AndyB

Hi all. I'm going to be doing a shoot with a guy who normally wears a baseball cap, and I've been thinking about running the lav up to the bill of the cap instead of hiding it under the shirt. I've never tried this method before, but I've heard that it can give better sound and less chance of the voice being off axis. Anyone used this method succesfully (or unsuccesfully)?

From what I read, they sell for $60 on Adorama...But free from Rode.

Yeah, seeing as how I'm just about to buy my first soldering iron to make XLR cables, this kind of blows my mind!

This is great! I've got an NTG3 and love that case it comes with. I have been looking at picking up a used 416T (with no case), and knowing that Rode will just send you one of these for free is awesome! Thanks!

MIght as well jump in, too! North Carolina based, not too far from Charlotte, and I can be local in DC or NYC. Bag/ENG work solo, or would love to be A2 or second boom on a larger production. All I have booked so far this year are a few day shoots and a short for the first week of April.

I like it hoppy! The hoppier, the betterer!

In my area, it seems like most of the jobs I've done in the past few years are 5D and 7D shoots. I just record sound independant of the camera, am happy I am not tethered to camera all day, turn in my files and go home. I record everything at 48/24 and turn over WAV files at the end of the shoot. No one has complained yet.

I just posted that video to some friends. I was offered a job in Atlanta (I'm about 3 hours away) and the pay was $50 per day, but its only 4 to 6 hours per night (all night shoots). When I talked to the "producer" and declined the job due to the stupid low pay, his response was "But its in Atlanta", to which I responded "So I should work for slave wages, and the Subway Tuna?". Suffice it to say, he was confused!

I've started to learn to differentiate between background sounds that matter, and those that are really not a problem. One of the biggest things for me was hearing a lot of echo in a large room, and feeling very unhappy with the sound while recording, then getting it home and listening on my studio monitors and everything sounded fine, really. After a few experiences like that, I started to lighten up on locations, and just make sure the dialogue was intelligible. Most of what I hear on location through cans is negligible through monitor speakers.

I've got my Petrol rig sitting higher, but I'm using the smaller Deca bag. Nice head-boom technique, BTW!

I spoke with Paul at the Sound Room, and he old me he'd never heard of any problem like what I described with the MK012. I'm going to replace it with either an AT 4053b or Audix SCX1 hypercard. I'd like to play with them both before I decide to see which matches best with the NTG-3, but I'm leaning toward the Audix.

I recently purchased an Oktava Mk012 with the hypercardioid cap from the Sound Room. Tested the mic at home when I got it, and it sounded fine. Then I took it to the location where I was working, and it behaved very badly. It gave off a quiet but noticeable hum, and when I boomed it towards anything electrical (ranging from light fixtures to laptops) the hum increased dramatically. When I took the mic outside at the same location, it quieted down nicely. Then I turned the mic toward an electrical box on the exterior of the house, and the hum returned. At any rate, I returned the mic for a full refund, but I was wondering if anyone had any thoughts on what caused the noise. My best guess is that the location was an older house (1920's), so maybe the electrical system was not grounded well. The guys at The Sound Room said there was no fault in the mic, but refunded me anyway. Standup company, there. FYI, with my NTG-3 shotgun mic, in the same location, none of these issues occurred.

The first indie feature I worked on is just hitting the market. Wonder how long, if ever, it will be before I start getting my points on it?

When I encounter hard days on indie productions, I just think back to the time (not so long ago, really) when I was working construction and carrying four 50 pound bags of ceiling texture (two on each shoulder) up three flights of stairs for most of the day. Or that job where I had to stack 5 gallon water bottles 3 high on pallets all day. Once I've got that image firmly in mind, the mixer bag and boom pole don't seem like such a big deal.

Trew was running a special (not sure if they still are...) where if you buy a Petrol bag, you get the PS605 for $25. Insane, right? I got mine yesterday (with the Deca bag, since I don't have much gear yet) and tried it out on a commercial shoot today. I spent a few hours last night messing with the harness to get it all adjusted to my liking, and today at the shoot I just put it on and went to work. No strain, very easy to work with and everything behaved as it should. +1 for the Petrol rig, Just checked, and the sale is still on at Trew Audio! If you go to their site, it should be the first thing you see.

How many drummers does it take to change a light bulb? 5...One to hold the light bulb and four to drink until the room spins.

Haven't seen "Sarah Jane" yet, but my daughter and I are huge "Doctor Who" and "Torchwood" fans.

My theory about this is that as drummers, we are trained to listen to the whole. I always played as a music listener/lover, and tried to play things that complemented the music. Also, drummers are behind-the-scenes kind of people, usually, and this suits us well to the film and video production world. Think about it this way...Directors are the lead guitarists, actors are the "front-man", maybe gaffers are the bass player, and soundies are the drummer...just hanging out in the back, holding it all together, trying not to get in the way while we do our thing.

I've got similar, but not as bad situation for an upcoming shoot. They've built an "alleyway" set in the studio space, with the alley itself being about 8 feet wide and about 40 feet long. The ceiling is nearly 20 feet, but they only built the fake brick wall up to about 8 feet on one side. I think if I can have them fly some light weight frames with carpet remnants on them, this will effectively lower the ceiling and help to isolate the set from the rest of the overly reverberant room. The scenes being shot in that set range from fairly quiet dialogue to confrontational dialogue and a physical fight scene. I think I'll be fine for the regular dialogue, but the confrontational stuff worries me.

Thanks Mike, and reading is what I'll be doing until my eyes start crossing!

HI all! I too, am a fellow drummer. Been playing since about 1985, toured up and down the east coast for about 5 years. Got into recording the bands I was in, recorded some VO for a friend who did video production, which eventually led me into swinging a mic. Its been a crazy ride! I haven't played in a serious band for over a year, since I've been busying myself with the location sound work. The next film I'm working on, the DP is a guitarist, so we plan on having some jam sessions after hours. Should be a blast!

Just wanted to introduce myself to everyone here, and give a little background on myself. I'm a neophyte compared to most here, from what I've seen, but I'm always learning and striving to do the best work I can do. I've been doing sound for video productions for about 5 years, but only seriously for the past 2 years. I've got a good basic, but ever expanding gear package, and am currently about to start work on my third indie feature film. In addition to indie features, I've worked on numerous shorts, and pick up commercial work when I can. Being in western North Carolina, there's not much of that work to be had, though. I look forward to being part of this community, and would like to network with sound folks in the south eastern US. I've been lurking around this forum for a week or so, and have already picked up a lot of valuable information! If any of the more experienced folks here ever need a boom op in the south east, look me up! One thing I'd love to hear about from you all, is the availability of work in the New Jersey/New York area. I have family up there, and have been weighing the idea of moving back up there in order to pursue sound work more intensely. If anyone has any thoughts on that subject, I'd love to hear them. Anyway, its great to here with so many talented and experienced people!