Recording a Barber....

[eco_bach]

Hi
First of all, I am a TOTAL audio novice, so please be kind with your criticism!
A one man shoot I've just completed was done mostly in a barbershop.
Prior to the shoot, I did a few tests, to see if using just a single Zoom H1 on camera would cut it(pun intended). It didn't of course.

A few hours online listening to audio samples I came to the conclusion that a lavalier might help.
The vocals in almost all the samples using the on camera video mics(Rode, Sennheiser) sounded very muddy to me.
A 2nd test with just a lav and I got a flat recording with no room ambience, and just faint sound of the scissors-clippers, but WOW, amazing vocals!

So, I reasoned all I need to do is record with 2 H1's, 1 on the talent with a lav directly feeding it, and a 2nd on camera, using its built in mics to record ambience.
What I didn't anticipate is the strong echo I get from the vocals recorded on both devices when I try to mix in post. Currently jumping thru hoops trying to suppress the vocals in the on camera H1 BEFORE I mix with the lav...

So my question is, if flying solo, what are(were) the BEST solutions in this situation
1-Budget is no option (but still shooting solo)
2-Budget IS an option(is anything possible with an additional maximum of $500 spent in gear?)
Thanks for any feedback...I am learning!

 

[gpforet]

What is the final product?

The insistance of flying solo is your greatest obstacle and cannot be remedied by gear alone but will also require lots of practice. You could put lavs on the talent, a stationary boom over the chair with a hypercardioid to capture more of the scissor sounds but who's going to mix this in real-time while you're busy with the camera? One option is to multi-track record these sources. Then you can mix it in post.

Another alternative is to record wild sounds of the scissors doing various cuts, then in post mix that with the dialog captured with the lavs.

All of this assumes you're willing to invest the funds for purchasing lavs, hyper, boom, shock-mount, stand, multi-track recorder, and then commit time to practicing with lav and boom placement, gain structure, and proper recording levels.

Hi
First of all, I am a TOTAL audio novice, so please be kind with your criticism!
A one man shoot I've just completed was done mostly in a barbershop.
Prior to the shoot, I did a few tests, to see if using just a single Zoom H1 on camera would cut it(pun intended). It didn't of course.

A few hours online listening to audio samples I came to the conclusion that a lavalier might help.
The vocals in almost all the samples using the on camera video mics(Rode, Sennheiser) sounded very muddy to me.
A 2nd test with just a lav and I got a flat recording with no room ambience, and just faint sound of the scissors-clippers, but WOW, amazing vocals!

So, I reasoned all I need to do is record with 2 H1's, 1 on the talent with a lav directly feeding it, and a 2nd on camera, using its built in mics to record ambience.
What I didn't anticipate is the strong echo I get from the vocals recorded on both devices when I try to mix in post. Currently jumping thru hoops trying to suppress the vocals in the on camera H1 BEFORE I mix with the lav...

So my question is, if flying solo, what are(were) the BEST solutions in this situation
1-Budget is no option (but still shooting solo)
2-Budget IS an option(is anything possible with an additional maximum of $500 spent in gear?)
Thanks for any feedback...I am learning!

 

[Steve House]

,,,So, I reasoned all I need to do is record with 2 H1's, 1 on the talent with a lav directly feeding it, and a 2nd on camera, using its built in mics to record ambience.
What I didn't anticipate is the strong echo I get from the vocals recorded on both devices when I try to mix in post. Currently jumping thru hoops trying to suppress the vocals in the on camera H1 BEFORE I mix with the lav...

,,,!

There's no reason your room ambience has to be recorded at the same time the character is speaking. Do one take for the dialog using the lav on the talent. Then make a second audio-only recording of the room ambience without anyone speaking or the scissors going. Then marry the two track together in post.

 

[AdrianF]

Another alternative is to record wild sounds of the scissors doing various cuts, then in post mix that with the dialog captured with the lavs.

There's no reason your room ambience has to be recorded at the same time the character is speaking. Do one take for the dialog using the lav on the talent. Then make a second audio-only recording of the room ambience without anyone speaking or the scissors going. Then marry the two track together in post.

This combination worked for me on a documentary shoot a few years back. The edit took a little bit of massaging, from memory, but nothing too drastic. If you're recording a single shot of dialogue, then it might not work ( unless you resort to ADR ).