Worst On Cam Mic Rumbling in History!

ShamrockFilms

ShamrockFilms

Well-known member
Man I am getting REALLY tired of the rumbling noise. "Use a shock mount". That is doing nothing for me. "Tell your boom op to keep still". I have a baby ball gag, windjammer, and Gizto Pole and the rumbling noise is out of control. Other than hiring an experience boom op, what is a sure fire what to drastically reduce handling noise on a boom pole? What shock mount, what pole, what everything? Its almost like even if the boom op is completely still and just a fraction of a movement its "rumble rumble rumble". I have 20 takes of unusable footage from last night, its killing my productivity. I put the mic on camera with the same shockmount w/a shoe mount and I was getting the same noise, just not as bad. So could it be the shock mount? Thanks.
 
Which microphone are you using if it has base rolloff or however it is called switch that and you wont hear it.
 
When are you hearing the rumble? Is it when you're filming outdoors? If so, that's wind - a BBG on a shotgun length mic isn't going to cut it. I recommend a full blimp, like the k-tek k-zepp. If you're indoors, other problems may include hands on the boom pole moving (I give all my boom ops gloves with the little rubber dots on them to help with this). It could also be cable handling noise if there is a problem in your mic.

Phil
 
ptalsky said:
When are you hearing the rumble? Is it when you're filming outdoors? If so, that's wind - a BBG on a shotgun length mic isn't going to cut it. I recommend a full blimp, like the k-tek k-zepp. If you're indoors, other problems may include hands on the boom pole moving (I give all my boom ops gloves with the little rubber dots on them to help with this). It could also be cable handling noise if there is a problem in your mic.

Phil
Click to expand...

It's def not wind noise, its this odd rumbling noise. "problem inside the mic", that sounds like a possibility. He was wearing gloves. I had a close eye on him, he was barely moving at all, hands were not moving. I think you called it with with the problem being inside the mic. When i bought it used from coffeysound, the wires inside were detached, I had to have them soldered back together..
 
There you go - try a different mic and see if you can recreate the problem.
Maybe go down to your local gear house and see if you can just pop a mic on your shockmount - record a bit with your mic, and a bit with one of theirs...

That should show you pretty quickly if its your mic or your operator.
Unfortunately its sounding like its the mic.
 
What kind of gloves was he wearing? I used a boomer once who insisted on wearing wooly gloves and whenever he gripped the boom there was this rumbling noise. asked him not to use them and it was better. bare hands, or gloves with the rubber dots would be better than most other gloves.
 
Possibly a connector loose or the mic and the +48 adapter bumping into the shockmount. From your pic it looks like the mic is touching the aluminum part of the PSC mount! Take the +48 adapter off, put the mic in the shockmount, and connect the +48 closer to the other end of the cable!!! Possibly handling noise going right up that really large mic cable. Try smaller cable, maybe with an extra connector to de-couple cable noise.
 
I can totally relate to you. I did a short one time, and it was a nightmare because of rumbling. We didnt hear it during production, and i couldnt figure out where it was coming from cause i could see the boom operator on some of the behind the scenes footage and he was PERFECTLY still!! I never did figure out what the problem was. It was so frustrating cause i had takes i wanted to use and couldnt..Luckily enough dialogue was usable.. but i had to settle for my second and third choice cuts!!
 
Hey Dude, get that mic checked out, and also make sure you are using a mixer with at least three bass roll-off options BETWEEN the boom and the cam. In your pic it looks like you might be running the boom audio directly into the camera. That's asking for trouble if you are REALLY concerned about pristine audio. Get a good field mixer like a Sound Devices 302 or 442, or a PSC Alphamix, and hire someone to run it for you, same person could run boom in many cases.

-Vic :nads:
 
A. the barrel adapter should not be on the shockmount. Mount on camera end.

B. That shockmount looks iffy at best. Try a Ktek. Rubberband mounts are sooo 20th century. :) The day I got my first rubber mount (Lightwave) I never looked back. I still have some old rubberband mounts I can't even give away; total junk (bands get worn out from use, become ineffective, and need to be replaced).

C. Can't tell from the pic but you also want to anchor your cable. A hair bobble tied at the top of the pole is a very popular choice.

D. What ethnicity are you? ;)

Cheers
 
wabbit said:
A. the barrel adapter should not be on the shockmount. Mount on camera end.

B. That shockmount looks iffy at best. Try a Ktek. Rubberband mounts are sooo 20th century. :) The day I got my first rubber mount (Lightwave) I never looked back. I still have some old rubberband mounts I can't even give away; total junk (bands get worn out from use, become ineffective, and need to be replaced).

C. Can't tell from the pic but you also want to anchor your cable. A hair bobble tied at the top of the pole is a very popular choice.

D. What ethnicity are you? ;)

Cheers
Click to expand...



English I would suspect?


;-)
 
As suggested, secure the XLR cable to the pole. Get enough cable to reach the mic in it's most extreme position and then wrap a good tight band of gaffer's tape around the cable and pole, unifying them.

As also mentioned already, the type of mic that you show in the picture isn't one that can be used with a BBG. So if you aren't using it with a BBG and that foam I see is the only windscreen... then you should try a Softie or K-Tek's softie-type solution instead.

Third... if you post a clip of the sound I guarantee I'm not the only one who can tell you exactly what you're hearing and how to fix it.
 
Guys, you'll never believe this, or maybe you will. I had a high-end XRL from B and H, but its 10 feet, so I didn't use it for on camera, instead I used an old XRL generic brand. I switched it back to the highend XRL, the hissing is gone, the audio is crystal clear too. I never knew the quality of the XRL cable was so important. Im completely blown away by the difference. Also, I have a 48PH to 12T converter for the mic, it was wiggling a little, I taped it up tight. Problem is solved, but again I am amazed the the difference in using a good XRL over a generic brand.
 
ShamrockFilms said:
...but again I am amazed the the difference in using a good XRL over a generic brand.
Click to expand...
When mic cables become worn or damaged, they may start producing a rumbling sound whenever they're bent or moved. This type of cable noise is caused by the cable itself, rather than mechanical vibration transmitting into the mic. Check your cables regularly for this problem, and always coil them properly (ie. never tie knots in them).

Canare Starquad cable, Neutrik XLR connectors, and a couple of minutes of soldering will result in excellent cables at a reasonable price.
 
Shamrock,

I would mount that +48 adapter closer to the camera to take some of the weight off of the boom mic. A short jumper cable taped to the pole maybe. You wouldn't want to plug it right into the camera either. A Rycote Softie would reduce more wind noise than just that foam. I've used those PSC shockmounts with success but the rubber bands get stretched and then break at the wrong time.... keep extras on hand. You do need some kind of low frequency roll off. Consider using a power supply like this. Has T-power as well as LF roll off.

http://www.professionalsound.com/Catalog/unips.htm


BTW, what's you setup on the camera? Looks like a large LCD and body pod mount.
 
BRH said:
Take the +48 adapter off, put the mic in the shockmount, and connect the +48 closer to the other end of the cable!!!
Click to expand...

I did that, huge difference. No problems with the mic, just it was heavy with the T power amp attached with the mic and causing it to shake a lot more. The shock mount was also the problem, i attached the mic to a non-shockmount, just a basic attachment with no bands and it eliminated almost all of the noise.
 
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