AndyB

I agree, lots of threads about OST mics. However, it takes roughly the same amount of keystrokes and time to say " the search bar is located in the upper right " or "+1 i dont know how many oscar sound tech threads ive seen already" as it does to say "I use the TL-40's. Easy to hide, sound really good, affordable. Just buy a few!".

I use the TL-40's. Easy to hide, sound really good, affordable. Just buy a few!

Pretty cool! I can share this with my friends so they might get a better idea of what it is that I do. Also, nice job, closing with the Stone Pony! I pretty much grew up at the Jersey shore...

Unbelievable! +2 on the wide and tight. What an awesome voice for mixers!

I had a hairy chest to deal with on my last shoot. Not just any hairy chest, but one they had been shaving for the reality shoot, and now it was two weeks since shaving. Since I didn't have shaving gear on hand, I did the "sleeping bag" method with moleskin, then used Topstick to attach to the chest. I was getting some rustle from the shirt moving against the chest stubble, so I used more Topstick to immobilize the shirt around the mic. Took care of the problem.

Thanks for all the responses. Special thanks to Pete for the link to his blog. That puts things in perspective for me.

Copy that, Andy, but I was not one of the mixers on the main shoot for this show, so different gear was used. The room we shot in also was not used on the main shoot. These were green screen talking heads to overlay in the edit.

THAT is a tip I will use next time I'm out on one of these shoots, Eric! Thank you!

I'm also on the "no debt" train. I've been doing it much as jwill has, building up the gear as jobs and pay increase.

I'm just curious how the lav and boom combo came to be expected on sitdown interviews. Not like its any big deal, but just about every time I've done these kinds of setups the boom is clearly the better track. I'm thinking about this because of sitdowns I did yesterday. The talent had a scratchy shirt over a hairy chest, so the lav was picking up scratching if he got animated and moving around in his seat. It was fine when he was relatively still. But the room was tight sounding with very little roominess in the boom mic. After we set up and tested things out, I told the producer there would occasionally be issues with the lav, but the boom was clean, and we were hard wired to the camera plus rolling backup recorder. I asked her if I could just pull the wireless, but she didn't want to do that, saying "I want backup". This made no sense to me. Obviously, if the boom went out for some reason, I would immediately hear that and troubleshoot the problem asap. I just didn't see the point in even having the wireless in play in that situation, but as always, the client gets what they want. Where did this expectation of running a wireless (or wired) lav as well as boom on a stand for sitdowns come from? In a controlled environment like that, the boom is going to win out, hands down, it seems to me.

That's correct, Senator! I had forgotten they made those.

Might look at the Oscar Sound Tech lavs. Very affordable, and the cable is pretty heavy duty for a lav.

I think the biggest mess up for me so far was making a tangle out of a 100' boom cable when I A3'd on a major cable series. Not a big deal, but 5 minutes (which seemed eternal) untangling and re-coiling the cable. On the plus side, the mixer just kind of shrugged it off and the boom op gave me a great tip about how to lay out the cable to avoid it becoming spaghetti.

I didn't bother to get the metal screens for mine. Last job, mounted under clothing in a moleskin sandwich, and I didn't get wind rumble until the gusts were up around 20 MPH or so.

That's about how I do it with the OST TL-40's I recently purchased. Generally mount it on clothing, but will go on the skin if the clothing is sheer enough that the mounting would show. I've found this concept works great if talent is wearing multiple layers, such as a hoodie over a t-shirt. In cases like that, I'll stick the mount to the outer layer. Lav bullet is on my short list of small things to buy, also.

+1 for Eric Toline. Not only is he good at soldering and such, but he's just a nice guy to talk to, and very helpful!

"The sound recordist's still here..." Love it!

Rick, the PA only would function as a "boom holder" while I work on lavs between takes. They wouldn't actually boom! What I do on OMB gigs like this, is make sure camera and my recorder have something close to the same TOD time stamp on each file. For that kind of budget, that's what you get...

I generally don't respond to ads that ask for a "sound reel". Usually a credit list gets me the gig. Sometimes, they want to be sure I have the gear they need, so I deign to share my gear list if the money is right. That's how I roll...

"How the MIghty Have Fallen"? Howz about Hostess? No mas Twinkies? No mas HoHo's? Guess what? America just lost 30 pounds, bitches!

I've tried a few times to enlist a PA as my audio utility (i.e. bring me water/coffee, hold the boom while I'm lav'ing someone, carry batteries, etc.) and to fill out sound reports on low budget gigs. Invariably, they they either wander off to do whatever it is they do, or they get jacked from me by another "more important" department. I've given up trying on those type of gigs...

Looks like my OST TL-40's. Mine did not come with foam glued to them, or foam at all.

I drink water on set (and generally, all the time), maybe a cup of coffee on a long day. Lots of salad and some meat. Nuts are good, and fruit. Don't have any particular exercise plan, but I think it might be time to start that in the next year. Not a spring chicken anymore!

I'm more interested in that Corvette in your garage, Matthew !

The pre-made bag carts are awesome, but overkill for me at this stage. I'm going to roll my own from a hand truck in the coming weeks. Pics as it happens.