Topic: Some help on mic'ing

[cyfan]

A singer-songwriter I love is playing his annual Saturday after Thanksgiving show this year and I pulled a shit tape last year so I'm looking to try a new strategy this year.

Set up is acoustic guitar (DI) and vocal mic run through the sound system and a pedal steel guitar, which won't have the amp mic'd by the house. It's a long narrow pub and the stage is in the middle and faces across the short-way, but the PAs hanging from the ceiling face in opposite directions the long way.

Ideally, I would patch the soundboard for a mono feed of the guitar and vocals and use the other channel to mic the pedal steel myself. (Yeah, I know I lose any real stereo effect, but I tried that last year). Unfortunately, the console is behind the bar and I don't think the owner will let me to it (he didn't last year).

I only have cardiod mics, so split omnis on stage are NOT an option.
Plus, the place can be chatty as hell.

The best idea I can think of, at this point, is to close mic one of the PAs and close mic the pedal steel amp with my own gear. Mixing it down mono. (The PAs won't be really loud, and I'm talking about being a foot away). One variation might be close mic'ing the singer's monitor instead of the PA, but I"m guessing the mix will be better in the PA.

I"m still hoping for the board feed, but if that falls thorugh does anybody else have suggestions.

Thanks,
Tim

PS, Did I mention I ran the mics DFC (X-Y) about 10 feet away last year and it sounded like shit.

[Fatah Ruark (aka MIKE B)]

Maybe you could just run in front of (and close to) one of the PA speakers. I've tried that before under similar circumstances. The loudness of being close to the speaker will cut down on the amount of chatter you pick up. Maybe if the Pedal Steel is set up on one side of the stage you could set up on the same side.

EDIT: FWIW, I ran DIN about 10 feet from the right speaker when I was in this situation. Here is the result the first time I did this:

http://www.archive.org/details/meco2005-04-23.flac16

[cyfan]

Maybe you could just run in front of (and close to) one of the PA speakers. I've tried that before under similar circumstances. The loudness of being close to the speaker will cut down on the amount of chatter you pick up. Maybe if the Pedal Steel is set up on one side of the stage you could set up on the same side.

EDIT: FWIW, I ran DIN about 10 feet from the right speaker when I was in this situation. Here is the result the first time I did this:

http://www.archive.org/details/meco2005-04-23.flac16

Thanks for the reinforcement. I've run with my mics about 3 ft. from a PA before and it sounded great. Given the arrangement at this bar, and assuming this duo sets up like last year, I'll need to get about 1 foot from the PA to avoid the walking area, but there's a booth right there for my gear. It is near impossible to get 3-10 feet from the stack head on. And, I really want that second mic right on the pedal steel amp, it's my favorite instrument and its imperative I get it in the mix.
One the upside, the artist is cool as hell with taping and knows me well by now, as I've run full multi-track tapes on several of his band shows (yet, he's afraid to go to bat with the owner too for the board feed... um, you'd have to meet the owner to understand).

BTW, I've already got that MECo tape of yours. It truly kicks ass