Hat Trick

Good time last Friday. Thanks to Shahin for insisting on bringing me aboard Gabe Michael's webisode.

I finally tried out a hat rig. Dave was wearing a necktie, and I had originally placed the microphone inside the knot with the wire running inside his shirt. That sound was working, there was no cloth rustling, but his voice was slightly muffled from all the fabric in the tie. I repositioned the lav to inside his shirt, just to the right of the buttons over his sternum. This sound was clearer, but too bassy. It was like resting your head on someone's chest as they talk. Dave was wearing a cap that day. I looked at the brim and my eyes lit up. The brim is tilted downward when he stands, nobody would see a mike capsule sitting just an inch in front of his forehead, the mike would be out in the open more like an overhead boom. I asked Dave if I could try it and he was game.

Here's a close up. Smooth. The wire runs along the middle of his hair and then down inside his collar. It wasn't even visible from the back!
There was a wide shot outdoors of Dave playing guitar and singing. Obviously, my boom placed the mike as close as I could while staying out of frame, which turned out to be diagonally about six feet away. The guitar was loud, and its sound bled out to the concrete steps and the surrounding buildings. The audio mix of the boom getting that and the lav picking up voice louder than instrument sounded amazing. I love when you get two perspectives in a stereo pair. Sounds like the environment is really alive.