audio Posted February 26, 2007 Share Posted February 26, 2007 Hi all, I've got a run of Witches of Eastwick coming up, and my vocal re-enforcement is basically 3 PCC-160s across the front of the stage with radios on the 8 principal cast members. The theatre we use for our shows has no real pit, with the band being on the floor in front of the stage - with the stage being about waist height.Having done numerous shows in there in the past, I've always had problems with the hi-hat getting into my floats and being overly loud in the mix whenever I bump them up a bit to pick up the chorus, so much so that I never need a mic on the hat and have to remember to back off the floats when the chorus aren't singing. Now I know what your all thinking... drum screen... but I've spent the majority of the budget getting a desk and radio mics and the rest won't cover a screen. I was wondering if any of you had other suggestions of how to loose the damn hat from my chorus mics - I was discussing the idea with out carpenter of building small 'shed' like structures over the front/top of the mics and filling with some foam, but I don't know if this will work Any ideas considered!Thanks John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Lawrance Posted February 26, 2007 Share Posted February 26, 2007 Is it possible to move the drums? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
audio Posted February 26, 2007 Author Share Posted February 26, 2007 No, I've tried working on that one already... we haven't really got another multicore/CCTV setup to move the kit very far from the main room.Wherever the kit goes along the front of the stage, the hat gets into all three of the floats at very similar levels, and it doesn't really make any difference if I put a right handed drummer on the extreme stage-left of the pit either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bruce Posted February 26, 2007 Share Posted February 26, 2007 It's not proper acoustic screening, but I once used some shoulder-height hessian-covered padded movable partitions - the sort of thing you find in open-plan offices. We stole it from the admin office in the venue - it wasn't perfect, but was better than nothing..... You may be able to pick up some of that for no expense... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulears Posted February 26, 2007 Share Posted February 26, 2007 a bit of acoustic foam just cut into a half elipse shape on the audience side of pccs reduces hf quite a bit - will tame the hats quite a bit - although, I'd have though the cymbals would be more problematic, being higher and louder? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy_s Posted February 26, 2007 Share Posted February 26, 2007 instead of screening the drums, screen the mics. use a bit of ply to create a shield on the audience side of the pzm, this has the effect of creating a second boundary and therefore increasing gain. Use this in combination with Pauls acoustic foam for best effect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TAG1960 Posted February 26, 2007 Share Posted February 26, 2007 How about changing your pcms for directional float mics...should remove any spill. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted February 26, 2007 Share Posted February 26, 2007 use a bit of ply to create a shield on the audience side of the pzm,or Perpsex. Somewhere on the Crown site is a document with all sorts of ideas on this subject. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
audio Posted February 26, 2007 Author Share Posted February 26, 2007 Cymbals not such a problem generally as they get used less that the hat... but when they are played they're problematic too.Acoustic foam in a little box was what I was thinking, I'll visit the crow website.Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bruce Posted February 26, 2007 Share Posted February 26, 2007 or Perpsex. Somewhere on the Crown site is a document with all sorts of ideas on this subject. That's an interesting document. Warning: 7Mb, 500 page pdf! The relevant bit is on pages 312-314 - search for "BAFFLES IMPROVE PCC REAR REJECTION". It appears that while these baffles improve the rear rejection, they may also adversely affect the "side rejection", thus making the units more prone to feedback from FoH speakers. Swings and roundabouts.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malcolm Gordon Posted February 26, 2007 Share Posted February 26, 2007 How about changing your pcms for directional float mics...should remove any spill.Except that many directional float mics also have a rear lobe in the response.The relevant bit is on pages 312-314 - search for "BAFFLES IMPROVE PCC REAR REJECTION".Particularly interesting is the fact that cardboard worked better than Plexiglas (Perspex) and that a vertical foam pad also performed poorly. I have used Perspex combined with vertical foam in the past (working on instinct) without great success. Now I know why! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbuckley Posted February 26, 2007 Share Posted February 26, 2007 How about changing your pcms for directional float mics...should remove any spill.My experience with AKG C568 short shots in this respect is entirely negative, their rear pickup of bin-lids is astounding. I'd be far more confident in the Crown suggestions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TAG1960 Posted February 27, 2007 Share Posted February 27, 2007 How about changing your pcms for directional float mics...should remove any spill.My experience with AKG C568 short shots in this respect is entirely negative, their rear pickup of bin-lids is astounding. I'd be far more confident in the Crown suggestions. I suppose all our recomendations are based on our own personal experiences. All I can say in this respect is that over the past 20 years careful placement of floats, in the correct suspension mounts, has given me the best results every time. I am not saying that PCCs do not have their specific uses, I had a pair last week for a tap number, but I still favour floats. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulears Posted February 27, 2007 Share Posted February 27, 2007 I too was a confirmed rilfle mic enthusiast for many years but wouldn't go back now after using pccs. I found the rear pick-up to be quite pronounced and did pick up quite a lot of band sound from the pit. The sound, however was certainly not a problem at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuart91 Posted February 28, 2007 Share Posted February 28, 2007 Another possibility is to see if it is possible to substitute a tamer-sounding set of hi hat cymbals. Typically most "rock" cymbals are designed to cut through stage noise and be heard over Marshall stacks, which is exactly what isn't required in your situation... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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