roykarobona Posted November 13, 2009 Share Posted November 13, 2009 Hi there, New to this forum, Just after some technical expertise. next month I am teching for a dance show. They have 5 float mikes to pick up tapping, feet movements. What would be the best setting to use to gate/limit these? I believe its the clark technic square one dynamics. Thanks in advance. Being a teacher and not a sound engineer would point out my my not so strong technical experience! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulears Posted November 13, 2009 Share Posted November 13, 2009 no - I'd leave them as they are. Gates do odd things with impulse type sounds - which on drums work well, but on ambient open sounds, the chopping is pretty audible. Set them up so that with all open, you are not sitting on the feedback area - boundaries have a very strange type of ring - more gradual starting than with a stand type mic, so you need to be out of this with the faders open. Then, whatever sound they make, you hear - possibly not as loud as you want, but ok.EDITJust realised you said float mics, and I assumed boundaries? If these are just hand held type cardioids, then they will pick up something, but won't be so natural - having a tendency to just focus on what is right in front of them, move to one side a little and the volume drops quite a bit. Even with these, I'd skip the gates. If you think about it, gates normally get used to turn off mics that have no loud sound right in front of them - distant miking doesn't let this work properly at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobbsy Posted November 13, 2009 Share Posted November 13, 2009 I did a tap-heavy show last April and we miked the steps with a row of PCC160s across the front of the stage plus two or three shotguns handling some specific upstage areas. We experimented with the use of gates and, based on that experience, have to agree 100% with Paulears that it just didn't work with tap. The gates gave a very strange, artifically clipped sound--if they bothered to open at all. The other comment I'd make is that we had to actively mix mics to make sure the best pickup was up at the right time...and other mics were faded down to avoid background noise and slightly delayed, lower level pickup from other parts of the stage. Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pattern123 Posted November 13, 2009 Share Posted November 13, 2009 Why bother amplifying the Tapping at all? It will be plenty loud enough on it's own, why this obsession with amplifying everything? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobbsy Posted November 14, 2009 Share Posted November 14, 2009 Why bother amplifying the Tapping at all? It will be plenty loud enough on it's own, why this obsession with amplifying everything? That was my original theory but you'd be surprised how lost the sound of tap shoes can get in a 2000ish seat venue when the "dancers" are actually actors who have just practised tap for the show--and they're competing with a large orchestra in the pit. Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyL Posted November 15, 2009 Share Posted November 15, 2009 This might help too... Wiki page - Float mics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.