What Is A Lavalier Microphone? Ways Lavs Make Creativity
What's A Lavalier Mic? How Would One Of Them Make My Life Easier?
A lavalier mic is not only super useful, but it is also a good way to take your content to the next level.
After all, no one wants to watch the video as well as listen to a stream with audio that sounds too far away, right?
With the correct lavalier mic, you can easily pump out content with audio on par with the pros. And it is very simpler than you might think.
Below, you will find the answers to any of your lavalier related questions.
Let’s jump in.
What Is A Lavalier Mic?
A lavalier microphone is a sensible microphone that you can clip to your clothing… much like you see on television conversations.
Lavaliers are excellent because they provide you with an easy and simple way to record or amplify your voice is unique and challenging environments. Some sites display the performance and clarity of your mic, so we are presented with our site Mic Test Online by Device Checker which tests your mic and shows your mic performance.
The movie, Producers, Dancers, Musicians, Interviewers, and also basketball players are all using lavalier mics nowadays. Here’s why.
Seven Ways A Lavalier Makes Everything Easier
Capture Foley Sounds
First of all, lavaliers are best for capturing foley sounds. Foley is the term used to represent sound effects related to the rustling of paper, closing doors, or the sound of someone sipping their tea.
And without difficulty, one of the best ways to capture foley sound while you record is by a lavalier mic.
You see, it is really easy to keep a lavalier secured and out of your shot, aka the point of reference, while still getting as close to the source of the sound, as possible.
Lavaliers are an affordable and more comfortable way to take your talking head videos to the next level.
This is mostly because they are easy, and small to keep out of the shot.
So, with a lavalier mic, you can place the mic as near to your source as you need it to be.
You can use this to your benefit to capture higher quality audio.
And you can do all of this while keeping all of your equipment out of the shot entirely as lavaliers mic are so simple to hidden.
Where Is The Most reliable Place To Put A Lavalier Microphone On Someone Appearing In A Video?
The best place for a lavalier microphone, in most cases, is snipped as close as possible to your subject’s chest.
If it’s not possible to locate it there, some producers get creative and clip it to a necklace, or even into the source’s hair in some cases!
If you’re using a unidirectional lavalier (cardioid), you need to make sure that the right side of the mic faces your topic’s mouth. With an omnidirectional Microphone, this isn’t as much of a concern.
Apply With A DSLR
If your preferred camera is a DSLR, a lavalier is a great addition to your gear.
A lavalier mic will give you a whole host of additional mic placement options when coupled with your shotgun mics.
Clipping a wireless lavalier to your topic will give them the ability to roam around within the shot, without getting further away and closer to the mic.
These can help to keep the tone consistent when there is a lot of movement.
In case, check out content originator extraordinaire Gary Vaynerchuk, aka GaryVee. He uses a DSLR camera and a lavalier mic to good effect in many of his hard-hitting content pieces.
And judging by his fame, he’s doing something right!
The just downside to using a lavalier with a DSLR is that, if your case’s head tends to move around a lot, you can sometimes come up with less consistent audio than if you were to work a shotgun mic.
As a filmmaker, it is very important to figure out what kind of movement can be expected in the shot before you select your mics.
Winning Audio In Tough Environments
Lavaliers are some of the most desirable mics out there for recording in hard environments.
Again, thanks to their compact size, you can place a lavalier discreetly anywhere you want to pick up sound, including a stadium complete with roaring fans.
He places Lavaliers right on the baskets, and they pick up the sound of the basketball swishing for the net with ease — and no one even knows they are there.
Others Are Portable
For all you creatives out there weary of lugging around tons of gear, you should know it’s possible to level up your audio externally adding much weight to your pack.
Lavalier mics are super small as well as incredibly easy to carry from one gig to the next.
So, even if you are just inputting a lavalier mic to your kit, and it is not exchanging anything, you still aren’t adding that much weight to your kit overall.
Most lavaliers, even in their carrying cases, don’t weigh more than two pounds at most.
Of course, lavaliers are not constantly the best bet. Sometimes, shotgun mics are still the first piece of audio gear you need in your bag. But it never hurts to have additional choices.
And for some cases, lavalier mics can make the variety.
Lavalier Mics Take up Nearly No Space
In addition to being lightweight, lavalier microphones are also incredibly small. That means that even if you add any lavaliers to your kit, you still won’t need that much additional space.
You probably won’t even need an added bag.
Lavaliers are small microphones and the largest components of a lavalier system are usually the transmitter and receiver; which are but pretty tiny.
When it comes to microphones, it doesn’t get any more compressed than that. Simple stash the case in your current setup, and go.
Get Closer To Your Subjects
In some cases, to capture flawless audio, you necessitate placing the mic as close as possible to the subject.
A lavalier mic is a good way to keep the sound capture close-up.
In some cases, getting close to your topic is important. Shotgun mics and boom mics can also be used for this but in any case, they don’t permit you to get close enough to make a difference.
For example, trying to achieve quality audio for your film on a DSLR in a large lecture hall isn’t going to give you much of an opportunity to mic with a boom. And you will be hard-pressed to get close sufficient to capture audio with a shotgun mic.
In such cases, standing mics on stands in front of the lecturer may not be the best route unless, as they will get in the way and keep him or her from being able to pace the stage.
In such specific cases, a lavalier can be a working, utilitarian option.
Lavalier Mics Is Unidirectional?
Some lavalier mics are unidirectional, which means they pick up sound better from one side to the other side. However, there are also lavalier mics on the market that are omnidirectional, which means they pick up sound from all directions.
For the most part, unidirectional mic, aka cardioid lavalier microphones, are ideal for things like live interviews, live lectures, and presentations because they are pretty good at blocking out background noise.
But, they do have their limitations. They tend to be the several ideals for situations where the case doesn’t have to move around much.
Also, while unidirectional microphones do block out background sound, they are highly susceptible to things the same as handling and wind sound like rustling clothing. So, if you or your topic are on-the-move, you will want an omnidirectional lavalier.
You need to clip a unidirectional lavalier mic to something pretty stable.
But that’s not a problem with an omnidirectional model. You can clip it to anything — including necklaces, hats, and even in your hair.
A Lavalier Could Make Your Life Easier Than Ever
And there you have it.
As a lightweight, tiny, discreet, and yet powerful mic that will make your life simpler in many ways, a lavalier can be a great addition to your film or noise kit.
In some cases, they are truly the right way to go for quality audio capture.
Summary
PowerDeWise has created a very useful lavs mic, with a broad range of compatibility and ease of use. This is a wonderful choice for beginners, as it allows a lot of experimentation in some different scenarios.
This lavalier microphone is comparatively inexpensive, so you can pick one of these up at no great cost. Since it records sounds so well, it’s very useful to use for single-podcasting or recording a YouTube video.
The mic is let down by its incapacity to allow real-time playback. It’s also impossible to use this mic to have discussions since it cuts off your speakers – preventing you from hearing anything on a different end.
Another disadvantage is that you’ll need an approved adapter. There is a clarification to this since PowerDeWise also produces alternative versions with particular connectors.
Overall though, this is a great small starter lavalier microphone with loads of functionality.