VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

[Bruce]

I'm not sure why after all the on-camera stuff I've done I don't have a sharper answer for this. I've got a client I'm doing VO for and he recorded his on-camera talent in a fairly hard surfaced studio. He used some sound pads but still you can hear the concrete floors or whatever coming back through the mic (he used a boom). I'm guessing the only thing he can do now is play with the lower-end EQ and see if he can lessen the effect a bit.

As to prevention of this problem in the future, any of you have good advice on cutting down on room bounce without padding the whole joint? Does wearing a lav mic under clothing help? Are there particular mic choices that are better than others?

Many thanks!
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VO-BB Member #31 Enlisted June, 2005

I'm not a Zoo, but over the years I've played one on radio/TV. .

[Drew]

A good condenser lav (or clip-on) will certainly cut down on room bounce. But I would not suggest under the clothing as that will muffle the audio.

Some studio lav's aren't much larger than a small hat pin and can be placed on a talent quite inconspicuously.

Also..even when using a lav in a bare studio, it helps to place a piece of carpeting on the floor where the talent will be performing. That will help absorb some of the bounce as well.
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[David Swinehart]

Bruce,
I'm definitely no expert on room acoustics, but some simple hanging diffusers - like the ones I outlined here: http://www.vo-bb.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=8307 or similar - combined with a rug, might do the trick to kill some of the early reflections.

I also recently made a makeshift "gobo" using one of those inexpensive rolling hangers from Target (the ones you might use to hang laundry) with a packing blanket draped over it and clipped to the top.
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David Swinehart
an actual Dave
Kinetic Sound Labs

[Lance Blair]

To minimize room acoustics, have the boom six inches in front of the head, as low as the frame of the shot will allow - and then pointed straight down.

Hanging blankets, etc. definitely helps, and good lav placement helps too...but lavs aren't great - even the best lav has a sound that can't touch a mediocre boom.
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and now, http://lanceblairvo.com the blog is there now too!

[Joe C]

Well, if they're shooting on camera again and you have a room/area with a reasonably high ceiling, actually try booming from below.

I shot this in the city from under the talent with nothing but a "deadcat" to muffle the wind and I think it worked fantastic to kill ambient bounce from concrete and buildings (not ideal, run and gun sort of thing):

http://www.vimeo.com/3591475


additionally:

http://dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?t=49369

[Lance Blair]

Booming from below works great, but you do lose a bit of the low-end that way (much of which should get rolled off in post anyway). Framing the shot can be tough with an underslinged boom, but if you can get it to work with your shots, go for it.
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Skype: globalvoiceover
and now, http://lanceblairvo.com the blog is there now too!

[Bruce]

Many thanks, all!

B
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VO-BB Member #31 Enlisted June, 2005

I'm not a Zoo, but over the years I've played one on radio/TV. .

[SomeAudioGuy]

Here's what revision3 went through in treating their production studio.
Prolly over kill if you aren't building a full time production house, but some good lessons in reinforcement.

http://someaudioguy.blogspot.com/2008/04/post-on-microphones-sound-cards-and.html

(Sry for blog spam, I can't find this actual vid on the Revision3 site anymore.)
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