Microphone Feedback

[taurus1]

the monitors need to be rung properly to determine their limit before feedback, this and proper mic/monitor placement as has been mentioned.
there's nothing wrong with wet monitors, that's not the cause of the problem.

 

[Munjibunga]

the monitors need to be rung properly to determine their limit before feedback, this and proper mic/monitor placement as has been mentioned.
there's nothing wrong with wet monitors, that's not the cause of the problem.

Effects in the monitors do not necessarily cause feedback, but they definitely make feedback more likely than with dry monitors. Some effects carry their own EQ profiles, often rich in highs, which makes ringing them out difficult, even with a good graphic EQ.

 

[lokikallas]

Put your lips on the mic only if you want the "proximity effect," which adds boom. It'll also give you a hell of a zap if everything isn't properly grounded. It also adds fragments of that sandwich you ate before the gig, which provides a great growth culture for a myriad of different mold species. Don't believe me? Look at the grill of the mics your rehearsal studio provides for your use.

Which is why I always use the windscreen and bring my own mic. Lol!

 

[TomB]

One culprit seldom mentioned is compression. Using (and especially over-using) compression on the monitor mix is almost certain to create feedback issues. It also encourages a singer to continue to use whatever poor technique made the compression desirable in the first place. If you're using it on the monitor send, try turning it down or even off, and ask the singer to keep an ear out for distortion instead and back off the mic as appropriate.

 

[Munjibunga]

Which is why I always use the windscreen and bring my own mic. Lol!

Me too.

 

[walterw]

One culprit seldom mentioned is compression. Using (and especially over-using) compression on the monitor mix is almost certain to create feedback issues. It also encourages a singer to continue to use whatever poor technique made the compression desirable in the first place. If you're using it on the monitor send, try turning it down or even off...

not "down", off.

compression in monitors is a big Do Not (for just these reasons).

 

[ggunn]

Put your lips on the mic only if you want the "proximity effect," which adds boom. It'll also give you a hell of a zap if everything isn't properly grounded. It also adds fragments of that sandwich you ate before the gig, which provides a great growth culture for a myriad of different mold species. Don't believe me? Look at the grill of the mics your rehearsal studio provides for your use.

I used to have a thick bushy mustache. When I could feel that the 'stache occasionally brushed the wind screen, my distance from the mic was perfect.

 

[seamonkey]

IEM sure seem to clear up a lot of feedback problems.
And you can do things like have more reverb in the monitor to the singers preference, and a better sound out front.

 

[Floyd Eye]

My guitarist/singer likes to have the mic right up against his mouth. I have to pretty much make him take the grill of and clean it and the little sponge thing. NO ONE ever uses his mic.

Me and the drummer like to be off the mic quite a bit. I mix them all accordingly.

 

[JimmyM]

If you're not singing lead, you don't need to be right up on it, but I've found it sounds better and has less feedback if you sing lead. I see some singers hold their mics a couple inches to a foot away and it always sounds like crap. Backgrounds you kind of want to mix yourself by working the mic, but leads require eating the mic.

BTW, I have used supplied mics forever, even though I have one of my own. I've yet to catch anything from it, though I've seen some very nice stains occasionally.

 

[ggunn]

My guitarist/singer likes to have the mic right up against his mouth. I have to pretty much make him take the grill of and clean it and the little sponge thing. NO ONE ever uses his mic.

Me and the drummer like to be off the mic quite a bit. I mix them all accordingly.

In a related story...

I once played a gig where the sound company was inept and their mics kept shutting off at random all during the gig. The lead singer had to keep jumping from mic to mic, and during the gig she visited them all. An hour after the gig she started showing flu-like symptoms. A week later we were all sick.

 

[maguire]

This was an excellent thread! I relayed a few of your comments to the singer at practices, and then to the sound guy before the show. We took 2 main courses of action:

1. Singer had his hand all over the speaker grill - especially on the neck of the mic, where the grill meets the handle. When he stopped doing it, we got WAY less feedback.

2. The singer was running through a "Voice Live" on the first show. For the second show, the voice live was taken out of the signal chain. The sound guy ran the mic directly to the board and processed the effects on his side.

We had very close to zero feedback for the duration of the show - it sounded great

Thanks so much to the TB as usual - what an awesome community - thanks everyone!

 

[Floyd Eye]

This was an excellent thread! I relayed a few of your comments to the singer at practices, and then to the sound guy before the show. We took 2 main courses of action:

1. Singer had his hand all over the speaker grill - especially on the neck of the mic, where the grill meets the handle. When he stopped doing it, we got WAY less feedback.

2. The singer was running through a "Voice Live" on the first show. For the second show, the voice live was taken out of the signal chain. The sound guy ran the mic directly to the board and processed the effects on his side.

We had very close to zero feedback for the duration of the show - it sounded great

Thanks so much to the TB as usual - what an awesome community - thanks everyone!

Every single time I have tried to mix with a stand alone unit such as voicelive or any of those stomp box vocal effects, it has been a nightmare. I want no part of them.

Also, putting your hands all up on the grill of the mic is going to create issues. They can be dealt with, but it is far easier to just leave it in the stand or hold it by the barrel.

 

[mellowinman]

You're too loud.

Bottom line.

Bring down the stage volume, and then the mic doesn't have to be too hot.

Then ask yourself if your FOH volume is blasting people's ears into oblivion, and then ask yourself, "do I have the right to cause hearing damage in people who are out for a good time?"

The correct answer is, "NO," by the way.

 

[guy n. cognito]

If you read the OPs update just a few posts above, you'd see that volume wasn't the issue.

This is often the case with feedback.

You're too loud.

Bottom line.

Bring down the stage volume, and then the mic doesn't have to be too hot.

Then ask yourself if your FOH volume is blasting people's ears into oblivion, and then ask yourself, "do I have the right to cause hearing damage in people who are out for a good time?"

The correct answer is, "NO," by the way.

 

[maguire]

This thread was particularly helpful because everyone offered a different idea of what the cause may be, and I was able to gather a checklist.

For a year before we started gigging we always attributed the mic feedback to high volumes. The singer said it was the bands fault, playing too loud. So on many occasions we would turn down lower and lower, and the drummer would have to play lighter and lighter and it felt very strange - bands should be able to play with some degree of loudness right?

So after getting the checklist from TB'ers - we found a few of the things that were the real issue. 1. The mic cupping 2. The "voice live"

I don't think you can really say that there is one universal cause for the problem, it's on a case-by-case basis. But I imagine in many instances the volume level is indeed the problem.

 

[Floyd Eye]

This thread was particularly helpful because everyone offered a different idea of what the cause may be, and I was able to gather a checklist.

For a year before we started gigging we always attributed the mic feedback to high volumes. The singer said it was the bands fault, playing too loud. So on many occasions we would turn down lower and lower, and the drummer would have to play lighter and lighter and it felt very strange - bands should be able to play with some degree of loudness right?

So after getting the checklist from TB'ers - we found a few of the things that were the real issue. 1. The mic cupping 2. The "voice live"

I don't think you can really say that there is one universal cause for the problem, it's on a case-by-case basis. But I imagine in many instances the volume level is indeed the problem.

Volume is indeed the first place I would look. You are right though, the option to be LOUD is necessary, at least for the genre I play in. If volume is causing the feedback, the fact is you need more or better PA gear and usually your guitard needs to be smacked in the back of the head with a 2x4.

It isn't that difficult to be loud enough to groove in a hard rock outfit AND keep your stage volume low.

I'm glad you figured out what your issues were without too much trouble.

Rock on brother.