Cardiods on-stage???

[mikesalvo]

once again, my bad for originally posting this in the wrong section...

hey all,

I have a pair of AT4041 cards that I am trying to get the best sound out of. what are some good options as far as running them on stage? is it worth it? How about pattern/placement??? And will it be hard to capture good vocals?


thanks as always!,
Mike

[Ryan Sims]

I've only run onstage for bands without vocals.  However, my rule of thumb (only have cards right now) is to start NOS and narrow/adjust otherwise from there.  Vocals on the onstage tapes I've heard are not at all the strongest point, at all.  If you're cool enough with the band to run that close, you might want to try taking a feed from the board as well, just to get some vocal presence.

Best of luck.  It's a learning experience.  If this tape is important, get there early and tweak during soundcheck.

[darby]

depending on how wide the stage is you may have to go beyond 90 degrees

[easy jim]

depending on how wide the stage is you may have to go beyond 90 degrees

...and do not be afraid to split them and throw out traditional stereo pair techiniques if the stage plot calls for it.  For instance, if the drums are centered and loud, while the amps are not very loud and concentrated on the wings of the stage, you'll be much better off splitting the mics vs. running a traditional stereo pair DFC on the stage lip.

Most of my stage sources these days are the 414s split and using the wide-cardioid pattern, however, I also like doing split card set-ups with SD mics and then will often point them in at the drums a bit.

Plan, however, that you will get hosed on the vocals for any stage mic set-up.  Even if you get a good shot from the monitors, the vocals generally sound crappy out of monitors vs. a PA recoding or a SBD feed.  Stage micing is not generally appropriate for a band with vocals unless you also have a room/PA source or the SBD feed to make a matrix.

[bgalizio]

Plan, however, that you will get hosed on the vocals for any stage mic set-up.  Even if you get a good shot from the monitors, the vocals generally sound crappy out of monitors vs. a PA recoding or a SBD feed.  Stage micing is not generally appropriate for a band with vocals unless you also have a room/PA source or the SBD feed to make a matrix.

Unless the band all plays & sings around one LD mic. That's the extent of my on-stage experience, and the tape came out very well (Boulder Acoustic Society).

[easy jim]

Unless the band all plays & sings around one LD mic.

Point well taken.  I should have qualified the last sentence of my previous post with: except in acoustic music situations, where everything will depend on the relative volumes of the acoustic instruments, the vocals, and the monitors (if present).