Shotgun mic question

[SFBerglund]

Hello all - I have searched the forum first of course, but have not found my answer and was hoping someone might have some nuggets of wisdom to share. I am trying to record multiple people around a boadroom table with shotgun mics for super directionality (Azden SGM-X have the narrowest front lobe that I could find) - 1 mic per person.

However, my results require an even more narrow front lobe because I am getting too much side pickup.

Has anyone had experience with "taping up" the side of a shotgun mic to leave only the end exposed? Do you think this would work? Or would this give me other issues?

 

[saneproductions]

If you taped up the holes on the side, it would be even less directional. The holes help "tune" the mic to be directional. This is a bad idea for many reasons (creative, but incorrect).

If you are recording a round table discussion, most people would use boundry mics placed on the table. Audio Technica makes cheap ones for $100 that sound halfway decent.