Re: [Callers] microphones

My husband's an audio engineer who's run sound for plenty of callers at NEFFA and the Flurry, I'll see if he has an opinion on models. (And Dan Pearl should be chiming in any minute now, too) Re: monitor for the caller: DO IT. Get a small, intense one -- an old Hot Spot will work fine for more rough-hewn venues, if you want to go pricier I can wax poetic about my Mackie srm150 (two channels, self powered, can double as a micro-mini-sound-system for almost-acoustic gigs, works well as a piano monitor as well, rugged, good sound, good controls, easy to use for the non-cognoscenti, surprisingly powerful for its easily portable size, gush gush...) Put it on a stand and get it up at least to waist level, pointed right at him (but not at any of the mics!) It might just help with the screaming. It took me years of struggling (and probably annoying a lot of people, or at least making them wonder) before I figured out that I can't screen background noise very well, and especially not background verbiage. If I'm at a loud cocktail party I have a VERY hard time keeping track of my own thoughts or carrying on a cohesive conversation if the sound of my own voice in my ears isn't a good degree-of-magnitude stronger than the rest of the crowd. The temptation to TALK REALLY LOUD is incredibly compelling and it takes a fair degree of sustained mental effort to talk "normally" and just listen harder. It's actually quite exhausting. There are plenty of people like me out there - and you can spot them as soon as they get out their cell phones. Old phones have a speaker in the ear end that not only carries the other person but also your own voice -- you have a monitor, and you get to hear yourself from the outside. Cell phones don't, the ear part is dead unless the other person is speaking. Older folks used to exterior feedback can get really thrown off by this and start TALKING REALLY LOUD; what often helps is to go stand near a wall or in a corner where you get some bounceback from nearby hard surfaces. I've solved this by using a headset type earpiece/gooseneck mic setup (like a telemarketer). Is your caller a cell-phone shouter? Or comes on a little too big at parties? Could be he's having a hard time tracking his own thoughts, and at a dance when his thoughts/words are going to drive the action, he's going to be grabbing for whatever support he can get. On Sat, Jul 16, 2011 at 5:30 PM, JoLaine Jones-Pokorney <jolaine(a)gmail.com>wrote;wrote: