Tip: Lav Mic Tricks



A lavalier (or lav) mic is great for attaching to your talent when a boom mic just won't do. They are easy to attach and conceal and guarantee a specific distance between the mic and the talent's mouth. Like anything, there are always things you can do to make the process better, and today's tip episode covers a few things that might help you out.

Radio Shack Tie-Clip Microphone (33-3013)
Audio-Technica ATR-3350 lav mic
Tie-clip mic foam windscreens (4)
1/8" stereo extension cable
1/8" stereo to mono adapter
Card of LR44 batteries

Comments

Tom Hicks said…
Hello Scott. I occasionally do close-up interviews (4-5 feet away) with my Canon Vixia HV30. It has an 1/8 inch stereo mike input which I have never used. Do you think it may be possible to use a "Y" stereo splitter into the mike input and use TWO lavs, one for each guest, for the interview? I know there is a setting in the camera where I can separate the incoming sound into left and right channels. I would think then that this would give me each interviewee voiced on separate tracks. If you think this may work I will buy two lavalieres, give it a try and let you know.
Scott Eggleston said…
I think you would need to isolate the audio into left/right channels BEFORE it enters the camera for this to work. Telling the camera to do it would just give you duplicate stereo tracks (I think).

I'd be interested in hearing your findings.