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The Tremolo Microphones are often indicated, even when amplification is not; and if you're playing ensemble with electric guitars or any other instruments with might, you are going to need some more. Tremolo can be interesting in these things. Here are some items. MicrophonesThe preferred sort of microphone, depends upon the purpose at hand. If recording alone is the need, a good wide-field omnidirectional made for the stage will probably be best, because you won't have to worry about trying not to move around or anything other than music, once the rig is good. But omnis are almost all of the "condenser" variety (I am told that the proper word is "electret", but in sales literature it's usually "condenser"), which means you can't just use a simple two-conductor wire from mike to recorder. Any given condenser mike is designed to require its own particular type of power injection into its transmission wire. Stage mikes use "phantom power" from the mixer board or DI box or other equipment, and many others, including the vast majority of the small clip-on mikes, use batteries inside them, or small battery packs, or AC adapters. "Bias power" is one type of power needed by condenser mikes when phantom power is not, and there are others. There is also, I believe, at least one other large category of power injection used for very long cable runs. The gist of it is, getting it right can be interesting. If you can do a wide-field omni made to pick up a large area, I would do that for recording, because once it's set up you don't have to worry about anything except maybe shoe noise on the floor. But obviously it can get interesting to do omni. If it's too much, I would set up a small amplification rig as below, so you can control your electronic output by ear, and record using a basic dynamic microphone pointed at the speaker. There is one circumstance in which I think there is no option besides condenser, and that is playing harmonica and piano simultaneously, with a holder for the harmonica. In this case you can't use a dynamic because they don't make dynamics small enough to clip on (your hands are busy!), and you can't use a stage omni because it will pick up the piano and your levels will go haywire. In this case, I heartily recommend The Sound Professionals. They will work with you, build a custom clip-on to suit whatever you have. They are unique in my experience in being able to custom-build a clip-on omni which will work with stage phantom power, and they are very friendly, they will find a clip which works with your hardware and will work to your needs most carefully. Amplification: The Small Rig Works BigBy far the easiest way to go, I am convinced, is to use as first two pieces of equipment, (a) an ordinary dynamic mike, with (b) a small but good-quality instrument amplifier made for electric guitarists to practice. A very experienced friend of mine gifted me with one, and I've never looked back. I do not intend ever to plug a harmonica-based mike directly into a PA ever again: if I need more than that tiny little 15W amp gives me, I'll put a standard stage mike on it. I have played directly through a number of PAs. The results were occasionally good, but more often rather troubling. Most of all, the extreme high overtones of my tremolos seemed to want to overwhelm either the PA, the listeners' ears, or both. I'm sure that if I had an equalizer at each location and lots of time to tweak, there would not have been a problem. But anyone who gigs for real will learn that there usually is not that kind of time, and equally, not that kind of access to the equipment. I have thought of using a dynamic with a very portable equalizer or small mixer (I have one to take!), but one thing we don't want to do is to make the sound people uncomfortable, and one of the easy ways to do that is to add another mixer to their setup. So if the sound people at a place tell you to do something, do it; but if they ask you... ...Just use a small amp. You may have to test a few before you find one which gives you a pleasing tone for your instruments. I was very fortunate in that my benefactor knows something of harmonica tone needs and had received an inspired thought upon studying the response of what is now my sweet little Yamaha. When you have the right one, you will find that ears don't hurt and speaker cones do not threaten to crumble, while at the same time you will have all of the expression you need, playing through a nice ordinary voice-and-singing mike. I am filling a 450-seat hall with my 15W amplifier, with no link at all to the PA; in fact, I aim the amp in such a way that the sound bounces off of two distant walls before it might see the back of any of the mikes on stage, and all reports so far are good, I keep the little guy at about 1/2 max volume. I'll expect to need more for outside work, but I'll just ask for one of the voice mikes already rigged, and that will work just dandy. |
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