Mics for stage

Jon Fairhurst · August 7th, 2015, 06:14 PM

A quick update:

I set up the system for use in the Drama Camp next week. That same evening, the art director was there with a small crew (her family) constructing and rigging scenery. With more junk on the stage and in the room, the feedback problem was significantly reduced. It's still far from great though...

I ended up placing the speakers very wide in order to accommodate the needs of the space. I tried them with and without the feedback killer and ended up turning the FK off. I found it better to ride the gain just before feedback without the suppression as the initial ringing frequencies are also audible signal.

I tried the paper folder trick that Bruce mentioned, but there was no noticeable improvement in gain before feedback. I think the folder is more about isolating the orchestra pit. We don't have a pit. (We do have a community orchestra though. I play violin with them. But we aren't performing for this show.)

Here's a funny thing. My wife was near one of the speakers and said, "hey, this one's making noise." Turns out the stage mic was open and it was picking up the sound of a paintbrush ten feet back on stage. Hey, it works!

After I got everything secured with gaffers tape and all of the labels and default settings marked on our tiny mixer, the director's 14-year old daughter was bored, tired, and getting cranky. I asked her if she wanted to learn how to mix, and she absolutely lit up. The director came over to listen and learn as I taught the daughter.

There are just eight knobs for her to handle: gain for the Master, Stage Mic, Announcer's mic, Electronic Piano, and Laptop. Also, high, mid, and low EQ for the stage mic. Everything else is marked for a default setting. She quickly picked it up, we did some tests and she was able to ride the gain and EQ of the stage mic very nicely. By the end, she was like, "this will be my job all week!" She was beaming. At one point, her dad turned down the master when there was some feedback, and she said, "no Dad, this is the stage mic gain." Then she started to tell him about EQ...

She's got it handled. :)

August 7th, 2015, 06:14 PM	#46
Jon Fairhurst Inner Circle Join Date: May 2006 Location: Camas, WA, USA Posts: 5,513	Re: Mics for stage A quick update: I set up the system for use in the Drama Camp next week. That same evening, the art director was there with a small crew (her family) constructing and rigging scenery. With more junk on the stage and in the room, the feedback problem was significantly reduced. It's still far from great though... I ended up placing the speakers very wide in order to accommodate the needs of the space. I tried them with and without the feedback killer and ended up turning the FK off. I found it better to ride the gain just before feedback without the suppression as the initial ringing frequencies are also audible signal. I tried the paper folder trick that Bruce mentioned, but there was no noticeable improvement in gain before feedback. I think the folder is more about isolating the orchestra pit. We don't have a pit. (We do have a community orchestra though. I play violin with them. But we aren't performing for this show.) Here's a funny thing. My wife was near one of the speakers and said, "hey, this one's making noise." Turns out the stage mic was open and it was picking up the sound of a paintbrush ten feet back on stage. Hey, it works! After I got everything secured with gaffers tape and all of the labels and default settings marked on our tiny mixer, the director's 14-year old daughter was bored, tired, and getting cranky. I asked her if she wanted to learn how to mix, and she absolutely lit up. The director came over to listen and learn as I taught the daughter. There are just eight knobs for her to handle: gain for the Master, Stage Mic, Announcer's mic, Electronic Piano, and Laptop. Also, high, mid, and low EQ for the stage mic. Everything else is marked for a default setting. She quickly picked it up, we did some tests and she was able to ride the gain and EQ of the stage mic very nicely. By the end, she was like, "this will be my job all week!" She was beaming. At one point, her dad turned down the master when there was some feedback, and she said, "no Dad, this is the stage mic gain." Then she started to tell him about EQ... She's got it handled. :) __________________ Jon Fairhurst