IMHO, lavaliers or horrible for sound reinforcement purposes and their use should be confined to news rooms and similar settings.
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IMHO, lavaliers or horrible for sound reinforcement purposes and their use should be confined to news rooms and similar settings.
Depending upon the types of vocals you sing, it may or may not be a problem. I sang a fair amount of background vocals in my day, and pretty much stayed right on the mic. If I was in a headset mic, I think a mute switch would have been useful, but a volume control would have required too much mental focus that was independent of playing the bass line. It's hard enough to sing and play.
It's also a bit of technical problem to figure out how to insert a volume control into your signal path.
You may find this useful Invalid Link Removed
s0c9
Supporting Member
Still do.. As an FOH guy, I am continually amazed that folks try to sing on stage (in a band/group environment, such as club, bar, church with small-ish stages) being six+ inches OFF the mic!
And wonder why they can't hear themselves in the monitor mix..
Thanks for sharing the data sheet. A 32dB (!!) boost between 2cm and 1m distance seems alarming at first, but at 40hz could be useful when mic'ing a bass amp or drum. The low end of my contralto range (200Hz) shows about a 9db boost from 1m to 2cm distance from the mic. I'm actually quite sensitive to that, as I prefer to EQ my vocals to NOT emphasize my low end. On my mic, it's NOT "all about the bass".
Very helpful to be warned that over-ear and headset mics might have more of that. I'll look for proximity data on data sheets as my technology search progresses.
Thanks for sharing the data sheet. A 32dB (!!) boost between 2cm and 1m distance seems alarming at first, but at 40hz could be useful when mic'ing a bass amp or drum. The low end of my contralto range (200Hz) shows about a 9db boost from 1m to 2cm distance from the mic. I'm actually quite sensitive to that, as I prefer to EQ my vocals to NOT emphasize my low end. On my mic, it's NOT "all about the bass".
Very helpful to be warned that over-ear and headset mics might have more of that. I'll look for proximity data on data sheets as my technology search progresses.
The proximity effect can actually be your friend. Mics typically loose pattern control in the low frequencies. Take a look at the M88 datasheet again and look at the polar plot for 125hz between 270 and 240 degrees. Now think of the proximity effect as low frequency preemphasis that will help provide more gain before feedback. Remember, up close the mic picks up a lot of bass, but in the distance the bass starts rolling of around 150hz. You just need to dial a complementary EQ curve (deemphasis) to compensate for the proximity effect, so the sound is natural up close. This will make the mic even less sensitive to bass coming from a relatively distant source, like your monitor speaker.
I normally start with a 200hz HPF on all vocal channels, even the male vocals. I'll ask the vocalist to sing the lowest notes they cover and tailor the HPF accordingly.
I appreciate all the contributions to this thread! Thanks for being so helpful and welcoming to me as I join this community of professionals.
I'm on-board with the folks at Sweetwater, and had a great conversation with a rep there about my goals. He gave me some initial recommendations, which I'm going to research. I'll share back here when I've wrapped my head around the next level of information on specific equipment. Thanks again, all!
I'm on-board with the folks at Sweetwater, and had a great conversation with a rep there about my goals. He gave me some initial recommendations, which I'm going to research. I'll share back here when I've wrapped my head around the next level of information on specific equipment. Thanks again, all!
But what if you don't have any confidence in your pitch so you try to start off the mic and work yourself closer but can't hear yourself so you stay back because you don't want to kill the lead then you're stuck in limbo sounding like crap really quietly....Still do.. As an FOH guy, I am continually amazed that folks try to sing on stage (in a band/group environment, such as club, bar, church with small-ish stages) being six+ inches OFF the mic!
And wonder why they can't hear themselves in the monitor mix..
(I need an IEM system)
Sort of on- topic, I've been thinking of getting a lav mic as a personal monitor. The theory is that the lav would pick up my voice above everything else, but still feed my ears the stage mix and create isolation so I stop going deaf. I would still sing into a wired mic on a stand and the lav would only feed my personal in-ear monitor.
Has anyone tried this?
Has anyone tried this?
s0c9
Supporting Member
MY "advice" ??? Either go home and practice... or get another line of work/career
And another great reason why one should go IEM. You MIX yourself so you HEAR as much of YOU as you need, but not affect FOH
It's not an accident I'm only doing backing vocals. The nice thing is I'm in a Blondie tribute and none of those guys could sing well, either.MY "advice" ??? Either go home and practice... or get another line of work/career
And another great reason why one should go IEM. You MIX yourself so you HEAR as much of YOU as you need, but not affect FOH
s0c9
Supporting Member
I'm in a similar boat, 'cus I don't have a lead singers voice. However, soundcheck and FOH are done with me talking ON the mic, not 6" away.. It's the best way to make sure I HAVE to sing on it. If I don't.. ZERO harmonies.
PS: I should have ended my prior post with </end_sarcasm></tongue-in-cheek-comment> FOH perspective.
No criticism of your vocals intended
I have a personal monitor, which has made it better, but it's a big black box between me and the audience, so an in-ear set is in my near future.I'm in a similar boat, 'cus I don't have a lead singers voice. However, soundcheck and FOH are done with me talking ON the mic, not 6" away.. It's the best way to make sure I HAVE to sing on it. If I don't.. ZERO harmonies.
PS: I should have ended my prior post with </end_sarcasm></tongue-in-cheek-comment> FOH perspective.
No criticism of your vocals intended
I was asking about the lav mic as a monitor as a way to hear myself before punishing the audience. I may just have to bite the bullet and try it.
s0c9
Supporting Member
You could do it that way, but (for me) the best way is to sing along with the tunes in your car, at practice and gain confidence BEFORE you hit the stage.
There's a reason they say "practice makes perfect"
That all sounds good, but it hasn't come to me in practice. Confidence is a fickle mistress.You could do it that way, but (for me) the best way is to sing along with the tunes in your car, at practice and gain confidence BEFORE you hit the stage.
There's a reason they say "practice makes perfect"
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The directionability and amount of isolation provide by a lav is generally horrible. You can try it, but I wouldn't anticipate stellar results. I would not expect the lav to pick up your voice above everything else unless the stage volume was low. The lav will also not pick up your voice evenly. It will pick up acoustic energy emanating from your chest and not have access to the sibilant frequencies from your lips. Usually quite a bit of corrective EQ is used to get the voice to sound relatively natural...and the end results are typically nowhere near as good as the sound you get from a regular mic. Lavs are primarily desirable from a visual stand point. From an audio stand point they suck.
I'm not looking for isolation. I want room noise, I'm just hoping the proximity of my voice hole will make it the prominent signal.
Like I said, the lav will just feed into my ear, a proper dynamic will feed the room.
Edit, maybe I misunderstood; you're saying it will likely sound like poo and not be a reliable measure even as a room monitor?
I may have nothing to do with confidence. Not everyone possesses the intrinsic aptitude required to sing. I am not judging...I'll leave that to you.
Rather than bothering with the lav, just don't put your vocal mic in the FOH mix. It does take some time to get used to singing on a mic; it's somewhat of a unique skill. Practicing singing on a lav will not help with this. You need to practice singing on a real mic using whatever monitor you will perform with. It's not the same as signing acoustically. The quality of the the monitor mix is also an important factor.
I am saying it will be highly sensitive to stage volume levels and your voice is unlikely to sound natural.
When I can hear myself, I'm absolutely confident in what I'm doing. I'm not great, but being able to hear my mistakes is enough for me to work it out and keep going. My issue is my inability to discern my pitch, and ideally solving that without a wire between me and a monitor source, and more ideally solving that without spending a truckload of cash.
Monitor mixes seem so inconsistent, it's tough to know what I'm getting (hearing) until I'm jumping around mid song (sound check just doesn't cover a whole set) . I'm just trying to solve that. If a lav mic isn't the answer, so be it, I'm just looking for a way to be certain my audio gets to my ear, preferably without a wire connection.
Wouldn’t that tie you down to a single spot on stage while you sing just to mimic the effect of singing into a stationary hand held mic?
Regarding over-ear fixed wireless mics: what happens if you need to sneeze, cough, or clear your throat?
