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Just when you thought you were safe onstage with dynamic mics...it's time to learn about breaking out of the 300-capacity club scene and feeling the power and the clarity of a condenser mic for live performance!
(For info on what dynamic and condenser mics are, just jump back one blog — I talked a bit about the different mic types last month.)
Why cover mics for two months? Let's face it people, your entire sound is about the mic and the choices you make. The mic has a lot to do with how your audience hears you. It's the device that captures what you're trying to convey to your audience, whether it's your voice, your amazing guitar tone going through an incredible array of guitar pedals and the perfect amp, or those beautiful Zildjian cymbals you love. A good venue should have a nice array of microphones to use, but it never hurts to carry a few of your own.
With that in mind, let's look at the role of condensers in the "big gig." These are the shows at bigger venues with (generally) better sound systems that usually provide you with a decent sound engineer. (Hopefully not an ex-wanna-be '80s big-hair rock guitar player who is "stuck" in the life of live sound. If you get one of those, you can just call it a night.)
Yes, folks. Condenser mics do indeed exist in the higher plane of live sound. Among other things, we use them on hi-hats and drum overheads in larger concert halls to pick up the sweet clarity and beautiful upper harmonics of the cymbals. You can't capture that with a dynamic mic! It would sound like the brash clanking of a garbage-can lid — definitely the wrong microphone for the job.
So here we are on a bigger stage, with a nice sound system, and with a person who knows what to do with it. Hey, she's putting a nice condenser mic on the hi-hat (usually a Shure SM81 or an Audio Technica 4041), and two more on the drum overheads!
And what's this? Is she truly setting up a condenser mic for the vocals? Yes — the Shure Beta 87 is a choice mic for live vocals (especially on female voices). Shure also has a new one called the KSM9 that is oh-so-sweet. It's a bit more dough, but with some really nice features.
The effect you're going for with your vocals largely determines what type of mic to use. You can sound like an angel or a demon with the right mic, depending on your preference. If you're the lead vocalist in a death-metal group, um, I know ya ain't goin' for an angelic vocal sound — you'll want to use a dynamic mic to handle the pressure of your cookie-monster style of delivery. But if you're a singer-songwriter doing the Tori Amos thing, then the right mic for the right sound would be one of those sweet condensers. Get what I mean?
Mic Placement: Not Just for Engineers
Mic placement is part of the craft of the engineer, but it's good for musicians to know a bit too — that way you can fix it yourself after you've bumped into a mic stand after getting excited and hopping around onstage. It's a lot easier if you take a second between songs to place the mic back where it was. The engineer may not have noticed that you knocked the microphone out of place, so it could take several songs before they wonder why the kick drum doesn't sound so good anymore, or why the mic on the electric guitar amp has gotten a bit thin-sounding.
The mic has
a lot to do with
how your audience
hears you. |
Close-miking refers to the placement of the mic about an inch and a half to two inches from the sound source. This source can be any instrument onstage that requires a microphone. At shows, the mics should be placed very close to your amps and drumheads, and vocalists should be singing really close to the mic. Dynamic mics sound better with what is known as proximity effect — the closer the mic is to the sound source, the more low-mid tone is picked up by it. The mic also gets more direct sound from the source being miked.
Close-miking is useful for blocking out other nearby sounds as well. If you're miking the guitar amp, you want to avoid the drums right next to the amp — and if you're miking the bass amp, you don't want to hear the electric guitar through that mic as well. On stage, close-miking is IMPERATIVE. (Other techniques are used in the studio, but I'm focusing on your gigs, remember?)
If your singer isn't right up on that dynamic microphone, remind them to get as close as possible, as their voice will sound much better if they can almost feel the grill of the mic against their lips. You don't do this with a condenser mic, mind you. Condensers are far too sensitive, and you'll just end up with a lot of popping sounds from your B's, P's, and T's (also known as "plosive consonants"). This is why I use dynamic mics for rock and hiphop voices live, or anything that hits hard and loud, and save the condensers for solo vocalists with acoustic guitars, or vocalists accompanying themselves on piano.
So, remember these little info-bits at your next gig. Notice where the engineer has placed the mics (oh, and be sure to tell them if they've just placed the mic in front of that blown speaker that you haven't replaced yet!)
Next time, we'll see what a lovely set of in-ear monitors can do to truly clean up your stage mix and get you the sound you want and need to hear. In-ear monitors are more affordable than ever, and well worth the trouble! In the meantime, have a great month of shows. Fall is a great time to play, because people turn up more for shows when the weather gets chilly!
Posted October 2006
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