DIY ~35$ BoomPole

[drapeama]

Here's the last thing I've done recently:
Mr. LongArm painter pole: ~15.00$
Microphone gooseneck base: shows as 3.99$ but paid ~2.00$
Universal ShockMount: ~13.95$ shipped
XLR plugs & cable: ~6.00$
Bigger pictures here.
Paid roughly ~35$.
I'll try to post some test (video & external recorder sound) when I'll figure out how to plug my JuicedLink & ZoomH2 to the boom pole.
It's not perfect, but it performs well for the money invested.
It's hard to vote for it or not as I didn't post any video/sound from it, but I'll post one later this week.

[Almohada]

Cool!!! I made a DIY boom pole as well, but I didn't feed the XLR through the pole. I should work on that...it's so annoying with the cable wrapped around the pole, it gets in the way! I have a question, though: doesn't the cable scrunch up inside the pole when you contract it?

Here are some old pictures of mine. Since then I've cleaned it up and spray painted everything black. I made the shockmount from a pencil holder that I had. The pole was $12, metal & PVC couplers were a few bucks... perfect. The deadcat is a fluffy pencil case from the 99 cent store.

l-1.jpg l.jpg Picture 1.jpg

[KingDucky]

Its not that I wouldn't trust it, but I always like manufactured things. If I reeally needed one, and had no money I'd make somethin like this. It does look spiffy though, good work drapes!

[cgbier]

It's not creaking at all? The painters' poles I have seen in our DIY store are noisy as hell (if you excuse this paradox).

[drapeama]

...it's so annoying with the cable wrapped around the pole, it gets in the way! I have a question, though: doesn't the cable scrunch up inside the pole when you contract it?

1) Yes it is, hence why I spent the time to put the cable inside of it.
2) Yeah, It doesn't really contract unless you pull the cable at the other end. I've seen this which would be inside the pole and allow it to retract without problem. But I haven't been able to find one big enough. XLR is ~18-20 awg, everything I found around here is 26+awg.

It's not creaking at all? The painters' poles I have seen in our DIY store are noisy as hell (if you excuse this paradox).

Not much if not at all. There's a little sound from it and I suspect it's coming from the cable itself when you manipulate the pole (inside the pole OR somewhere between the mic and the pole). As I said, I'll post something demonstrating it later this week.

Again, for 35$, if you can accomodate the few negatives listed above, this can strongly improve your audio, if you don't have 200$+ to spend on a: manufactured shockmount, XLR cables and boom pole.

[charlie_tango]

As I said, I'll post something demonstrating it later this week.

And guess who's been the guinea-pig...again...

[Almohada]

Nooooooooo Charlieeeeeeee!

[drapeama]

Nooooooooo Charlieeeeeeee!

Yeah! Again!

[Almohada]

"Charlie, dat weawy huwt!!!"

[charlie_tango]

"Charlie, dat weawy huwt!!!"

Sorry but I don't get it...:S

[Almohada]

Sorry but I don't get it...:S

Unfortunately there is a stupid YouTube advertisement, but here is what I'm referring to...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mkYz2B-JfM

hahaha

[Almohada]

Hey guys, I've been looking for the tutorial of the shockmount I made and I finally found it:

http://www.instructables.com/id/Make...ur-Boom-Mic-f/

[charlie_tango]

Hey guys, I've been looking for the tutorial of the shockmount I made and I finally found it:

I don't know about yours, but the one Drape bought on ebay for less than 15$ is really nice.

[Almohada]

I don't know about yours, but the one Drape bought on ebay for less than 15$ is really nice.

Yes I always wanted to get that one from eBay!!

[FloydTheDuckFilms]

i was at home depot today and they have their lightbulb changing kits, with the telescoping polls that extend to 11 ft on sale. They're normally $20, but they had them for $4.40. Not sure if they're doing this everywhere, but its worth checking out

[FloydTheDuckFilms]

alright, so i bought the above light bulb changing pole, for $4.40 ( a steal)
I remember watching the frugal filmmakers boompole episode, and he used a lightbulb changer, but it was a different one. I was worried i wouldn't be able to do what he did, and drill the hole, etc. I opened it up, and i was right. I wouldn't be able to mod it the same way he did. BUT THEN!!!! it comes with a bunch of attachments, and one of them is used to remove broken bulbs. Its a small attachment with a hole that fits a standard tripod screw size (cant remember the exact size... 1/4" or something)
so, i can cut of one end of a bolt of the right size, and screw it in (and use super glue to reinforce). then i can attach This which I already have one. Then just attached my mic which has a shockmount and cold shoe mount thingy. Another option is it has an attachment with a bigger hole (1 inch or 3/4 inch or something like that) which i could then attach this shockmount to..http://cgi.ebay.com/Shotgun-Mic-Susp...#ht_3840wt_811

ill make a separate post/tutorial when i get the time

[Almohada]

Wow, that IS a steal! That's good, 11 feet! Looking forward to seeing your MIA (Mod in Action)

[drapeama]

It's basically (as she said), Charlie reading a "mental-defective-pre-teen-book".
The only thing that matters is that there was nothing else than the computer working in the room (no AC, fan or anything else). I try to get the room as quiet as possible and boom "not-too-close" to her. Each microphone play twice: first "untouched" and then with 3x EQs applied to get rid of white noise/handling sounds while retaining as best as possible the voice. Same EQs were applied to every microphone.

- Audio was encoded as AAC 512kbps from the 96/24 .wav from the Zoom H2. Audio was boosted by a Juicedlink CX211. First sequence was done using the Mic-In, second using the Line-In.

- I have the on-board sound separately, recorded by the HV40 using an ATR-55 microphone (modified with an XLR cable). The link is a megaupload link, you'll get the "onboard.mp4" audio file, encoded as AAC 128kbps.


Password is: boompole

[Almohada]

Very thorough test, drape!!!!! I like the Azden SGM-1x. The others seem much weaker. I wish you had an HTDZ to test along with those mics!

By the way, the pole looks great! No creaking

[drapeama]

Very thorough test, drape!!!!! I like the Azden SGM-1x. The others seem much weaker. I wish you had an HTDZ to test along with those mics!
By the way, the pole looks great! No creaking

1) Yeah, it's 11 minutes, but you can hear it enough to judge if it worth or not trying it.
2) The Azden impressed me as well. Usually this one sucks indoor (on-camcorder) but boomed it gave pretty decent results.
3) I still prefer the MB4K, I find it to be more "natural" than the Azden, which sounds a bit more "muffled" to my ears. I think why the Azden came out of this test more than the other is because the signsal is "hotter" than the other mics.
4) Yeah, I'd like too. I could buy it for 35$, or you could build a boom pole for the same price and share it!
5) It looks ok, but the best part is that it doesn't creaks at all! I didn't put the Shure test with the Mic-In configuration because, just thinking of manipulating the pole and this microphone was picking it up...but with the Line-In config, it was better. Not the best, but still.

In the end, I'm satisfied with the results. And if it can help people to buy certain microphones, then great!

[drapeama]

The others seem much weaker. [...] No creaking

Have you downloaded the other audio track? It's a day and night comparison with the boomed microphones one.
No creaking at all, I've been very impressed, for the price I paid that pole (~15$). I was about to buy a RØDE boom pole when I thought about (at least) trying to make one first, as the local RØDE dealer could order one (without cable) for 170$ (which is WAY overpriced for me). So I tried it, been impressed and I pushed the experiment further. Honestly, I wouldn't buy a genuine boom pole now. I'll try to add some foam/rubber on it, to minimize handling noise and I'll see if it helps of not.

[DigitalBard]

I have a home made boom pole made from a painter's pole that works great, however, I am upgrading from the HTDZ to the new Rode VideoMic and the connector I got for my pole doesn't work with the Rode. Any ideas on mounting it to the pole?

[Almohada]

I have a home made boom pole made from a painter's pole that works great, however, I am upgrading from the HTDZ to the new Rode VideoMic and the connector I got for my pole doesn't work with the Rode. Any ideas on mounting it to the pole?

Are you planning to sell your HTDZ?

[drapeama]

I am upgrading from the HTDZ to the new Rode VideoMic and the connector I got for my pole doesn't work with the Rode. Any ideas on mounting it to the pole?

Just use a cold shoe and screw it on top of your pole, then the Videomic can sit right there.

[Timbit]

I liked the MB4K better as well.