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[Al Rettich]

Not sure if you saw this, but the moderator was wearing a dual lapel, but it was pointed towards the floor.  What does that gain you?

[Tim McCulloch]

Not sure if you saw this, but the moderator was wearing a dual lapel, but it was pointed towards the floor.  What does that gain you?

Fewer plosives.

[Al Rettich]

so basically nothing more than a "p" stopper?? Weird. 

[Mac Kerr]

so basically nothing more than a "p" stopper?? Weird.

If it's pointed down it's an omni lav, which is fairly resistant to plosives by nature, but I guess any little thing that helps. Or it was easier or less obtrusive that way.

Mac

[Scott Helmke]

I'm not watching - are both lavs on a dual clip?  It's possible to invert polarity (aka "flip the phase") on the pointing-down mic and mix it in with the pointing-up mic to produce a tighter polar pattern.  From cardioid (up mic by itself) through hypercardioid and all the way to figure-8 depending on how much down-mic gets mixed in.

[Dave Pluke]

Somebody has been coughing off-camera.  If it's a moderator, perhaps that's why?

Dave

[Kevin Maxwell]

They do the omni lav pointing down on some British TV shows I have seen and I think it is a great idea. I would like to see a Countryman E6 made with the Omni element pointed back away from the mouth. It should pick up the same without the breath and wind noise when they walk fast.

[Tim McCulloch]

If it's pointed down it's an omni lav, which is fairly resistant to plosives by nature, but I guess any little thing that helps. Or it was easier or less obtrusive that way.

Mac

They're doing it on Jeopardy! too.

I'll take auto mixers for $1600, Alex.

[Keith Broughton]

so basically nothing more than a "p" stopper?? Weird.

If you watch programming from the BBC, this is a common practice and as noted, it's an omni mic.
This way, you don't need a windscreen to help with plosives and the mic looks cleaner for the camera shot.
I tried it...once...and the presenter berated me for having the mic "upside down" and changed it.
Never tried it again.

[Steve M Smith]

If you watch programming from the BBC, this is a common practice and as noted, it's an omni mic

I have noticed this on BBC programmes for the last 30+ years and always wondered why.  Now I know!




Steve.

[Collin Ronsonette]

Huh interesting. Thats something that I would want to try out for sure. It would be interesting to see the actual difference between having the omni mic facing down or facing up.

[Kevin Maxwell]

Huh interesting. Thats something that I would want to try out for sure. It would be interesting to see the actual difference between having the omni mic facing down or facing up.

I would think that the best way to try that would be to do it when you can double mic someone. Use a double clip and put one facing up and one facing down and listen to see if there is any difference. I am going to have to try that sometime myself. 

[Chris Johnson [UK]]

Huh. Interesting that its a geographical thing. I'm from the UK, and would always mount an omni lav upside down (ingrained BBC influence perhaps?).

There is no good reason not to. Windshields look crap on camera, a true omni will sound identical upside down, except the inversion protects the element better from air noise, and therefore particularly helps with plosives.

Double lav-ing is also common, not just to backup the mic element, but also to back up the RF path. 2 mics, 2 beltpacks...

[Alec Spence]

Huh. Interesting that its a geographical thing. I'm from the UK, and would always mount an omni lav upside down (ingrained BBC influence perhaps?).

There is no good reason not to. Windshields look crap on camera, a true omni will sound identical upside down, except the inversion protects the element better from air noise, and therefore particularly helps with plosives.

Double lav-ing is also common, not just to backup the mic element, but also to back up the RF path. 2 mics, 2 beltpacks...

+1 to all that, from another Brit - stunned that it doesn't appear to happen elsewhere!

[David Sturzenbecher]

+1 to all that, from another Brit - stunned that it doesn't appear to happen elsewhere!

I noticed the upside down omni lav trick during the last few months of the Daily Show with John Stewart.   Could have been happening earlier in the show, and it could be happening now with Trevor Noah...but i haven't actively seen it, nor have a looked.

[brian maddox]

I like the way the cable dresses better when omni lavs are used 'upside down'.  The cable is making a circle and already headed down as it goes to the back of whatever clothing you've clipped too.  With the mic in the 'standard orientation' it's headed up and so you have to turn it around behind the garment to head where you [probably] want to go.

Occasionally i do want the cable traveling up because i'm going up past the neck to the back, but usually down is the preferred direction.

The newer Shure mic clips with the clever multi slot cable dressing built in to the clip makes this less of an issue either way, but i still like to do it this way when i can.

[TomBoisseau]

I have actually encountered a few omni lavs that sound better (in my opinion) upside down!  I do quite a bit of location sound for video, and will frequently turn a lav upside down (usually when concealed under clothing) for easier "rigging" and to reduce plosives.  Personally however, when just clipping them exposed to clothing, I prefer them right side up, mainly because I feel upside down just draws attention to itself (as it clearly has done so here) and is a distraction to the audience.

Tom

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