Wear Your Microphone On Your Sleeve Or Your Lapel: Lapel Microphones
Looking for lapel microphones? If you need good lapel microphones for video production you should know a little something about them.
Lapel microphones are also called "lavaliere" mics and are the small microphones that can be worn on clothing. Lapel microphones can be clipped to a jacket, shirt or tie. In some cases lapel microphones can be worn under clothing but sometimes that muffles the sound or adds to unwanted sound problems. In theatrical productions lapel microphones can be taped to the side of a face or even woven into an actor's hair.
Lapel microphones are very small and are often used by people who are reporting the news on television. Sometimes the network will even insist that the news anchor wear more than one lapel microphone. Wearing two lapel microphones provides a backup just in case one of the lapel microphones doesn't work for some reason.
Most lapel microphones are non-directional and will pick up sounds from all directions. You can also use directional lapel microphones but they are usually more expensive, larger and very prone to mechanical noise.
You will find that the major advantage to using lapel microphones is that they are always the same distance from the person's mouth. Since lapel microphones are usually non-directional they can be hard to use outdoors because they are very susceptible to loud background noises like the wind, vehicles and machinery.
When looking for lapel microphones you may want to think about the ones that are multipurpose and offer high quality in both stereo and mono. The input on these lapel microphones is excellent when you are using them in lectures, parties where you want to make announcements or for interviews. With this type of microphone you can connect it to an ipod and you will have an instant recording device.
You may find lapel microphones that clip to any pocket or collar. The advantage to these lapel microphones is that your hands are free for other things.
You may be interested in a lapel microphone that is loaded with professional operating features like a half-rack receiver design that has retractable front panel antennas. Some lapel microphones also have a 5-LED display that will allow you to easily monitor incoming signal strength. Another great feature on some lapel microphones is a noiseless transmitter On/Off switch button.
Don't be confused by all the different lapel microphones on the market today. With a little research you will be able to find a lapel microphone that suits your needs.