Help needed mic'ing flute for live rock band

[Peter Lancaster]

My band has a backing singer who also plays flute and viola. We are a Dave Matthews Band / David Gray style band playing small pub and club gigs and she is a classical musician and singer.

She likes to have her instruments and vocals quite loud in the monitor mix on stage because she is used to hearing herself very well when playing/singing classical music. Competing with the sound from a rock drummer 5 feet behind her is an all new experience.

With the vocals there is no problem. We can easily get them loud enough in the monitors.

The feedback issues we have with the viola should cease to be a problem when her custom built electric viola arrives soon.

The remaining problem is the flute. She sings a lot louder than she plays flute and switches between singing and flute mid song so it's not possible to change the gain and eq settings on the mic channel to suit the flute when she plays. As a result it's not loud enough in the monitors (or front of house) for her to hear.

I think I need to use a dedicated mic for the flute, but what type and positioned where? I did an experiment using an AKG D409 (clip on brass/drum mic) positioned close to the blow-hole (I'm sure there's a technical term for that), but I had to have the channel gain right up to get enough signal level and suffered from feedback problems because to switch quickly from vocals to flute she has to be holding the flute whilst singing. Inevitably that means the flute can get rather close to the monitors.

Can anyone suggest a solution that won't cost too much (circa £100-£200)?

Many thanks, Pete.

 

[DJL]

Did you see this http://www.homerecording.com/bbs/showthread.php?threadid=70168 thread? Do a search on this forum, and you'll find all the info you need.

 

[Jimbo Jones]

that's a good thread
seems more recording based and we are talking about live sound and the demon known as feedback.
you're gonna get better results with a cardioid or hypercardioid mic placed real close to the mouthhole (probably wrong term).

there's got to be something you can do with a mixer, either using aux sends or an extra channel, to change levels quicker, but i can't think of it right now.

 

[still4given]

I saw Jethro Tull years ago, and Ian Anderson was using a Sennheiser MD421. Sounded great!

Blessings, Terry

 

[Harvey Gerst]

Do a Google search for "flute mic", and be sure to enclose those two words in quote marks. There are a lot of flute miking systems available out there.

 

[DJL]

I saw Jethro Tull years ago, and Ian Anderson was using a Sennheiser MD421. Sounded great!

Blessings, Terry

And he still does... but remember, he also likes a lot a breath with his flute so he places the mic close to blow hole... lol.

 

[DJL]

that's a good thread
seems more recording based and we are talking about live sound and the demon known as feedback.

Well heck, that's an easy fix... fire the soundman and hire someone who knows what their doing.

 

[Jimbo Jones]

I did an experiment... ...and suffered from feedback problems...

I got the idea that Pete was doing his own sound duties.

My only point in the statement i made was that not every setup that works when recording will have the same results live.

 

[DJL]

Your right... but feedbback is one of the number one no no's when doing sound... unless someone dropped a mic in the monitor or something... I'd fire the soundman if he worked for me and couldn't keep the feedback under control.