Mic: Feedback problem

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question444

New member
Hi...quick question. I sing in a group and we practice in the garage. It's about a 15'X8' foot space. Attached to this thread is a drawing of our setup. I'm using a Sennheiser, I believe e835 mic. I'm having trouble getting the mic to equal the drums/guitars, without feeding back. I've messed with the eq and placement with no luck. Any suggestions? I know this is not the real purpose of a pa, but shouldn't it work? for practicing with the band? There has to be a solution. Ideas and suggestions appreciated. -Perry
 

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Reflections and EQ

question444 said:
Hi...quick question. I sing in a group and we practice in the garage. It's about a 15'X8' foot space. Attached to this thread is a drawing of our setup. I'm using a Sennheiser, I believe e835 mic. I'm having trouble getting the mic to equal the drums/guitars, without feeding back. I've messed with the eq and placement with no luck. Any suggestions? I know this is not the real purpose of a pa, but shouldn't it work? for practicing with the band? There has to be a solution. Ideas and suggestions appreciated. -Perry
Click to expand...

(quick mental conversion) 5m x 2.6m; that's quite a small space. What kind of walls are they? You're probably going to struggle to get too much level, but if the walls are quite reflective (to sound) it would help to try to deaden the sound reflections - hang up heavy curtains, foam, try whatever you have around. Also if you have sweepable mids on your mixer try getting just to the point of feedback and knock a wee bit off the mids then sweep the frequency until it drops a bit. Don't knock off too much.

Re the mic, I'm not familiar with that model but try seeing if you can borrow a Shure SM58 and see if you notice any difference.

Sorry this isn't much, but hope it helps a bit.

Cya
Andrew
 
re

Thanks for your help! It's actually a two-car garage. We use one side of it, the other side is a bunch of crap. I think the half that we use is about near those dimensions. It really is, "just enough". The walls are drywall, a concrete floor, and wooden garage doors. Do you think also a rug on the floor would help, does the sound reflect off of it as well? Thanks for the tips on covering the walls. -Perry
 
question444 said:
Thanks for your help! It's actually a two-car garage. We use one side of it, the other side is a bunch of crap. I think the half that we use is about near those dimensions. It really is, "just enough". The walls are drywall, a concrete floor, and wooden garage doors. Do you think also a rug on the floor would help, does the sound reflect off of it as well? Thanks for the tips on covering the walls. -Perry
Click to expand...

It definately wouldn't hurt. Try that first, on its own, and see if it helps at all. If not then try the walls.

Cya
Andrew
 
As a FOH and monitor engineer, you are having a common problem. The first problem is probably actually the "stage volume" as its refferred to. Maybe the drums and guitars need to come down. A homemade baffle between the vocal mics and the drums can also be useful. Also, move the amps around compared to the PA speakers so that the amps aren't firing straight at you but the PA is. If none of this works, you may need a graphic EQ or in-ear monitors:(
 
question444 said:
Hi...quick question. I sing in a group and we practice in the garage. It's about a 15'X8' foot space. Attached to this thread is a drawing of our setup. I'm using a Sennheiser, I believe e835 mic. I'm having trouble getting the mic to equal the drums/guitars, without feeding back. I've messed with the eq and placement with no luck. Any suggestions? I know this is not the real purpose of a pa, but shouldn't it work? for practicing with the band? There has to be a solution. Ideas and suggestions appreciated. -Perry
Click to expand...

Give the drummer some headphones and whack up the volume - that helps my drummer to play a bit softer - plus you can really shout at him throught the mix.
 
Lose one of the PA speakers, you don't need two in such a small space. Get the remaining speaker up at ear level.
 
No one has mentioned this but which way are you facing when you sing? You know that you shouldn't have your back to the speakers right? Very basic info but small stuff gets overlooked sometimes. At the same time, having your back right up against the drums isn't ideal either.
 
Try the Behringer Feedback Destroyer. My band used it back when we had a closet of a rehearsal space and it did help quite a bit. It'll change the sound of the signal slightly because it notch filters out resonant frequencies, but for your purposes it should matter.
 
The Behringer may work, but it will change the sound more than just slightly. I would stay with 2 speakers, put them elevated behind the drummer, put a mattress in front of the drums, and face the speakers. If your lead singer doesn't also play an instrument, try and get him out of the direct focus of the guitar cabs as well.
 
I'd get a 31-band graphic eq over the feedback destroyer. Not only could you tweak it for your space, but you could use it for other things.
 
re

paddyponchero-What do you mean by give him headphones? Like hearing protection? Or actual headphones, with the pa signal going through them?

mshilarious-Actually, we are already only using one of the speakers. I will try the ear-level idea, thanks.

Wireneck-I try to be as far from the drums and speakers as possible, while facing the speakers.

Thanks for the advice everyone...-Perry
 
Howdy,

It looks like you have both speakers aimed directly at
the mics. Try pulling them forward toward you a bit and
then turn them around. Those speakers aimed at the mics
will never work. You also might set up your mics without
anyone playing. Get what you can from the gain on your
board and then have everyone else set their levels to you.
You have to play the room. No matter what size it is! Also
Behringer makes a speaker control unit called the Ultra drive
pro. It alows you to set notch filters to trim the problem
frequency, which is usually the high end.

Good luck
 
re

Well here is the new setup. I've got rid of one of the speakers, and elevated the other to ear-level. With the extra space now, I've setup the mic to the side/behind the speaker. I managed to get it pretty loud. However the drummer didn't show up for practice so I couldn't truly test it. Thanks for the help guys. -Perry
 

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Point the amps at the ears of the people who need to hear them most. When they start going deaf, they will turn down, and you will be able to hear your vocals.
 
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