Well, following a lead I picked up at this year's VideoForum (Feb 2006) I actually got around to sorting out my own microphone boom pole. This has been somethign at theback of my mind for a long time now. An article on a web site was mentioned in a conversation I was having with one of the exhibitors so I duly went to check out the DVUser.co.uk DIY Boom Pole article and decided it was about time I did this also. The chance of building a £200 microphone boom for a fraction of the cost? Who could refuse?
Below is what I came up with. But first I want to emphasise that I do not take credit for the design of my microphone boom pole in any way. The thought process derives enirely from the article on DVUser.co.uk. So, thanks Nigel!
First off I went to the most local fishing tackle store and bought what seems like the likeliest candidate extending pole
This pole cost me £11 UKP (give or take a few pennies). I was well pleased.
All I really had to do now was find a little widget to connect the Rycote Mylti-Mount I have, which has a 3/8th inch female thread to the fishing pole which just happens to have a different standard 3/8 in female thread. The article talks about re-tapping the thread on the fish pole. Well, the first two local DIY stores I visited had no such re-tapping tool available so I decided this was not the easiest approach and so put my thoughts in another direction.
Well, I stopped off at a little engineering factory I knew of, on my way home, and asked them about manufacturiing some sort of double sided bolt with a different thread on each end. It took a few minutes to explain what I wanted and they only really understood what I was after when I went back out to my car and returned with the fish pole and the microphone holder that came with my microphone (I had this in the car because it is much more pocket sized than the rycote multi-Mount) and showed them that I just needed a widget to connect the two together.
Well,
needless to say they were quite capable of doing this "...but it will cost
you!" they said. Well, this is where my face dropped. A one-off bespoke
piece of kit with special machine setup required. What was it going to cost?
But the guy continued.... "I'll charge you a tenner! Leave the bits here
and come back tomorrow!". Needless to say, I walked out smiling. I was
going to get a completed boom pole for only £21 UKP in total :)
So today, I went back, tenner in hand, and picked up my completed boom pole. Here's a picture of the widget they made. Just as I had in mind, a double ended brass bolt with a differetn thread on each side. Just the job!!
The thing to do now was test it again the audio kit I have.
Well, I guess I have to admit that it's not perfect but it works just fine. By this I mean that as a single one-off produced double thread , it seems the production of it isn't quite perfect. The thread for the fish pole is just great. It's the thread for the microphone end that is less than perfect. It fits the Sennheiser microphone holder just great (and remember, that is the part they worked to). It fits the Rycote multi mount (on the left) just fine (but not quite as perfect as it does the mic holder). But the multi-mount also comes with a pistol grip and it is this that the gizmo fits only adequately.
So basically, the widget is fine but it could have been manufactureed to a slightly higher quality. But then again, they probably made the thing in five minutes (if it took longer then I would have been charged £50 an hour, or more!) when they had an odd moment so this really isn't a negative point.
And here it is, in all it's glory. This is me, The Sound Man, with my sound gear. Sennheiser ME66/K6 microphone, Rycote Softie protecting it from wind noise, Rycote Multi Mount holding the microphone and connecting it to the boom pole. The XLR lead coming off the mic is a little long but I currently only own two XLR leads. This 6m lead and another 12in lead, handy for when the mic is camera mounted. The lead runs along the boom pole and connects to my Marantz PMD660 for recording to CompactFlash.
Well, I guess the burning question is "if I did it again what would I do differently?" and to be honest, to get a workable product, I wouldn't do anything differently. However, I think I could have got a slightly better product if I had done the following...
The bottom line though, is that from my point of view I have a boom pole that would have cost me at least £100 UKP if I bought it from an audio/visual retailer and I have built a perfectly usable version for only £21 and about an hour of my time. So all in all, I consider this a very good job.
Alan D. Mills - 10th February 2006