Now that we've collectively caught our breath from the Christmas season, it's time to look forward to the next big event on the Church calendar: Easter. For some, the Easter weekend won't be as intense as Christmas. For others, it will be more so. For the past seven years, our church has done two no-spoken-word Good Friday services, followed by five Easter services over the weekend. While the Easter weekend services are similar to our normal ones—except we add a few extra band members—Good Friday brings out the whole team and then some.
Many church audio guys will find themselves having to mic different or unusual instruments for Easter, something is both a challenge and a lot of fun. Like any mic'ing situation, it's important to match the right mic to the source. There are some who eschew the process of proper mic selection and just throw any old mic up on stage. While that's one approach, I've found that carefully selecting each mic and getting it positioned correctly will result in a far more natural sound, require a lot less EQ and generally blend better with the rest of the mix.
Not all vocals are the same
Many churches stock only one type of vocal mic. While this makes mic selection easy (or does it?), it may not lead to the best sound. If you are working with your regular vocal team members, you should have a pretty good idea of what they sound like (or how you like them to sound). Taking a little time to experiment with different mics often leads to dramatic improvements in the sound for each vocalist, which in turn creates a better vocal blend.
For Easter, if special singers will be brought in, I'm not above trying a few different mics on the singer until I hit on one that sounds good. How do you know what sounds good? Flatten the EQ (save for perhaps the high-pass filter) and have them sing. If you're close with no EQ, you have a winner. If your EQ curve looks like a roller coaster at Six Flags, you may want to consider trying a different capsule.
We have several regular worship leaders at our church, and we have played with trying out different capsules for each. Sometimes our first guess is the right one; other times a mic we would never have suspected would work turns out to be the winner. Don't be afraid to try things. The worst that happens is you switch it back.
Many horns and stringed instruments
I don't know what it is about Easter that brings out the orchestras, but we often find ourselves mic'ing string sections, horns and woodwinds. And while it's true that any mic on a violin will get sound, using a purpose-built mic will not only be easier to set up—they typically clip on the bridge and require no stand—they will sound a lot better to boot.
While most of the time we use dynamic mics on stage, condensers rule the orchestra pit. Several manufacturers make either instrument-specific mics or ones that have interchangeable mounts for various instruments. For violins, violas, clarinets and oboes, we typically use small condenser mics with a flat frequency response.
Taking a little time to experiment with different mics often leads to dramatic improvements in the sound….
Getting mics close to the source is another trick for better sound. If you find yourself running short of violin mics, you might try using a headset mic on the player. The capsule ends up pretty close to the ear of the player, which is a great spot to hear the instrument. Clip-on lavalier mics also work well in a pinch.
Once you get into cellos and basses, the options open up quite a bit. Larger diaphragm condensers and even dynamic mics often work well with those two. But don't rule out small clip-on mics, however. Horns are often best mic'd with dynamic elements, if only to handle the sound pressure levels. But again, we are seeing a new crop of purpose-built condenser mics that sound great on horns of all shapes and sizes, often with custom mounts that clip right on the bell.
Again, any mic will “work,” but getting a great orchestra sound is a lot easier with the right mics. Of course, it helps to have great players and instruments, too.
What do you do when you run out of mics?
Easter is a great time to rent mics. It's hard to justify the purchase of a big mic locker if you only use some of the specialty mics once or twice a year. Microphones are one of the cheapest pieces of audio gear to rent, and most large cities have a couple of production houses that have a good selection. Don't be afraid to go outside of your city if you need to, either. Mics aren't heavy or expensive to ship, so you can get them from almost anywhere.
If you are unsure what mic to use for a particular purpose, ask your rental house, or contact an engineer at a nearby church known for good sound. Keep in mind that everyone has opinions on the best mic for a given purpose, and you may have to compromise based on budget and availability.
The wireless option
Often, people will want to try to put everything on a wireless mic for big productions. I generally advise against this, for several reasons. First, wireless is hard. You have to frequency-coordinate everything, deal with batteries and hope your antenna distribution system is up for the task.
Second, they often simply don't sound as good as a wired mic. Instruments and sources that don't move have no real reason to be wireless.
For big events, we often switch our worship leaders from the usual wireless mics we use for services to wired just to give us a little more security—and to accommodate the additional vocalists we always end up with. The rule of thumb should be: if you can wire it, do it.
Mics can make the difference
It's really amazing how much difference the right mic can make, even if the sound system is less than ideal. On the other hand, if the sound system is good, a poor mic choice will produce harsh and brash results or make it sound like there is a blanket over the speakers. I've watched many a production and thought, “Oh, that voice would sound so much better on a different mic.”
It is important to note that we're not talking about “good” mics and “bad” mics here; we're talking about the right mic for a particular source. I've
personally replaced $2,000 worth of mics with ones that cost less than $400 on our Leslie cabinet and the resultant sound improvement was dramatic. It's not that the expensive mics are bad, they were simply not the best choice for that instrument. The cost of the mic is a surprisingly unhelpful indicator of whether or not it will be suitable for a source.
It's almost always going to come down to experimentation and a willingness to try something that doesn't seem like it would work. My current favorite snare mic is marketed as a tom mic; but I love it on the snare. We tried it based on the recommendation from a friend who thought, “I wonder what this would sound like here?”
Preparation is key
Of course, Easter Sunday morning is not the time to be trying out new mics or looking to rent them. You must start working on this now. By the time you read this, we'll be about a month from Easter. There is no better time to start figuring out what you will have to put mics on, and which mics to use. And remember, this is the fun part of our job!
