I don't try to hide it, I am not a fan of hanging stage mics. The results are just not what people expect. Here are my thoughts as to why:
Full disclosure: Most people want to use hanging or front-of-stage mics for a theater presentation as an alternative to requiring 20, 30, or more wireless mics--especially when some of those actors only have one line. I get that. And yes, Fedora AV earns more when you rent more wireless mics from us. But my intention is really to set expectations correctly. After years of trying various methods, stage mic'ing just doesn't work.
When mic'ing an actor with a headworn or theater mic, the mic element is normally about 2-5" away from the mouth, being the voice source. The closer the mic is to the source the better from an audio quality perspective (which is why the Countryman E6-style mics sound so good). Professional theater, as you know, place mics over the ear or on the forehead at the hairline, or something similar, to keep them a constant distance of about 4-5" away.
What moves the mic element is changes in sound pressure. Because "sound pressure level" (SPL) disperses at a fairly significant rate (I'll spare you the physics), at a distance of only 6 feet, one would have to actually shout to create the same SPL as normal speech at one foot. And that's at just 6'. Talk normal at 1', scream at 6'.
So, why not just turn up the sensitivity on the mic? Well, you can. Sort of. What you really do, is turn up the volume of whatever the mic is picking up. And unfortunately the ambient noise of the stage starts to come into play. The mic cannot distinguish voice from other sounds, so it amplifies whatever it picks up, including sound from the speakers themselves, creating feedback, which nobody likes. So, gain before feedback becomes a critical balancing act.
In practice, stage mics any further than about 2-3' from the performer are functionally worthless in my opinion. And even in those cases, the actors must speak extra loudly to get heard.
The same is true of stage mics at the front edge of the stage. However, front-edge mics at least have the advantage of being in the flow of the performer sound. Most speech tends to go down, not up, and towards the audience. But still, the proximity issue comes into play.
So, what can you do? Theater directors do have a couple options. One is to have actors trade microphones. This works when the actors have mutually exclusive scenes. However, as a mic owner, I cringe at this plan. The hurried removal and replacement of the mic in the heat of performance has resulted in many broken mic cables and beltpacks.
Another option that we have used with some success for certain theater types, is to have 2-3 people wear a wireless microphone on their shoulder or in their hair, pointing backwards. Then, that person becomes a sort of roving microphone. Theater blocking is simply arranged to get the speakers as close as possible to one of those roving mic people.
Professional theater groups never compromise on microphones for the actors, but then professional groups aren't worried about giving every performer a chance to have a speaking line. School and church groups often are. Theater is so often a life of compromise.
Still, stage mics should never be considered as an alternative to wireless mics for actors. Wireless is really the only way to go.
Full disclosure: Most people want to use hanging or front-of-stage mics for a theater presentation as an alternative to requiring 20, 30, or more wireless mics--especially when some of those actors only have one line. I get that. And yes, Fedora AV earns more when you rent more wireless mics from us. But my intention is really to set expectations correctly. After years of trying various methods, stage mic'ing just doesn't work.
When mic'ing an actor with a headworn or theater mic, the mic element is normally about 2-5" away from the mouth, being the voice source. The closer the mic is to the source the better from an audio quality perspective (which is why the Countryman E6-style mics sound so good). Professional theater, as you know, place mics over the ear or on the forehead at the hairline, or something similar, to keep them a constant distance of about 4-5" away.
What moves the mic element is changes in sound pressure. Because "sound pressure level" (SPL) disperses at a fairly significant rate (I'll spare you the physics), at a distance of only 6 feet, one would have to actually shout to create the same SPL as normal speech at one foot. And that's at just 6'. Talk normal at 1', scream at 6'.
So, why not just turn up the sensitivity on the mic? Well, you can. Sort of. What you really do, is turn up the volume of whatever the mic is picking up. And unfortunately the ambient noise of the stage starts to come into play. The mic cannot distinguish voice from other sounds, so it amplifies whatever it picks up, including sound from the speakers themselves, creating feedback, which nobody likes. So, gain before feedback becomes a critical balancing act.
In practice, stage mics any further than about 2-3' from the performer are functionally worthless in my opinion. And even in those cases, the actors must speak extra loudly to get heard.
The same is true of stage mics at the front edge of the stage. However, front-edge mics at least have the advantage of being in the flow of the performer sound. Most speech tends to go down, not up, and towards the audience. But still, the proximity issue comes into play.
So, what can you do? Theater directors do have a couple options. One is to have actors trade microphones. This works when the actors have mutually exclusive scenes. However, as a mic owner, I cringe at this plan. The hurried removal and replacement of the mic in the heat of performance has resulted in many broken mic cables and beltpacks.
Another option that we have used with some success for certain theater types, is to have 2-3 people wear a wireless microphone on their shoulder or in their hair, pointing backwards. Then, that person becomes a sort of roving microphone. Theater blocking is simply arranged to get the speakers as close as possible to one of those roving mic people.
Professional theater groups never compromise on microphones for the actors, but then professional groups aren't worried about giving every performer a chance to have a speaking line. School and church groups often are. Theater is so often a life of compromise.
Still, stage mics should never be considered as an alternative to wireless mics for actors. Wireless is really the only way to go.
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