Theater mic question

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zbert

zbert

In the swamps of Jersey
So I got talked into helping out a new theater group with sound and recording. They are doing a production of Hair. The theater has a 40' stage and a 300 seat house. Acoustics are quite good in the room. The band will be on stage with the peformers. I'll be using 2 MXL 603's over the band. (they all have their own amps)
What I need is advice on what mics I can use in front of the stage.
They need to be out of the way (PZM style). This will be used for the singers to the PA in the theater. They big problem is they only have $200 to spend. What do you think? This will all go to a mackie board and then direct to CD.
As always thanks for the help.
 
I'm pretty sure Crown makes some fairly inexpensive PZM's. Check their website and e-bay.
 
I see MF has 2 Crown PZM sound grabbers for $119. Anyone know anthing about the AT pro 42 or the pro 44?
 
PZM? are you sure that's the best idea?
my guess is, you'd be flirting with feedback so badly you wouldn't be able to get any level out of them at all.

i did sound design and mixing for a production of "annie." i had feedback problems with 6 very expensive shotgun mics and 8 Shure wireless headsets. i wouldn't go for any less than a few long shotgun mics in live singing where you have to compete with live music.
 
...tell them to sing loud.. u know.. like stage singers do..... If it's for a recording.. the shotguns are prolly one of your best bets other than a much more expensive setup.. but shotguns are pretty pricy too...
If the mics will be for live sound reinforcement.. well, then @ 200 bucks you're kind of screwed.. besides wireless headsets or lapels.. you've got pretty much nothing that will avoid you feedback.. a single stage mic or a pair would probably only work if you weren't feeding it into a PA amp. if you did that.. then a PZM would pick up so much of the amplified sound in the room and your recording would be about as good as what you could get out of a handycam.

-so.. for Live PA use: Lapels or headsets
-for recording only: MAYBE a few PZM's.. unless the band's volume overwhealms the mics.. then you're back to square one.. maybe some shotgun mics would work.. but your grips will have to be pretty handy with a shotgun.. hehe.. Good Luck.
 
P.S. Acoustics= reflections.. that could SERIOUSLY make it impossible for sound reinforcement without a close-mic placement such as a headset or lapel as mentioned above.. good luck buddy.
 
yeah dude, come to think of it, there's no way in hell you can put on a musical production with only $200 to spend on additional sound equipment. who planned that? nobody i know is that completely stupid.
you are going to NEED shotguns. trust me. and even then you are going to have problems, so you are going to NEED wireless headsets. if it's a small cast, you can get away with using headsets exclusively.
you may be able to pull one night's worth of rental equipment from that $200, but one night only.


tell them to give you about 1000% more of the ticket money.
 
Shotgun mics dont work all that well for stage if its going to be a live play. PZMs used to be the top choice before wireless for this application, be sure to keep them far away from the speakers. However, Radio Shack does have cheap wireless mics you can put on the principal actors, as long as the ones with bit parts are near a principal when their lines are done. The PZMs should get the Chourus for those musical numbers.
 
By the way. If its possible the band should all go direct in with theier gear and monitor with headphones. It actually helps for the Drums to be from a machine, a loop or prerecording. Guitars and bass and keyboards can do the rest.
 
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