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Sound
> Mikes > Types > Lavalier
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Lav mikes can be tiny--some are smaller
than an eraser head. When I was in
college we used lavs that were HUGE
by today's standards--about the size
of a Snickers bar.
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Mikes
come in all shapes and sizes--each designed for a specific
purpose. In this section I'll describe each and then
explain the relative advantages and disadvantages.
Lavalier:
(Commonly called a "lav") lavalier microphones
are the tiny mikes that can be clipped onto clothing.
Their big advantages are: 1) Because they are close
to the subject's mouth, the sound quality is quite good;
and 2) They are unobtrusive--people often forget they
even have them on.
This
can be pretty funny on occasion. Once, my crew was about
25 feet away from two subjects fitted with lav mikes.
The subjects whispered a very private discussion--thinking
no one could hear them. Indeed, we were all too far
away to pick up their whisper--but the sound guy heard
everything on his headphones. The subjects had forgotten
they had lavs on.
Lav
mikes do have a few drawbacks:
1) They are visible. Small, but still visible. This
is fine for talk shows or news interviews, but it wouldn't
work in a period drama. It would kind of ruin the effect
to have a lav mike clipped on Jane Austin's Emma.
And you can't put a lav inside an actor's clothes, because
the sound would be muffled and clothes rustling would
be audible.
2)
The other hassle of the lav is that you need one for
every person. That's fine for a talk show like Oprah,
but in other situations it is unworkable. Say you are
doing a live report about Spring Break at Daytona Beach,
Florida. Perhaps you want to get quick comments from
several dozen people as they pass by. What a pain to
have to clip a lav mike on every person! (and where
would you clip it?)
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