How To Make Any Microphone Invisible (And Improve Your Audio!)

how rich does this voiceover sound I'll tell you Trey re but why does it sound so fat well it's this new lav mic I've got on and hang on where's it gone I I don't appear to be wearing one then where's the microphone oh hang on it's there and come on you didn't really think this is the sound of a lav mic did you the reason I felt compelled to make this video was down to the amount that you see visible microphones in the shot you know on YouTube videos all the time in fact I I don't want to see this just sort of dominating the frames let's let's get rid of it again and when did it become normal or even acceptable to have a big ugly Shaw sm7b just sort of dominating the frame cuz you know what I honestly think there are benefits to going with you know other methods like this and using some other microphone pH by the way I do respect these guys so much they are some of my absolute favorite YouTuber friends but there's a better way I believe let me show you I've timestamped everything in this video so you can just skip around to the bit you want and it would really make my day if you could just take a second to hit that subscribe button uh I'm on the long winding path to 100,000 subscribers so you know if you could that would really just make my day and it would mean a lot to me thank you so much in advance this video is not sponsored but it is made possible by my patreon backers the way that works is any funds from patreon I put back into the channel I buy gear I do reviews and then I give the gear to my backers via a giveaway if that's of interest it's a great way to support the channel plus you can win some cool stuff link below let's start by talking about the shaw sm7b you see them dominating so many videos by their very nature you kind of need to be very close to them so they end up kind of blocking the subject's mouth and you know that and part of their face and I don't know about you but I find that really distracting sm7b is also have a very particular sound that works on certain applications I personally love them on electric guitars and yes I know it was used on some of the vocals on Michael Jackson's Thriller but you know personally I find the sound can be a little bit sort of narrow sounding don't get me wrong it is a great mic but you know for me a little bit narrow then there's the question of value and the original Shaw sm7b is going for around £350 at the time of filming which is not bad but bear in mind they are notoriously low sensitivity which means they need a ton of gain and for your lips to be basically touching the mic as I mentioned this is why so many people add a cloud lifter to boost the signal and that basically adds an additional £ 150 a better option in my opinion is the newer s sm7 DB which has a built-in active circuit so you don't need a cloud lifter to boost the signal to a usable level it's around 450 so works out better value when you factor in the need for a cloudlifter with the original whilst both of those are really good options to have and good tools to have in your kind of mic tool kit I don't think they are necessarily the best value for money especially when you kind of look around and see what you can get in the kind of condenser mic world first up is a microphone that I've owned for a long time and that's the Audio Technica at 2020 at only £89 full retail price this is a mega bargain and I've seen it for around £50 used dear Lord so I should put my money where my mouth is shouldn't I right I agree well I've actually already switched over to the at2020 and this thing sounds pretty great and you know if you get it used it's just 12% the price of a Shore sm7 DB and that's just phenomenal value for money the one thing I'd say make sure you get some sort of shock mount for it um because it doesn't come with one but otherwise crazy let's switch back anyway to me the at 2020 sounds so much more fat on the low end and crisp on the high end compared to the sm7b and it's a absolute bargan however if we are sticking with a budget of £450 the same as the short for sm7 DB then without question my recommendation is the Audio Technica at4033a and this is One mic I've owned in the past and I wish I'd never sold because it sounds beautiful what's awesome is the price on audio technica's website the official RRP is £425 you know you wouldn't pay that you go to a retailer it's 360 even then it's a bargain however because the mic's been out for a little while you can get it used a good version for around £200 and this mic to me sounds as good as other mics that I've heard that have been you know couple of thousands so it's an absolute steal don't get me wrong I really don't want this to be an sm7b bashing video it's a mic that I've owned in the past loved it it's you know I think it's a really good mic so just you know please bear that in mind in the comments I just think that there are other options that are better um for this application and here a few first up we have the AKG c214 this is basically almost the same as the legendary AKG c414 one of my favorites without the bells and whistles such as switch or polar patterns the price is awesome too then there's the warm audio wa87 the idea with this is It's meant to sound like an older nyman u87 I'm not sure if it's 100% nail lit but it does sound good it's super versatile and well priced then there's the Slate ml1 this is meant to emulate the sound of a variety of classic mics using DSP it's a cool concept you can change the mic type after recording and the price is pretty great too which would you choose for this budget anyway now let me show you how I did this experienced video guys will know already but you know so once my shot is set up I roll the cameras for around a minute without the microphone but with me in the shots so that the plane of focus is where it should be then I can stop the camera camera bring the microphone in and hit record in editing it's just a case of some very basic masking where I place a little section of the clean shot over the top of my main shot duplicate it for as long as I need and then make it a compound clip I know what you're saying but hav won't someone notice you haven't yet so the only thing is that I have to bear in mind whilst filming is I can't obscure uh this I I can't put my head here for example otherwise you know you won't see it and it'll kind of reveal the illusion but this basically lets me get the mic as close as I like uh I'm probably getting a little bit of proximity effect which is nice for the lowend and I'm getting a really strong signal to kind of room tone ratio so um that's really good and that brings me on to my next point you might make the point of well I have to use an sm7b really close because my room isn't treated and I would say that with this setup it being this close as long as you're recording in a normal room and not an actual Echo chamber it's going to sound great because of that really strong um signal to room sound ratio that we've got going on anyway now let's take everything we've leared in this video and grind it down and make an espresso of tips to take away well wouldn't you agree it looks so much cleaner and more engaging not having a mic dominating the shot I would you also don't necessarily need to spend out for an sm7b when there are so many other amazing options for quite a bit less don't forget to film a short Clean Plate without the mic in the shot next position your mic nice and close for some rich proximity effect and some low room tone to Signal ratio be sure not to have the mic obscuring you in any way this includes hand movements if you move your head just you know be aware follow the steps for masking the microphone out of your shot definitely use some Feathering to blend your mask into your main shot that's it anyway that's it for now I just hope you found this interesting and helpful I want to hear from you do you agree are you going to give me some hate for for you know bashing the sm7b which I will say again I really like that mic so be kind uh all the comments you know definitely pop them down below and um I'm down there as much as I can be I love to hear from you and uh yeah I'll I'll get back to you I've now made hundreds of videos about videography and audio of which the algorithm has chosen this video for you to watch next and the one below is my most recent upload until next time let's help each other out and shoot better video see you [Music] [Music] guys

Channel: Harv Video/Audio Stuff

Views: 173,089

Keywords: harv, video audio stuff, james harvey, sony, canon, nikon, harv video audio stuff, videography, photography, a7s3, a7siii, a7s iii, shure sm7b, sm7b vs, vs, sm7db, condenser mic, at2020, c214, warm audio, wa 87, warm audio wa-87, slate ml-1, cloudlifter

Id: 5MkzOsXULeI

Length: 9min 20sec (560 seconds)

Published: Fri Feb 16 2024