LAVALIER

Lavalier microphones (also called "lav" mics) are the tiny mics 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.

Lav mic 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 mic clipped on Jane Austin's Emma. And it's a challenge to put a lav inside an actor's clothes, because the sound might be muffled, and clothes rustling could be audible.

2) The other hassle of the lav is that one is needed for every person. That's fine for a talk show, 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?)

 

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.