Members drenwick Posted February 14, 2008 Members Share Posted February 14, 2008 Just read with interest the thread on feedback control and saw a lot of comments on using proper placement of mains/mons/mics etc. but nobody defined what that was... In my case we have guitar, bass and drums, two vocal mics out front, 15" mains on stands (2) and 12" monitors on the floor (2). Playing small to medium bars and clubs (50-150). What are the fundamentals as to where everything should go? The only dumb q's are those that aren't asked, right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members abzurd Posted February 14, 2008 Members Share Posted February 14, 2008 Keep the mains in front of the microphones If you have to angle the mains toward the middle of the venue, be careful not to overdo it and aim them into the microphones. If you are using cardioid pattern mics, then put the monitor right behind the mic (directly in front of you). Notice in pic below, the least sensitive part of the pattern is directly behind the mic. If using hyper-cardioid mics, you may want to move your monitor off to the side just a bit and not put directly in front of you. Notice in pic below there is a small area directly behind the mic that is actually sensitive. (pic is flipped 180 from the one above). I actually use a hyper mic and put monitor in front of me regularly. It all depends on the mic, how hot it is, how loud your monitor is, and how the monitor is eq'd. A tip to ring out the monitors is to cup your palm over the mic while the gain is being turned up. This will cause feedback at some point (not cupping it will too at some point, but at a higher level). Pull down the frequency that's making it feedback until it stops. Repeat a few times. Don't make deep cuts right away. If you generally don't ring them out much. It's still not a bad idea to try putting your hand over the mic before you're ready to go. If it starts to feedback, you're probably likely to have issues during the show. While on the subject of EQ - Avoid big smiley face EQ with bass and treble elevated. For the most part, use the EQ to cut frequencies versus boosting. Try to keep the thing from looking like a roller coaster. Just EQ what needs it and don't get carried away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Gary in NJ Posted February 14, 2008 Members Share Posted February 14, 2008 I try to keep the face of the mic 3 feet (think of a plumb line dropped from the front of the mic) from the front of the monitor cab. Some monitors have placement for different angles. Place the monitor so it is firing at your head. I try to keep the centerline of the mic on the same angle because a cardioid mic (i.e. Shure SM58) picks up little sound from directly behind it. I also keep the horn/tweeter directly behind the mic because the frequencies emanating from the horn are the ones most likely to give you the hi-frequency squeal during a performance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members drenwick Posted February 14, 2008 Author Members Share Posted February 14, 2008 Great info. We use Audix OM2 which I bebelieve is hyper-cardioid... Am currently hunting for a Peavey dual 31 band EQ (w/FLS) so at the moment all I have is the EQ on my mixer. A few follow ups: ...proper bass and guitar amp placement? ...and please explain "ringing out" and "gain staging". Thank you SO much for sharing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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