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Lavs for ties


Derek H

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The tie knot rig... we do it all the time and it often sounds mediocre. I guess this is a two part post. 

 

One: what’s your favorite lav for mounting in a tie knot? That is, up near the throat, pointing down. For example, at some point I remember reading that someone really liked Sennheiser MKE2s in ties. (Robert Sharman maybe?)

 

Two: lav designers/manufacturers... why not consider making a special lav just for tie knot rigs? Something small and with a well designed sound to compensate for the generally terrible sound that the tie knot placement produces. I know lavaliers are not generally designed for stuffing in a tie right under a guy’s chin but that’s what we’re doing with them. 

 

Thanks.

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I think a DPA pointing down can actually sound really nice. It sounds good if the mount if ok, but it depends more in the material the tie is made of. Also if the guy is quite large and has his chin (or worse stubbly chin) rubbing on the tie there‘s not much to do. 

On really small ties I‘ll use a B6. I don’t think a special tie mic is required. A good tie mount and a friendly wardrobe dept (to get good ties) is far more useful. 

Some like the hide-a-mic tie mount, but so far it was always too large for me

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Let that baby stick out a bit.  No one but the DP is ever gonna see it, and that is because he is looking from 10" away.  I would always say, if someone was seeing the lav in the tie, the rest of you guys weren't doing your jobs very well.  Well, except for sound guys.  I'm ALWAYS looking and the giant pimple under a t-shirt drives me nuts.  Oh and don't even think of pushing it up in the knot just before we roll Ms. Wardrobe.  I'll cut off your fingers.

 

D.

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1 hour ago, tourtelot said:

Let that baby stick out a bit.  No one but the DP is ever gonna see it, and that is because he is looking from 10" away.

It was always my practice to rig a tie-knot mike so that the microphone would protrude just a bit, typically about two millimeters.  Then, when moving in for close-ups, I would push the mike back into the knot and get the recording with a boom. 

 

Times have changed and I acknowledge that current production practices, with wide-and-tight cameras, make it difficult to carry out this plan. 

 

David

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I've long use a B6 with it's very crisp cap.

Use a small piece of tape to keep in place and if possible use the cleft in the tie.

 

Viewing most films and big TV dramas currently, that's how it's done and it sounds good.

- but you do have to experiment!

 

mike

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2 hours ago, tourtelot said:

Let that baby stick out a bit.  No one but the DP is ever gonna see it, and that is because he is looking from 10" away.  I would always say, if someone was seeing the lav in the tie, the rest of you guys weren't doing your jobs very well.  Well, except for sound guys.  I'm ALWAYS looking and the giant pimple under a t-shirt drives me nuts.  Oh and don't even think of pushing it up in the knot just before we roll Ms. Wardrobe.  I'll cut off your fingers.

 

D.

This....  All of it...

 

 

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