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Special guest mixer


Noah Timan

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Fun pictures, Noah.

I have my own collection of guest mixer shots. I'll try to dig out a couple of the more interesting ones and post them here.

I notice that you have an SD 302 (or something similar) mounted up on the cart. What's the purpose? Are you using that small mixer to gain a few extra channels when circumstances require more than the six or eight supplied by your Cooper?

David Waelder

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I notice that you have an SD 302 (or something similar) mounted up on the cart. What's the purpose? Are you using that small mixer to gain a few extra channels when circumstances require more than the six or eight supplied by your Cooper?

Exactly.  It's not a permanent installation, but it stayed there for most of this last job.  10-12 channels is not uncommon at any given moment with Muppets, and my Cooper only has eight inputs.  I used the 302 or the 442 alternately via Andy's Mix Bus box to get three or four more microphones into the system.

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It was doing muppet productions that steered me towards my 01v96.  Previous to that I had to use two 8 channel mixers as 12-16 inputs is definitely not uncommon for them.  I'll bet you had a blast!

Right...I had the same thought (01V) if I ever do that again.  Since the micing is always consistent, it's a textbook example of a case where programmed trim settings, plenty of extra inputs, and other things would really make the job a lot simpler.  We did have a really good time.  Eight people on wires improvising (plus additional elements) across two mixing panels can be a bit of a challenge anyway, annd then coupling that with all the routing changes, character changes and correct metadata entry on two machines, and I was definitely a busy boy.  After some time, of course, we did settle into a more predictable system, but the first couple of days were definitely a workout.  Thankfully, my ace staff (pictured above) were all over keeping up with everything, or I would have been toast. 

Sometimes-full plates aside, it was a pleasure to see all those guys work and practice their craft, and see the effect of the Muppets still on young and old.  They are all really wonderful people to work with.  I will pass on your regards, Darren.

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 4 weeks later...

Where do you hide a lav?

Sorry for the belated response...didn't see this.  The beauty is that you don't have to hide it, because the puppeteers are obviously never seen on camera.  We used terrycloth headbands with a sewn in band for dressing the cable.  The mic is dressed in the headband and then sits right on the puppeteer's forehead in a pretty ideal position.  They (and the Sesame Street crowd) been using this system for many years now with good success. 

We had a few tweaks and variations -- Steve Whitmire, who plays Kermit and Rizzo the Rat, wanted to try something where he didn't have to wear the headband, so one day we tried a Countryman E6i for him, which is a theatre lav rigged behind the ear and extending out to the side of the face.  That had pretty disastrous results as he was always bumping the side of his face with his puppet arm while moving Kermit around, and it's difficult to alternate the E6i from one side of the head to the other.  He didn't want to give it up so he tried (against my advice) to bend the arm of the mic closer inward toward his mouth and ended up snapping it in two and that was that.  Two weeks of four hundred emails discussing micing alternatives for him, negotiations with production for the purchase of the mic, and the whole thing ended in twenty minutes.  He was very agreeable about the whole thing though and appreciated that we at least gave something else a try.  Eric, who played Fozzie and Miss Piggy, would somehow manage to bump his as well...after a while we realized it was part of the Fozzie rig that would sometimes swing down and brush against his forehead, so when he was Fozzie we'd just put the lav on his chest and when he was Piggy we'd give him the headband.

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I was fortunate to work with the muppet gang back in June of 2008. It seems "The Mouse" spreads the love around and uses many different production companies when they do Muppet movies and specials. While working with them, I saw first hand how these talented puppeteers operated together and how they were mic'd. The headband technique is absolutely an amazing way to capture their audio and worked really, really well. Wardrobe actually made the special headbands and many were available to use.

From this experience, whenever I have to mic up talent that is wearing a wig I use a Countryman B6 and run the wire up the back of the neck and place the head of the mic just underneath the wig at the top of their forehead. I tape the wire down on the back of their neck and haven't had any problems yet. Same principal just no headband.....

Working for the mouse, I had a great experience on this shoot except for the B*tchy line producer that got my times wrong and refused to pay me properly... I let it go.... She's probably working back at the hamburger stand now where she belongs.....

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