Looking for live, omni condenser

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tvolhein

Tom Volhein
I am thinking of using a condenser, omni or most appropriate, mic for live performances (not recording only) for a 3-5 piece acoustic string band. One that I have heard about is the Audio Technica ATM10A.

I am unsure of it.

Has anyone used an omni condenser for live performances? And if so, what is a good mic for that?

Thanks

Tom
 
Omnis are fine in the right hands. Here's a link to an article on the DPA website about using omnis live:

http://www.dpamicrophones.com/

The key is getting close enough to get a good ratio of direct to indirect sound. I'm not sure how easy this would be micing an ensemble- it might be unworkable except in situations where the crowd is going to be cooperative ie quiet and monitoring is minimal or specialized just for this purpose. You'd want to spend a lot of time working on both FOH and monitors, even before the first gig. It's not something you want to just show up and try for the first time at a gig. I've used omnis for close-micing single instruments before, even in some challenging situations- loud stage, loud crowd, low ceilings, etc., and for that they certainly can sound excellent.

As far as specifics, I have an AT30 series, it's pretty decent, I don't know how it stacks up against others.

For general purpose ensemble single-mic work, a decent cardioid mic with good off-axis response might be a better choice. That way you'll at least have a snowball's chance in hell of being heard, and maybe even get some monitor action without having to do anything too fancy.
 
sounds like a job for the naiant's...

they're small as shit, so won't be in the way

and if something happens to the mic, you're only out $25-30
 
It is fine if you can close mic instruments. I used an MSH-2 on flute and an MSH-4 on cello for a friend's wedding a few weeks back. Worked quite well.

I tried an omni LDC for speaking voices at about twenty feet away from the speakers and still had truckloads of feetback, though, so had to switch it into figure-8 mode.

Depends highly on the source and the gain needed. :)
 
TheHunter said:
MSH-1 is just too hot for live... doesn't work for me!
Click to expand...

If you mean feedback, it is not a question of "hot". Any omni mic, regardless of output level, will behave the same way once you increase the gain hot enough to get the sound of the instrument.

You can either fix this by moving the mic closer or by reducing the gain. Which one you do depends on whether the instrument really needs to be that loud.

That said, I would not recommend an omni condenser for live work unless it is part of a much larger collection. The number of times when it will work is pretty limited, IMHO.
 
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