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hanging mic


pattonaudio

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Guys

 

Got bit of a prob about suspending mics over a stage and want to hear your views. All my hanging mics are out next week and my kids school have approached me about helping them next week so don't want to let them down.

 

Show background - kids on stage doing samba dancing, school choir, solo singers and a samba band. They only want sound reinforced for a small theatre so was just thinking 3 shotguns front of stage, and sm58 on stage for solo singers and sm57 of samba band of just move the shot guns to them!

 

The prob I have is I ain't got any shotguns to spare all will be out apart for the 3 or front of stage, and I need to mic the choir at the back so was thinking of hanging a few AKG hanging mic but they are all out next week, so was thinking to hanging a few non hanging condensers over the back and just taping the cable to mic for safety but the mic will be pointing straght down which is no good so any idea on directing them? wire coat hanger came to mind!!!

 

Hope thats all clear! (few beers in me night off!)

 

Your thoughts please!

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Well, for the samba band part you want ear plugs, not microphones.

 

I've done the coat-hanger-wire thing before. Don't bother trying to wrap the wire round the mic, just tape it firmly to the top along the length of the body, then bend the rest of the wire to give you the hanging angle you want.

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What I've done in the past is use two cable ties, one gaffered to the cable, and one to the mic body. Then slip the tail of one into the head of the other, and tighten to adjust the angle. Don't forget to tape round the connector joint - you don't want it all falling apart!
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Connect a mic clip to a Hook clamp, off an lx bar, jobs a good'n oh and seconded about the earplugs not mics for samba band. trust me mate, you will NEVER need to mic them up. in fact, to get a good sound level for them, put them in the next town.
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I know what yo uall mean about the ear plugs for the samba band ** laughs out loud **.

 

as for a sm58 being rough on solo vocals I have to ask the same as John how? why? can you explain your thoughts nothingatall66?

 

thought about the vable ties but thought a wite coat hanger to be more logical.

 

thanks for all your views and toughts

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as for a sm58 being rough on solo vocals I have to ask the same as John how? why? can you explain your thoughts nothingatall66?

I'm guessing he doesn't really like the sound the SM58 throws out, some people think it's a bit harsh and prefer something along the lines of the e845. That said, it's more personal preference and while there are better mics out there, it's not like a 58's going to sound bad at all.

 

As for the hanging thing, another thumbs up for the coathanger idea. Just make sure everything's taped firmly in place!

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sm58 on stage for solo singers

sm58 for solo singing, might sound a bit rough don't you think?

 

 

??????????????????????????????????????? A SM58 or a Beta 58 are usualy the norm for vocal in a live suituation, or the Shure unisphere isn't too bad if you haven't got one of the others!

 

Intrigued how you came up with this statement nothing-at-all

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Re: coat hanger bending, I've made myself a set of something like THIS except in my case I fit them to an whole small diaphram condensor. The fit is forgiving enough I can use my 451s, 391s or SE1As with the same wire. It works well to get the mics pointed upstage rather than straight down.

 

As for SM58s and vocals, I sort of know where the poster is coming from. The combination of the rather pronounced presence peak on the 58 and children's voices can be a bit screechy...not so bad as to rule out the use, but I find it takes a fair bit of EQ and wouldn't have it as my first choice for a kiddie concert.

 

Bob

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Re: coat hanger bending, I've made myself a set of something like THIS except in my case I fit them to an whole small diaphram condensor. The fit is forgiving enough I can use my 451s, 391s or SE1As with the same wire. It works well to get the mics pointed upstage rather than straight down.

 

Do you have trouble with the mics "spinning" on their cables, or do they tend to stay pointed upstage once set up?

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A nice piece of cable that's been looked after and coiled properly will pretty well stay where you put it first time. Nasty & kinked cables can take some time to settle down.
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Yup. As mark says, a decent cable will find its "direction" pretty quickly, then you just adjust the coat hanger wire to work with this. Once the mic is on and it's settled down, it tends to stay where you put it.

 

Bob

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Update

 

Just been to see the kids rehearse, not what I had pictured in my head from what the music teacher had described!

 

Example of one scene - there are about 40 kids on stage at one time, gathered in a crowd with backs to the audience and then a kid at the back of the stage on a chair, the big crowd are loud enough on their own but the kid on the chair has 1 line. This happens alot with a class of 20 kids each with olny 1 line each.

 

The samaba band are about 20 kids 10 either side of the stage, and are too loud ** laughs out loud **

 

The have a piano and violins going on too! so was gonna throw 2x senn e912 inside the upright piano, and the violins will be close enough to a shotgun mic

 

They don't a big enough budget for wireless mics so was just thinking of 3 shotguns front of stage, 2 more (1 either side) to cover the middle and then 2 hanging mics near the back for the choir, just tested my condensor and 1 is busted! you think I could hang 2x sm57's?

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just tested my condensor and 1 is busted! you think I could hang 2x sm57's?

 

Good luck! It might work, but you will have to pull the volume right up on it, I would guess and say its probably going to sound extremely harsh. I would spend a tenner on another condenser mic hire for the show, it will be a much better option.

 

Rich

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