Some people choose their microphones by their cheapness, looks, weight or even if the salesman throws it in free with the mixer!

WARNING!
MICROPHONES MAKE ALL THE DIFFERENCE!
DM Music would like to issue a public health warning! It is essential that specific microphones are used according to the job at hand. Obviously requirement must be fully understood before purchasing any sound re-enforcement equipment, but never more so than in choosing your microphones. If in doubt please call us on: 0844 980 9822.

THIS IS OUR AREA OF EXPERTISE!!

As good as dynamic mics are these days, there are still situations in the church where they are simply not the right tools for the job. Yes SM58’s are great microphones - but may not suit every situation. Customers sometimes lack the confidence to step outside of their own experience, preferring to ‘stick with what they know. This can often be to their detriment. Most people do not feel comfortable with a microphone right up to their mouths, but prefer them to be at arms length. Others have rarely used a microphone before and don’t have the experience or confidence to use a dynamic microphone correctly. DM Music understands this requirement. As well as being audio professionals, we are also in church every Sunday and know this scenario first hand. If you are unsure about which mic is best, please feel free to contact us on our freephone number and we will try to help.

Lectern microphones
it may be a simple wooden readers lectern or an elaborate golden eagle, but either way the microphone at this point needs to be able to compensate for a variety of users; tall/short, confident/ shy and people who do not necessarily have good quality mic technique. Lectern mics can either be stand mounted or fixed.

Pulpit microphones
Some preachers stand still, others are more animated and move around. Either way their efforts should be directed towards delivering an important message and not worrying about whether the mic is picking them up or not.

Platform, dais, stage
For interviews, testimonies, childrens work etc. Picture this; a new family is being welcomed into the church at the front. They are a bit nervous and their body language tells you so. The last thing they want is someone sticking a mic in their face.

The most common type of mic found in contemporary sound systems. A coil of wire is attached to a diaphragm suspended in a magnetic field. When sound strikes the diaphragm, it vibrates in response generating an electrical signal similar to the incoming wave. Dynamic mics are highly dependable, rugged, reliable and require no power supply. Most Dynamic mics are used for close proximity work such as singing / vocals or near instrument pick up of guitar amps, bass drums and snares.

Condenser mics require a power supply to operate the internal electronics and provide a clear, detailed sound quality with a wider, smoother response than dynamic mics. The internal amplifiers in condensers boost the incoming signal and are therefore used in extended reach requirements such as lecterns, pulpits, interviews, testimonies, drama and children’s work. They also benefit from a flat response, which means they have fewer resonant peaks, and are less susceptible to feedback. Condenser mics can be found in a number of forms-stand mics, lapels or goosenecks.

Q. Where is the best placement for a choir/drama microphone?

A. They should be located forward of the front most source, above the rear most source, and ‘aimed’ between them. See diagrams right. Increasing the height of the mic above the sources will tend to equalise sound levels between them, but may also increase the reverberant sound pickup. Therefore the distance from the microphones to the rear most pickup should be no more than twice the distance to the front source, to maintain the front-to-rear balance. The width of the pick up is approximately three times the distance to the closest performer.

A word of warning here; if the additional mics are needed, they should not be closer together laterally than three times the distance to the front source, to avoid phase cancellation.

The squeal, ringing or rumble caused by the sound from the loudspeakers reaching the microphones and travelling back through the system over an over at a resonant frequency. The frequency of any feedback is determined by the characteristics of the room and the equipment.

To reduce feedback:

1. Turn down the volume on the offending mic

2. Use as few mics as poss. Gain before feedback decreases 3dB each time the no. of mics doubles

3. Directional mics pick up less feedback

4. Place the mic close to the sound source for higher gain before feedback

5. Equalise the room with a 3rd octave graphic equaliser

6. Keep mics as far behind main speakers as possible

7. Place monitor speakers directly behind mics

8. Use directional mics. Hypercardioids and supercardiods are best at rejecting feedback. Omnidirectionals are best avoided live but are good for recording

9. Use same mics where poss. A cardioid mic provides x4.8dB more gain before feedback than an omni at same distance from sound source

10. Turn off mics not in use. Use the mixers’ channel on/off buttons.

If you have a drum kit in your church you may think that the last thing you need is to make it louder! But a well miked kit can be subtly balanced with the music and will allow other musicians to benefit from hearing the kit in stage foldback monitors if they require to.

the two main kit miking setups are as follows:

Ambient - use just one or two mics for the drums, usually a condenser mic suspended overhead and maybe a bass drum dynamic mic to bring out the bottom end frequencies.

Close miking - a dedicated mic for each drum and perhaps more for hi hat and cymbals:
Snare and toms - dynamic mics for full range sound eg SM57 for snare, SM58 for toms.
Bass drum - dynamic mic with low end frequency response eg. AKG D112
Hi hat - condenser mic for picking up the higher and more subtle frequencies eg. Audio Technica AT8033
Cymbals ("overheads") condender mis (one or two) like Hi hat miking for higher frequencies eg. AKG C1000s

As with any mic, always experiment with positioning and drum tuning to achieve best results. Drums often benefit from some careful compression in the mix to round off and create a more coherent drum sound.