Taperssection.com
Gear / Technical Help => Microphones & Setup => Topic started by: stantheman1976 on October 03, 2008, 12:30:55 PM
-
I'm gonna be filming a wedding on the beach soon and instead of buying one or two premade covers for my lapel mics I though maybe I'd give making some for al my stuff a try.
So what is the best way to make them? I'll make one for my RodeVM, Sony 908 and D50, and a couple lapel mics. Should I make it to fit directly over the mic itself or make it to fit over the foam screen? I'm assuming if it touches the mic diretly I should make it as snug as possible to prevent noise from rubbing against the mic, right?
-
So it would likely be best to cut them to fir directly over the pre-existing windscreens?
-
dead cat? or dead rat?
-
dead cat? or dead rat?
What's the official difference between the two?
-
dead cat? or dead rat?
What's the official difference between the two?
I thought rats were for smaller mics, cats for bigger (like the LSD2). Anyone care to correct me?
-
Then I guess I'll be attempting both. The Rode, Sony, and D50 will be dead cats and the lapels will be rats.
-
The tricky bit is catching the cat.
I've found that after spotting a suitable cat, the best method is to hide around a corner, clutching a nice heavy shovel whilst making a noise like a piece of poached chicken.
I agree though, that a cat will be too large for a lapel mic. A rat would be a better bet and fewer people complain when they go missing. They're particularly good for discrete use when undertaking 'street' recordings in the more insalubrious parts of town. For more decorative applications, hamsters or gerbils are good and usually are readily and cheaply available from pet shops.
For formal use at weddings, a small chinchilla would be acceptable in most social gatherings (for longer shotgun mics try a mink or, if on a tight budget, a ferret* (for stereo use a side degu may be added to form an MS pair)). If the chinchilla is felt to be too ostentatious, a long haired guinea pig is a polite substitute** however, avoid anything too flashy in colour; this seasons 'in' colours are sombre browns or greys and the past summers multicoloured/patchy whites and sand colours are a definite social faux pas. A dyed rat is a poor substitute and should be avoided for anything but comedy/novelty use such as fancy dress parties or clown suits.
(*both of which are available in 'natural winter white' for white tie events.)
(** though it goes without saying that they are completely inappropriate for morning funerals, where nothing but a trimmed, dark grey mourning mouse is acceptable, placed at nine degrees off the vertical on the left lapel and attached by a plain silver pin.)
-
Well thanks for the advice then. I'm going shopping in just a bit and I'll see what I find. If I can find some short and long haired fabric I'll get some of both.
-
For my mics I have been raising 2 chincillas, 3 cats and 4 dogs. Thus I will have all sizes from lapel mics (chincillas for weddings) to long shotguns usable in winter sports broadcasts (Swiss white shepard).
-
Long haired lapel shrew?
I've a big grey one I made for 2 coincident AKD-TLs I call the 'possum that wraps around the two mics and is attached to the hoops of the shock mounts at the top & bottom. Trapped, unmoving air space underneath is the aim. An existing foam windscreen makes an easy support but something more open is slightly better with less blockage and high khz attenuation. I got some small snap together plastic hair curlers from the dollar store last time I was building windscreens which I thought might make a good support basket for small mics but haven't done anything with them. Some photos of them here. (http://taperssection.com/index.php/topic,100537.msg1338804.html#msg1338804)
-
I got some fabric today and am working on cutting and sewing now. It's a dark gray with hair about 1" maybe. The back of it is a thin foam. I made ones for my D50, Rode VM, and Sony 908 this afternoon. Now I'm remaking them. The first time I used thick thread and scissors to cut the fabric so the seams were obvious. This time I cut the fabric from the back with a razor so it doesn't cut any of the hair. I also made sure the hair was facing forward and used only a couple strands of thread and small stitches so the seams are blended nicely.
I'm having trouble with the lapels. I have to cut the pieces so small to fit snugly that when I sew it inside out for an invisible seam I can't turn it back out because it's so tiny. I'm going to have to work on those a bit more than the others. I'll get it though.
I tested with a fan here and they seem to work very well. With the fan on high and a mic directly in front of it with no protection the audio would be unusable. With the fur covers on I can hold the mics up to the fan and hear the motor running clearly. There is still some obvious breeze but it is not overwhelming and not distorted.
I'll post some pics and samples when I get a chance.
-
So here's what I came up with. Pictures are attached.
http://www.mbbchurch.com/mbbcmedia/01-D50noscreen.mp3
http://www.mbbchurch.com/mbbcmedia/02-D50withscreen.mp3
http://www.mbbchurch.com/mbbcmedia/03-908noscreen.mp3
http://www.mbbchurch.com/mbbcmedia/04-908withscreen.mp3
The covers seem to work very well, especially on the D50. I put the D50 on a tripod about 4-5 inches in front of my box fan set on high and set the recorder to peak at about -3dB. It would be unusable in real life situations. I put the cover on without moving the recorder and it cut well over 30dB of noise. You'll barely hear anything on the second D50 sample because it was only peaking at about -33dB.
I also tested my MS-908c mic sitting on top of the D50 in the same spot and set it to peak at about the same with no cover. Again, it would be unusable. With the cover on wind was cut by well over 20dB.
In all I spent $20 on fabric. I bought 1 1/2 yards of this kind and 1/2 yard of another black colored. I was able to make a cover for the D50, 908, Rode VM, and 2 MM lapels and used about 1/2 a yard or less. That includes remaking all of them after I wasn't pleased with the first try. A single Windjammer cover for a lapel was about $30. Overall I'm a happy camper. Wind will be no concern when I'm filming on the beach in a couple weeks.
-
^^^
!
Digin' the brunette brown. +T
-
tapers troll doll
(http://taperssection.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=110999.0;attach=86838;image)
maybe bert and ernie?
No, Don King!