On Stage Tips
Using the microphones on stage
(and other on-stage issues) -- some advice
The microphones used at the Alaska Folk Festival are the
type most often used in live performances. They have a very
close pickup pattern which reduces feedback. Every year "mic
shy" performers sabotage their sets by backing off the mic.
Ideally you should be very close.
Keep the microphone, between your mouth and the specific eye
contact areas of the audience. These elements should be in a
straight line. When you use a stationary microphone, move
your body around the microphone as you vary your audience
eye contact, always maintaining the mouth-mike-eye contact
area line. This technique provides a constant level of
amplified sound. If you turn your head sideways without
moving either your body or the microphone then the sound
system cannot amplify your voice at a consistent level.
Frequently, singers will sing loud and talk quietly. This
gives both the audience and the sound engineer fits. You
make life easier for everyone if you sing and talk at about
the same level of loudness.
If you have experience with mics you know it is possible to
"work" a microphone, pulling back slightly to blend harmony
levels, or singing just to the side of the mic or just over
the top to avoid popping P's. That's great. But if you
haven't practiced this, just sing like you do at home, but
right into the mic.
When you come on stage, stand where you need to be and let
the stage crews set the mics up in front of you. Look at the
number on the stand and say, "Check, check, number
(number)," in a loud, clear voice. The sound man and the
monitor board operators need sound to work with. Sing a
little, make sure you can hear yourself in the monitor. Make
sure you can hear your bandmates before you start your first
song.
If you are playing an instrument, it's the same drill. Give
the board operators something to check the mic with. Play
normally. If you do a sound check one inch from the mic and
then pull back five inches when the song starts, you will
disappear from the mix.
If you have experience working a mic, you can mix yourself
during a song. If you position a guitar, banjo or fiddle two
or three inches away for the sound check, and then play your
rhythm chops at that distance, you should be just right in
the mix. Then when you take a lead break, you can move right
in to the mic or play harder and louder and you will stand
out at a lead volume level.
If you play with a pickup in your instrument, you and your
bandmates can still control your dynamics by playing harder
or more softly as needed. Test your cords and pickups before
the moment of truth on the festival stage. Make sure the
battery is fresh. Bring the cords you need and make sure
they work.
Sometimes musicians are too eager to make the most of their
15 minutes. They storm the stage, forgo any sound check, and
launch into the first song. The result is the first song (or
two) IS the sound check.
Instead, devote the first couple minutes to the sound - make
sure everyone is on mic, plugged in and working properly.
Don't rip into that first tune only to discover halfway
through that the levels are bad or the pickup's dead. Time a
12 minute set, counting between-song talking, and let
yourself relax a little.
(More) Advice Regarding the Monitor Speakers:
If you back off the mic then your bandmates can't hear your
in the monitors. Often, they will then ask the monitor board
operator to turn you up in the monitors. This is sabotaging
your set. Cranking the monitors creates tubby, reverby
sound, encourages the mics to feedback, and causes the
musicians to back off their mics because they seem too
hot.
If you need adjustment a particular mic in the monitors or
of the overall monitor levels, let the monitor board
operator know. At the AFF they are just off stage left. They
are there to help you.
(More) Advice regarding guitar pickups (applies to ALL pickups):
We can't count
the number of times a guitarist has plugged in on stage at
the Festival with a pickup set-up that was not working.
Check your's out BEFORE the Festival. If it takes a battery,
put in a fresh one. Make sure your pickup works and sounds
good.
Tighten the 1/4" cable jack on your instrument to make sure
there isn't a loose ground to cause snapping and popping
after you plug in.
If you are bringing your own 1/4" cable to use, make sure it
is in top shape, maybe even brand new. Loose connections
WILL cause bad sounds (snapping and popping) from the sound
system whenever you jiggle them the tiniest bit. (Note: We
have to use phantom power in the Festival's sound system.
With this voltage in the sound system cabling, good
connections are essential. Marginal connections will soon
become very obvious.)
You don't want to find ANY of these problems while you are
getting set up on stage for your 15 minute set or during
your first song. Get things checked, fixed, replaced
before the Festival.
More microphone
tips, courtesy of John
Palmes:
Sing to the Microphone:
The microphone is both your audience and your instrument.
You may want to sing to some attractive person in the front
row, but you need to sing to the microphone.
Distance from the mic:
Your mouth should be within 6 inches (a hand span) away from
the mic, usually about 2-4 inches. If you work in a middle
distance, you can then move in or out to change volume.
Most microphones also have a "proximity effect," that is, if
you get right up on the mic so that your lips are close to
touching the wind screen, the mic sounds warmer and the
voice sounds deeper and fuller. As you get out past 6 inches
or so, there is a loss of presence and fullness and you
sound "off mic."
Distance from the mic is extremely important. Decreasing the
distance by half increases the volume to the microphone by 4
times. Your voice or guitar at 12 inches will be 4 times
louder at 6 inches and 24 times louder at 3 inches. At 1.5
inches you will be almost 100 times louder than at 12
inches. You can't play your guitar 100 times louder without
breaking strings - just move in on the
microphone.
Now, if you back away from the mic, it is sensitive enough
to "hear" you. But it will also be hearing the monitor
system and the main speakers almost as well as it hears you.
If the sound crew has pity on you and turns you up, they
turn up the same sound that the microphone is hearing. This
leads to feedback.
The signal goes into the microphone at the speed of sound,
through the sound system at the speed of light, and out of
the speakers and back into the microphone again at the speed
of sound - a cycle that repeats and repeats. This is
feedback, and the longer it goes on the worse it gets. The
closer you stay to your mic, the easier it is for only your
sound to be amplified and controlled.
Mic Placement:
Vocals: If you sing directly into the mic, your p's (and f's
& t's) will pop and explode as that big gust of wind
hits the microphone diaphragm. Avoid this by singing over
the top of the microphone or off to one side.
Guitar and other stringed instruments: Aim the mic at base
of the fingerboard of the instrument, just above the sound
hole on the guitar. I like to angle the mic across the sound
hole and aim it at the base of the fingerboard. Aiming the
mic into the sound hole gives a booming sound that is hard
to control and can lead to feedback. However you can use
this effect to change the sound of the instrument by moving
towards or away from the sound hole as you play.
Not everyone likes to mic instruments the same way. For
instance, some guitarists like to aim the mic at the face of
the guitar, below and behind the picking hand. The stage
crew should let the performer decide if they have a
preference.
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