Made the transition to digital about 5-6 years ago, and now waiting for the next gen Nikons before upgrading my main body. That said, I've been more active with video lately - the great thing is most cameras do video anyway now. It's a great time to be in the hobby.

Ironically, Blue Jeans Cable was once sued by Monster. Check out the correspondences here. It makes for some interesting reading!

One approach I've been using that seems to resonate is to frame it as "content creation vs. content distribution". Content creation is what we do, and includes sports, news, touring, theater, TV, movies, theme parks, AV and the like (all of which involve heavy use of wireless microphones). Content distribution includes tradition means (broadcast, movie theaters, radio, DVD rentals) and the newer Internet and mobile wireless data devices. Perhaps if "they" understand that without content to distribute, the revenues for said distribution will be hampered. Look what is happening with Netflix now that Starz has pulled their catalog.

I couldn't resist posting this here. http://www.theonion.com/articles/sound-technicians-resort-to-hanging-donald-sutherl,27634/

Yes, thanks for catching that. The SMQV has a variable high-pass filter. Yes, all SM Series (old and new) have the compatibility modes, including 200 mode.

SMDa: fixed antenna, fixed power at 100 mW, no power state return. SMQV: removable antenna, selectable power at 50, 100 and 250 mW, and power state return. Both can respond to commands from an RM or the LectroMote app.

Thanks Matt - this is correct. Tech Trust Japan is our distributor now - it is made up primarily of former employees of General Traders.

Hi Jim, The SMD and SMQ variants and will say "Lectrosonics" along the top of the front panel, above the LCD, and have a model number also, like "SMDa", below the LCD. The newer ones only have our logo (the offset circles with Lectrosonics across the middle) on the front panel, below the LCD to the left, and no model number - the model number is only on the little blue plate at the top, to the left of the 5-pin connector.

You may have already thought of this, but are you sure it was an SMQV and not an older SMQ or SMQa? Those older models look almost the same but only offer 1 power setting, either 250 mW (SMQ) or 100 mW (SMD or SMDa). Any SMQV, regardless of firmware version, offers the power settings.

I've used IAS quite a bit - perhaps my settings will be helpful. For one thing, I find IAS in stock form to be too conservative. Go to the "Tools" menu, then "Options". Un-check "3 TX 3rds" and "5ths" in the Test Enable area. I have never had any problem with triple beats or 5th order intermods, using high-quality gear. As John Steigerwald pointed out - ignore the pre-coordinated lists. We have stopped including them with products lately - there is just too much going on in the spectrum in most places to rely on those charts. Let us know if relaxing the testing criteria yields enough channels - it should.

Fun! Thanks for sharing.

This is eye opening - thanks for posting. I can see that my Swiss heritage and family traditions, including sense of time, contrasts greatly with my wife's Romanian background. I get it now! Also why it was a bit of a shock to come back to New Mexico after living on the East Coast for 12 years. I had never thought about these things in the perspective of time value.