DIY Photography

Your one stop shop for everything photo-video

  • News
  • Inspiration
  • Reviews
  • Tutorials
  • DIY
  • Gear
Search

Submit A Story

Ten creative ways to hide a lav mic and how to attach them to stuff

May 21, 2019 by John Aldred Add Comment

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Flipboard
  • WhatsApp

Lav mics are one of the most commonly used and versatile microphones out there. But when you don’t want them seen in the final film, you can often be facing a pretty tough challenge to hide them, especially when you don’t want the microphone placement to negatively affect the quality of the audio.

In this video, Darious Britt of D4Darious shows us ten ways to hide a lav mic while keeping your audio clean, along with a bunch of tips for attaching them.

Lav mics are omnidirectional. This means they pick up sound coming from all directions. This means they need to be pretty close to the sound source that you want to record. They don’t focus in on a sound coming from a particular direction like shotgun microphones. But this proximity can cause problems. The two biggest ones are fabric rubbing against the microphone and handling noise, both of which can ruin an audio recording. And even if you manage to overcome those, you need to do it without losing quality.

There are a lot of different ways to hide lav mics creatively, depending on the type of shot you’re after. They may not all look pretty in person, but to the camera, the mic doesn’t even exist.

The biggest tip with just about all methods of hiding lavs is to lose the clip. Most lav mics come with some kind of clip. These are great for interviews where you might expect to see a lav mic. But when you’re trying to hide them they often just get in the way. Darious uses either gaffer tape because it doesn’t leave any residue, or he’ll switch to medical tape if the talent has a reaction to the gaffer tape adhesive.

Personally, I use 3M Nexcare Transport tape. It’s cheap, and usually comes in packs of multiple rolls, so it’s easy to keep a roll in several bags so you never forget it. But there are also plenty of other solutions out there for affixing lav mics to your talent, too. including Moleskin Pads, Rycote Undercovers and even Topstick toupée strips. Alcohol wipes can also be very valuable to wipe the talent’s skin to ensure good adhesion. You don’t want the microphone falling off in the middle of your best take.

So, if you’ve been struggling with hiding lav mics on set, this should give you a few ideas.

FIND THIS INTERESTING? SHARE IT WITH YOUR FRIENDS!

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Flipboard
  • WhatsApp

Related posts:

How and why to use a boom mic or a lav mic for great sound in your videos Hollyland announces Lark 15 Solo Kit wireless lav mic for budget shooters who only need one mic How to Approach A Talent To Place a Lav Mic On Their Shirt Like A Pro Wire your subject like a pro with these top lav mic tips

Filed Under: Tutorials Tagged With: audio, D4Darious, Darious Britt, Lavalier Mic, microphones

John Aldred: from diyphotography.net

About John Aldred

John Aldred is a photographer with over 20 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter - and occasional beta tester - of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.

« Here are some weird and funny photographer confessions, can you relate?
My advice for photographers who are losing their passion or lost it already »

Submit A Story

Get our FREE Lighting Book

DIYP lighting book cover

* download requires newsletter signup
DIYPhotography

Recent Comments

Free Resources

Advanced lighting book

Recent Posts

  • Here’s a bullet time video booth you can build yourself
  • Ricoh has discontinued the HD PENTAX-DA 21mm F3.2AL Limited silver lens
  • This “stellar flower” unravels the twilight’s evolution in 360 degrees
  • Strobes vs Continuous LEDs – Which is right for you?
  • Wave goodbye to Apple’s My Photo Stream next month

Udi Tirosh: from diyphotography.netUdi Tirosh is an entrepreneur, photography inventor, journalist, educator, and writer based in Israel. With over 25 years of experience in the photo-video industry, Udi has built and sold several photography-related brands. Udi has a double degree in mass media communications and computer science.

Alex Baker: from diyphotography.netAlex Baker is a portrait and lifestyle driven photographer based in Valencia, Spain. She works on a range of projects from commercial to fine art and has had work featured in publications such as The Daily Mail, Conde Nast Traveller and El Mundo, and has exhibited work across Europe

David Williams: from diyphotography.netDave Williams is an accomplished travel photographer, writer, and best-selling author from the UK. He is also a photography educator and published Aurora expert. Dave has traveled extensively in recent years, capturing stunning images from around the world in a modified van. His work has been featured in various publications and he has worked with notable brands such as Skoda, EE, Boeing, Huawei, Microsoft, BMW, Conde Nast, Electronic Arts, Discovery, BBC, The Guardian, ESPN, NBC, and many others.

John Aldred: from diyphotography.netJohn Aldred is a photographer with over 20 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter - and occasional beta tester - of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.

Dunja Djudjic: from diyphotography.netDunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.

Copyright © DIYPhotography 2006 - 2023 | About | Contact | Advertise | Write for DIYP | Full Disclosure | Privacy Policy