Mic Help

[bluishbob]

Hey all,
Just a little queary for you all.

Was doing a gig the other day, sound checked as usual, tested the mic.

Come mid way through the gig tried to announce a request and the mic gave a squeak, so shoved the gain down and got through it. Tried again later and same thing happened, with it only working with the gain as low as i could get it.

Now its not a rubbish mic i was using, it was about £30 new a few weeks back, but has always been a bit tempermental.

Yet when i swapped it with an SM58 i found that was almost as bad, although it worked in the end.

Is it just that there was too much bounce back, as when i turned the volume down a little for a calmer song it worked better.

Am i just being silly?

Any suggestions please!!

Many thanks

[spin mobile disco]

Its feedback plain and simple. Been experiencing the same problem recenly. Especially in smaller venues with high roofs or no carpet glass etc.
I have recenly purchased a behringer feedback destroyer to try to fix this problem will let you know if it works.
If you have a good Eq though you may be able to remove frequency manually.

[BeerFunk]

Sounds like you turned the mixer main volume, or amp volume up without re-adjusting the mic volume to compensate.

Set your mixer and amp to full volume, and increase your volume throughout the night using the individual fader gains - you shouldn't have to adjust your mic volume too much this way, and you shouldn't get any squealing.

[Tony Scott]

Hey all,

Now its not a rubbish mic i was using, it was about £30 new a few weeks back, but has always been a bit tempermental.



Firstly £30 is very cheap for a Mic, my senhiesser was £120 and I consider this not expensive. I want a £300 EV.

That said if the SM58 was as bad then I would agree that it's probably a combination of room accoustics (were you set up in a corner by any chance) and the gain being too high.

As suggested turn your amp up to max & the mixer master up high. Then adjust the mic channel to suit. This way you shouldn't have to increase the master later on in the night.
Increasing the master increases the mic channel as well - which can cause feedback. :)

[bluishbob]

I was relatively confined - i was on a stage in a hall with no material except that curtains.

This is where i was

http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u156/bluishbob/disco1.jpg


(if it works)

So if i just use individual channel volumes and leave the masters up, will this combat it completly or will i still have to alter gain throughout the night.

[spin mobile disco]

Is that a school ar a church hall?

[Tony Scott]

So if i just use individual channel volumes and leave the masters up, will this combat it completly or will i still have to alter gain throughout the night.

There are so many factors that can cause it, in the situation shown in your picture my guess is that it was the hall you were in & being tucked away in the stage area.

You can get some pretty horrid reverberation on stages, acts like a big echo chamber.

When you sound check I would suggest setting your master up high (about 3/4 maximum) and the mic up loud as you can without it feeding back.
Then make a note of where the mic gain is and turn it down a bit to suit the level you need for earlier on in the night.
This way you will have an idea of how far you can go when you need the mic louder.

I think it was more the hall and the position you were in though. :)

[bluishbob]

It is a school hall. Ok that is what i will do next time, i think the problem is that when i did my sound check it was only on about half volume.

[PropellerHeadCase]

It is a school hall. Ok that is what i will do next time, i think the problem is that when i did my sound check it was only on about half volume.

Then it wasn't a sound check! All you did was ensure that your sound sources were outputting. At some point during sound check your system should be at the loudest you are likely to need for the night, if not louder.

[Skins]

. At some point during sound check your system should be at the loudest you are likely to need for the night, if not louder.


Buddy, you just reminded me of a friends wedding I went to a couple of weeks back.

Arrived at the bash and the "local" DJ had setup his two disco lights and homemade speakers and just after the first dance, popped up on the mic and shouts "for the purpose of tonights disco, I am about to do a soundcheck".

Now, take into account everyone is AROUND the dancefloor and the B&G have just done their first dance.......its heaving...

Suddenly, he slaps on Eminems real slim shady, turns the volume up....and up and up ........and up:eek: until the dancefloor is cleared.

This went on for about 60"....

and then the music went low..:)

and then..............guess what.......

it went stupidly loud for the duration of 4 minutes whilst we heard Jay Z and suddenly then stopped.

By this point, everyone had gone outside including my friends who got married.

we had no music for ten minutes and when Lee the best man asked the DJ why there was no music the dj replied, er...something blew during the soundcheck...

;)

the lad pulled this disco off in the end, but his homemade 15" cabs had blown somewhere along the lines as it sounded pretty darn awful.!

anyway, off topic but wanted to share that with you.

Oh, and BTW, the guys here are right about your problems with feedback -but also try a better mic. I use the AKG WMS wireless:cool: and never ever get feedback on those puppies.

Shaun

[bluishbob]

ok, fair enough being a bit stupid wasn't i, just never occured to me before that higher volume would make such a big difference. Will do what has been suggested next week.

Many thanks guys

[Spirits High]

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