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Crowd Mics in Clubs?


SteveAATW

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Does anyone know how the OB units mic up the audience in clubs (a la Radio 1 at Mambo, MoS etc)? I'm presuming it's something along the lines of stick a mic over the crowd and then subtract the output of the speakers then put it in a mix, but is there any established way of doing it, types of mic to use etc? This isn't my usual area and the sound pressure levels in clubs can be a nightmare to work with at the best of times

 

Ta!

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The normal approach would be to use shotgun mics pointing in to the crowd & away from the speakers. You'll always get a bit of the PA in them, but I wouldn't bother trying to remove that component - it would take a lot of messing around with delays and ultimately wouldn't make all that much difference. Keep them high up so they cover a section of crowd and you won't get one voice appearing prominently in them.

Use the mic's low cut if it has one to get rid of some of the PA rumble. Also check its maximum SPL handling; you may need a pad if your preamp doesn't have a lot of input headroom.

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I was doing a hip hop gig a few weeks ago that the BBC were recording for Radio 1 extra. They had a nifty clamp thing that they clamped to the handle of one of the PA cabs, on each side. On top of these they had one of those thingies that holds 2 mic clips a few inches apart, and they had a Neumann KM184, and an SM58 in each. Pointing at the crowd, obviously away from the PA.
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