Bob Marts

When I used to record dialog to a single track Nagra, I would sometimes mix in a little boom mic to an otherwise all lav mix. Using the wonderful EQ on my Sonosax SX, I would tweak the boom mic into a pretty thin sound and still have some air in the higher freqs but avoid most of the phasing issues in the lower and mid stuff. The production mix sound good with that combination.

Nice lav mount innovations!

I posted a COS-11 foam sleeve here earlier in the year that's a simple & cheap alternative.

"sound department is fine... we're waiting for the jet!"

This is a great response to the meaningless comment "waiting on sound". I've been using variations on that for years.

The demeaning phrase should be abolished.

Made my day!

I had to expand to 15 Comteks just a few months ago, and may finally have to break down and get some better way of organizing them instead of throwing them all in a big Pelican case...

The shoe tree that I use will compress down (like an accordion) to about 18" with all the Comteks and headphones in it. I just put the whole thing in a case and on the next location, I pull it out from the top and there it is, ready to hang!

Some people use shoe organizers to hang them up. I found a mesh shower organizer so I can quickly see which ones are missing. I sometimes label the main ones "director" "scriptie" etc.

This is my Comtek Cubbie which I've been using for several years now. I've found that if I just hang it up on the Video village EZ-Up or on one of my C-stands, that the (qualified) people who reach in and take a set, usually returns it when the time comes. I, or another sound dept. person will announce very clearly that there are Comteks available in the hanging rack and if you need one, help yourself and replace it when you're done with it. I think the psychological aspect of seeing them organized in their cubbies, compels most responsible people to put them back when their done with them. I also number each one which helps keep track of any which do come up missing - Dir #1, Script #2, etc.

Dave Brubeck December 6, 1920 - December 5, 2012

Actors are used to having lavs hidden in their clothing and understand that noises and problems from that situation sometimes need to be fixed. Your average non-actor sometimes is distracted by the intrusion of a sound person having to reach up under their clothes to tape or otherwise attach a hidden lav. If a problem occurs, having to re-tape or reposition or even replace a lav can add uneeded tension to the interview - especially if the boom overhead sounds better in the first place. That's the only real dilemma in my opinion. A mixer friend of mine has an good retort - "Lavs are good problem solvers, but we don't have a problem right now using just the boom".

Being perfect is never expected.

Being honest is.

My response to a screw-up is usually "Hey, if I were perfect, I wouldn't be here".

Nobody argues with that.

Nice!

I would buy an Android version.

Same here.

mic'ing

I've found that sometimes, if you're friendly with an experienced producer on your show, a casual word about your issues with your recordings can help. Especially if they ask you how things are going.

Very interesting.

One thing which drives me crazy is not having at least a few extra feet on EACH end of a cable run.

And stingers (power cables) run across the floor not laying flat is also baffling to me. It's so inconsiderate.

I always tell my crew to leave extra wraps at each end of a stretched cable, both for safety and also to be ready for a short move on either end.

The other thing is, a cable that's wrapped over/over is going to be one stretched out spring when it's laid out. It never ceases to amaze me how electrics will leave these trip wires all over the set.

Take out the tube and guts and put a fish tank inside.

This has occurred to me.

I also thought of putting a transparency of an old test pattern in place of the screen lit from within the set. Would make a nice mood lamp.

However, for now I'll just let it R.I.P.

I bought a TV set at a yard sale in my neighborhood this weekend. Cost me $10.

It doesn't really work - the speaker hums and it glows when you turn it on, but I put it in my living room anyway because for now, I am getting my ten bucks worth just looking at it sit there.

It is a Hoffman Easy-Vision and the date stamped on the back is June 1, 1951.

The TV set had a unique feature for it's day: a slanted green tinted screen to ease glare and eye strain.

In 1951, some of the shows you could watch on ABC,CBS, DMN (DuMont Network) and NBC included

The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show, The Philco Television Playhouse, The Colgate Comedy Hour, Kukla Fran and Ollie, Captain Video and His Video Rangers, You Bet Your Life, Your Hit Parade, Roller Derby, Beat the Clock and Quiz Kids among others.

(Incidentally, in a couple of the photos, you can see my old bakelite rotary phone, hooked to my land line and it works great.)

Much like everybody else --

iPowers 9's for the Lectro 400's & IFB's and for the Comteks.

Powerex AA's for the slates and sync boxes.

Energizer AA Lithium disposables for the Lectro SM stuff.

Always have a couple of day's worth of alkaline and lithium disposables in case I can't recharge for some reason.

I bought a couple of packs of Stick It Dots, and the are indeed very, very sticky. They hold things to other things quite well.

My problem with them though, was that the paper backing on them would actually peel apart and a thin layer of backing would usually stay attached to the dot and ruin it.

I hope it was just a bad batch because I would use them a lot if they didn't have this problem. I never pursued an answer though.

Anybody ever had this problem with the Stick It's?

What is tessa tape?

I worked on a movie once which had many small crowded practical sets. I was always moving my cart to stay out of the shot and other work. After a few days, I found a sign on the back of my cart chair which read: "Place Camera Here".

You can find this plug at Radio Shack. Certainly not the highest quality, but it does the job.

http://www.radioshac...oductId=2103434

A little note about playback protocol (from my experience) --

When you're playing back music over a loud sytem, I find that it's important that very specific cues are given to you

for the start and stop of the music. If on one take the director says something like "Let's hear some music" and the

next take the AD says "Roll the playback", and maybe in between takes a singer or dancer might ask to hear something --

things are going to get chaotic. I will always try to get my "Roll playback" and "Cut playback" from the same person each and

every time. It really helps to keep this person in sight at all times in case it's too loud to hear the call - they can always make that slashing throat signal for cut.

I use this box for 1 or 2 mics nestled in foam. Double walls make it quite strong and lightweight.

http://www.sears.com.../p-00965284000P

Thanks, guys, for your input. Here in Seattle, most boom ops make no more than 500/10 & I thought 550 would be more comparable to what other department departments make. It took a long time for producers around here to sign and a lot were quite shocked at the scale wage for a sound mixer. Not exactly the same as non-union, and I think many producers don't care to offer more to the boom op than is dictated to make up the difference.