what to get for small theatre group?

[bruce]

 

....a small local children's theatre group ..... is a big problem as some of the children are really quiet, you can't even hear them from the second row never mind the back of the hall....... "make it sound good, like a proper performance"

 

It's not the answer that the theatre people will want to hear, but surely one of the things any theatre group should be teaching is how to project!

 

That's not saying that radio mics are the "wrong" answer here, it's just saying that you need to have something to work with.

 

I was involved with a childrens' performance a few weeks ago. First half of the dress rehearsal was awful - - their first chance to use mics - they were very quiet, so we were cranking up the gain, so fighting feedback. At the interval, I gave them the "pep talk" - all the usual stuff - "the mics are not there to sing for you, just to help you" ... "imagine your granny is sitting in the back row, and she's a bit deaf...sing to her" .... and the one that seemed to make most impression "See that drum kit? It's between you and the audience. You need to be louder than it".

 

Second half of the dress - and all the performances - were great!

 

This, of course, doesn't address the technical problems you've been having - all the advice above is good. Start with one mic, test thoroughly, gradually add more. As someone said, if you could find someone who "knows this sort of stuff" it'd probably be quite easy to diagnose. If you tell us your location, there may be someone in the area who'd drop by and have a look...

 

 

 

Edit: and it's not just children that don't know how to project and use mics. I was doing a corporate gig the other day - the main speaker (high-powered businessman) had a very soft voice. He also decided just before going onto the stage to take off his jacket (guess what the mic was clipped to!) and re-attached the mic to his shirt, somewhere near his bellybutton. So his levels were very low, and at one point there was a hint of feedback.

 

A few days later, we were doing it again, and the sound guys made sure the mic was well placed. He commented "last time we did this, I started speaking, and thought I could hear feedback. So I made sure I spoke quietly for the rest of the speech to stop it coming back..."