<p>You could also try a lip mic, like the <a href="http://www.canford.co.uk/Products/92-392_COLES-4104-MICROPHONE-Lip" rel="nofollow">Coles 4104</a>.  They're used in very noisy environments such as football matches by commentators, and work well.  Just holding any mic very close to the person speaking won't necessarily sound good, due to how the microphones response changes when close to a source - you can get a lot of bass tip-up and popping from some mics when placed like this.  These are known as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proximity_effect_(audio)" rel="nofollow">proximity effects</a>.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-09-28T15:18:55.030Z
2015-09-28T15:18:55.030Z
tomh
<p>The attachment you are looking for is called a lav mic, though sometimes it can be a hand-held shotgun mic, too.  Sound intensity decreases as the square of distance and echoes decay exponentially.  The trick to eliminating the echo is to get the mic sufficiently close to your sound source that the original source is 10dB to 20dB louder than the environmental echo.  If you see how close a news reporter holds a mic up to a subject when interviewing them in the moment (and sometimes in a hallway), do <em>that</em>.</p>

<p>There's nothing you can put on the microphone that will solve the echo problem.  The only way to solve it is with proper distance (which is a function of proper distance ratios).</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-09-28T14:00:01.907Z
2015-09-28T14:00:01.907Z
Michael Tiemann
<p>Sorry if this is the wrong site to ask this question, with it not being <em>strictly</em> about video.</p>

<p>Say I’m conducting an interview in a hallway or similar environment. There are a lot of flat surfaces, maybe an uncarpeted floor, this is going to produce a lot of echo and sound distortion. A purpose-made room or studio isn’t an option as the interviews are supposed to be “of the moment”. How would I go about eliminating echo?</p>

<p>I can’t go around the whole location putting up blankets to dampen the echo, so would I be looking at some sort of attachment on the camera microphone, i.e. a windsock (or similar attachment if a windsock isn’t appropriate)?</p>

<audio><audio-recording><audio-quality>
Remove echo when recording in say, a hallway
Martin Bean
# Remove echo when recording in say, a hallway

(Asked by: username_0 on 2015-09-28)

Sorry if this is the wrong site to ask this question, with it not being *strictly* about video.

Say I’m conducting an interview in a hallway or similar environment. There are a lot of flat surfaces, maybe an uncarpeted floor, this is going to produce a lot of echo and sound distortion. A purpose-made room or studio isn’t an option as the interviews are supposed to be “of the moment”. How would I go about eliminating echo?

I can’t go around the whole location putting up blankets to dampen the echo, so would I be looking at some sort of attachment on the camera microphone, i.e. a windsock (or similar attachment if a windsock isn’t appropriate)?

**Tags:** audio, audio-recording, audio-quality


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## 2 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2015-09-28. Score: 3 | Accepted answer

The attachment you are looking for is called a lav mic, though sometimes it can be a hand-held shotgun mic, too. Sound intensity decreases as the square of distance and echoes decay exponentially. The trick to eliminating the echo is to get the mic sufficiently close to your sound source that the original source is 10dB to 20dB louder than the environmental echo. If you see how close a news reporter holds a mic up to a subject when interviewing them in the moment (and sometimes in a hallway), do *that*.

There's nothing you can put on the microphone that will solve the echo problem. The only way to solve it is with proper distance (which is a function of proper distance ratios).


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### Answer by username_1 on 2015-09-28. Score: 1

You could also try a lip mic, like the [Coles 4104](http://www.canford.co.uk/Products/92-392_COLES-4104-MICROPHONE-Lip). They're used in very noisy environments such as football matches by commentators, and work well. Just holding any mic very close to the person speaking won't necessarily sound good, due to how the microphones response changes when close to a source - you can get a lot of bass tip-up and popping from some mics when placed like this. These are known as [proximity effects](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proximity_effect_(audio)).


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