How do you add weight to a mic stand?

  • Thread starter Thread starter NoFO
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NoFO

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Fellas and gals-

I'm going to be doing a remote recording/ live sound for a full orchestra/ choir, which is nothing too different for me, but this will be OUTSIDE! I've got my windscreens primed and ready to go, but i'm concerned about the mic stands falling over if it's windy. They will be extended as far up as they can go, so it does concern me.

Does anyone have any quick tricks (besides buying heavier mic stands) to weigh them down, while not cluttering them up? I was thnking about maybe attaching metal rods to the legs, maybe with black duct tape.. anyon have a better idea?

Thanks in advance, you guys rock! :cool:
 
I agree with the barbell weights. I have used the cheap plastic coated ones before and they work great.The hole is just the right size,and basically being cement filled plastic, they don't have any sympathetic sounds.
tmix
 
I'm thinking the barbell ones would not work too well in terms of the "look" of it. for the choir mics, since they are behind the orchestra, i would not care, no one can see back there. for the orchestra mics, they will be very visible to the crowd, so maybe i should just buy one nics heavy stand for there.... hmmmm

:D
 
Take the rubber feet off of the stand and fill the legs with something heavy like some
strips of lead or something like that.
 
NoFO said:
Does anyone have any quick tricks (besides buying heavier mic stands) to weigh them down, while not cluttering them up
Click to expand...

NoFo, I had a live outside event recently and was trying to solve the same problem. I had nightmares of one of my prize LD condensors crashing to the ground.

I never had to solve the problem but what I came up with next time was to go to the your local gun store or large sporting good store and buy a bag of Steel Shot. These are small steel balls that are used for reloading.

I also noticed Daisy makes 10lb bags of BB's, this might be a good solution as well.

The other idea I had was to go to your local building supply store and buy a bag of "Playground Sand". This is cleaner and finer than sand used for construction. If the bags are too big I thought about buying the large heavy duty freezer ziplock bags and partially filling them with the sand. I wouldn't overfill the bags so there is plenty of room.

Like I said, I haven't tried either of these ideas but don't see any reason why they wouldn't fly.

Lee
 
I use sandbags and/or hand weights. The weights are more stable, but the sandbags are good for awkward fits.
 
Just get Ginette Reno as a client, and have her step on the stand!

:D :D
 
Ba-Dum-Bum!:p



I'd say go with heavier stands.....oh.......nevermind.

What Bruce said, then!

:D
 
sandbags. This is what the film guys use to keep their light stands from falling over. and believe me, a 1000W beamer is a little bit heavier than a microphone, and they put it very often at about 8ft above the ground....
 
Around here the wind blows a lot, we use designer sandbags on tripod stands.
 
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