The next time you're in front of your mixer or console, take a look at all the knobs. You've got the usually bass, mid, treble, and maybe a frequency sweep if you've got parametric EQ on your board. There are probably Aux sends, Effects sends, and the overall channel volume. But one knob I've never seen on a board is a "Sucks" knob. You know, something you can turn down if the sound sucks (or turn up if it's your last night as the band's sound man).
So if the sound coming into the board sucks, there's not a 1-knob solution to fix it, is there? There's only so much you can do with EQ (and extreme EQ moves have their own drawbacks). So what's a sound man on a budget supposed to do?
If you have a crappy sound source or a crappy mic on it, you're pretty much just trying to polish a turd from then on.
Bad sources...sometimes we can do something about that, and sometimes not. If you're trying to mic up a drummer who has a kit that the heads haven't been replaced in this century or doesn't know how to tune them, your hands are tied. Likewise, the guitarist who thinks that a $100 Fender Squire into a Behringer distortion box and a Roland Cube is "his sound" is going to come through like an ice pick to the forehead. But at least you can avoid making it worse than it already is.
And for the musicians that have great gear and know who to use it, so much the better.
A great guitar tone can be ruined by putting a cheap (or damaged) mic in front of it. Likewise, your vocalist could wind up sounding like the speakers at Sonic Drive-In with a $19 no-name mic. No, these days there are a lot of great mics for under $100, and those mics will last you for years if you take care of them.
It's no secret that I'm an old school Shure guy when it comes to mics. In fact, I've done shows with nothing but SM-57's on everything (including the kick drum), and it sounded pretty darned good. An SM-57 will set you back $80, but for the money there's not a better mic in my book for guitar, snare, and toms. Some vocalists like 'em too.
For vocals, the $100 SM-58 (very similar design to the 57) is the industry workhorse. When you see bands on arena shows that could use any mic they wanted still using those for vocals, that's says something. Plus, they're tough as anything....you can darn near pound a nail with 'em and then start singing (note: Please don't try this yourself...I can't be responsible for your mic if you do).
I've also got to give props to Audix for their offerings in vocal mics now...I'm starting to see a lot of them on major shows. In one of my bands, the lead vocalist has started using the OM-7, which was tailor made for a rock-n-roll band with a lot of on stage volume. You get right up on the mic, and it punches right through. But, it's designed so that it doesn't pick up a lot of instrument bleed when you step away from it. It's pricy (about $230 on the street), but if you're a singing guitar player with a loud amp right behind you it's the perfect mic.
I like good ol' dynamic mics on male vocals, but for females I really like to put a condenser on them. One of the best I've heard is the Shure Beta 87C. Great output and a wonderfully open top end. You do have to be a little careful with it...it's got a lot of reach and will pick up the drummer's cymbals very well (which may or may not be a good thing). It's about $250, but if you're a female vocalist and serious about your sound you owe it an audition.
If those prices are a bit much for you, then look at Shure's PG series of mics. They're about half the price and pretty close in quality. Truth be known, the PG-56 has become my new favorite on toms. It's a compact design with a built-in stand adapter. In fact, for about $65 you get the mic and a rim-mount mic holder that attaches to the edge of the drum. For the average drum kit, that's 3 or 4 mic stands that just disappeared from your stage!
If you're wanting to mic the kick drum (and this actually should be the first drum to get attention), then take into account what your PA system will support. If you have a couple of speakers on sticks with 12 inch woofers, you're not going to be able to carry any appreciable amount of low end through them. You could stick a 57 in the kick and pick up a little bit of the beater sound just to help convey the presence of the kick, but that's about all.
But, if you've got some decent full range cabinets and some subwoofers then you've got some options. There are a lot of mics out there now optimized for kick drums. They already have an EQ curve built into them that has a cut between 200 to 400Hz, and a boost up around 3-5kHz.
My favorite kick drum mic is the EV 868, but a lot of people like the Audix D6. The AKG D-112 is a long time standard for mic'ing kick drums as well (I used them back in the 80's). You're looking at around $200 for any of these mics, but they will save you a lot of time at the board trying to dial in a decent sound. The D6 is probably the most aggressive sounding, followed by the 868, with the D-112 being the most mellow of the bunch.
Most sound guys don't worry about overhead mics on a drum kit except on a big stage, but they're missing a lot. A couple of condenser mics up over a drum kit add a lot of space and air to the sound...it really opens it up. In fact, in smaller rooms I'll bring the overheads up first on the board, and then use individual mics on the drums to fill in.
Again, you could spend hundreds (or even thousands) on those mics, but for club and regional work I've found some really good, inexpensive options. I know I rag on Behringer a lot (but hey, most of their rack mount gear that I've bought has crapped out on me). But one thing they got right was the C-2 condenser mic. It's an omni directional with a nice flat response. And get this, you can get a pair of them for about $60.
I know that this post read like a Shure and Audix commercial, but I'm not making any money from 'em. This is just the gear that I've had experience with and has had a good track record with me.
And oh yeah..last week's trivia question....
Q: What's the best song to end your sound check with?
A: The first song of the night!
Think about it, whatever tweaks you make to that tune means that you're starting from much more of a "known" point. Of course, if you're running late and have to sound check in front of an audience this doesn't work. In that case you want to check with a "dense" song....lots of vocals and heavy instrumentation....unless you're an acoustic band:)
Next week, let's get our hands on a console and get the monitors for the band set up.
Until then, keep the meters out of the red!
Ken
So if the sound coming into the board sucks, there's not a 1-knob solution to fix it, is there? There's only so much you can do with EQ (and extreme EQ moves have their own drawbacks). So what's a sound man on a budget supposed to do?
If you have a crappy sound source or a crappy mic on it, you're pretty much just trying to polish a turd from then on.
Bad sources...sometimes we can do something about that, and sometimes not. If you're trying to mic up a drummer who has a kit that the heads haven't been replaced in this century or doesn't know how to tune them, your hands are tied. Likewise, the guitarist who thinks that a $100 Fender Squire into a Behringer distortion box and a Roland Cube is "his sound" is going to come through like an ice pick to the forehead. But at least you can avoid making it worse than it already is.
And for the musicians that have great gear and know who to use it, so much the better.
A great guitar tone can be ruined by putting a cheap (or damaged) mic in front of it. Likewise, your vocalist could wind up sounding like the speakers at Sonic Drive-In with a $19 no-name mic. No, these days there are a lot of great mics for under $100, and those mics will last you for years if you take care of them.
It's no secret that I'm an old school Shure guy when it comes to mics. In fact, I've done shows with nothing but SM-57's on everything (including the kick drum), and it sounded pretty darned good. An SM-57 will set you back $80, but for the money there's not a better mic in my book for guitar, snare, and toms. Some vocalists like 'em too.
For vocals, the $100 SM-58 (very similar design to the 57) is the industry workhorse. When you see bands on arena shows that could use any mic they wanted still using those for vocals, that's says something. Plus, they're tough as anything....you can darn near pound a nail with 'em and then start singing (note: Please don't try this yourself...I can't be responsible for your mic if you do).
I've also got to give props to Audix for their offerings in vocal mics now...I'm starting to see a lot of them on major shows. In one of my bands, the lead vocalist has started using the OM-7, which was tailor made for a rock-n-roll band with a lot of on stage volume. You get right up on the mic, and it punches right through. But, it's designed so that it doesn't pick up a lot of instrument bleed when you step away from it. It's pricy (about $230 on the street), but if you're a singing guitar player with a loud amp right behind you it's the perfect mic.
I like good ol' dynamic mics on male vocals, but for females I really like to put a condenser on them. One of the best I've heard is the Shure Beta 87C. Great output and a wonderfully open top end. You do have to be a little careful with it...it's got a lot of reach and will pick up the drummer's cymbals very well (which may or may not be a good thing). It's about $250, but if you're a female vocalist and serious about your sound you owe it an audition.
If those prices are a bit much for you, then look at Shure's PG series of mics. They're about half the price and pretty close in quality. Truth be known, the PG-56 has become my new favorite on toms. It's a compact design with a built-in stand adapter. In fact, for about $65 you get the mic and a rim-mount mic holder that attaches to the edge of the drum. For the average drum kit, that's 3 or 4 mic stands that just disappeared from your stage!
If you're wanting to mic the kick drum (and this actually should be the first drum to get attention), then take into account what your PA system will support. If you have a couple of speakers on sticks with 12 inch woofers, you're not going to be able to carry any appreciable amount of low end through them. You could stick a 57 in the kick and pick up a little bit of the beater sound just to help convey the presence of the kick, but that's about all.
But, if you've got some decent full range cabinets and some subwoofers then you've got some options. There are a lot of mics out there now optimized for kick drums. They already have an EQ curve built into them that has a cut between 200 to 400Hz, and a boost up around 3-5kHz.
My favorite kick drum mic is the EV 868, but a lot of people like the Audix D6. The AKG D-112 is a long time standard for mic'ing kick drums as well (I used them back in the 80's). You're looking at around $200 for any of these mics, but they will save you a lot of time at the board trying to dial in a decent sound. The D6 is probably the most aggressive sounding, followed by the 868, with the D-112 being the most mellow of the bunch.
Most sound guys don't worry about overhead mics on a drum kit except on a big stage, but they're missing a lot. A couple of condenser mics up over a drum kit add a lot of space and air to the sound...it really opens it up. In fact, in smaller rooms I'll bring the overheads up first on the board, and then use individual mics on the drums to fill in.
Again, you could spend hundreds (or even thousands) on those mics, but for club and regional work I've found some really good, inexpensive options. I know I rag on Behringer a lot (but hey, most of their rack mount gear that I've bought has crapped out on me). But one thing they got right was the C-2 condenser mic. It's an omni directional with a nice flat response. And get this, you can get a pair of them for about $60.
I know that this post read like a Shure and Audix commercial, but I'm not making any money from 'em. This is just the gear that I've had experience with and has had a good track record with me.
And oh yeah..last week's trivia question....
Q: What's the best song to end your sound check with?
A: The first song of the night!
Think about it, whatever tweaks you make to that tune means that you're starting from much more of a "known" point. Of course, if you're running late and have to sound check in front of an audience this doesn't work. In that case you want to check with a "dense" song....lots of vocals and heavy instrumentation....unless you're an acoustic band:)
Next week, let's get our hands on a console and get the monitors for the band set up.
Until then, keep the meters out of the red!
Ken
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