8 Mar
2013
8 Mar
'13
5:09 p.m.
Date: Thu, 7 Mar 2013 13:47:24 -0500
From: Jeff Kaufman <jeff(a)alum.swarthmore.edu>
To: A list for dance organizers <organizers(a)sharedweight.net>
Subject: Re: [Organizers] Soundsystem question for community band
On Thu, Mar 7, 2013 at 1:20 PM, Emily Addison <emilyladdison(a)gmail.com> wrote:
To me the basic three musts for sound are:
1) can you hear the caller?
2) can you hear the beat and phrases?
without these dances may fall apart
3) are the musicians happy?
happy musicians play better
Thus I recommend 3) or 4) - depending on musician style.
we have tested and would like to purchase a
soundsystem
that mic's kind of like a choir (pencil mics etc).
A choir has a quiet audience while a dance band has a noisy one. Most
singers in a choir are about the same volume (and where they're not
that's a problem for the choir director to fix) while some dance
instruments are much louder or quieter than others. So while a choir
can do well with mics that are far away from the singers ("area mics")
that often doesn't work well for dance bands.
Approaches I've seen work are, in descending order of difficulty,
effort, and expense:
1) Mic no one. Hard on the caller to be loud enough.
2) Mic only the caller.
3) Also mic a couple anchor instruments like piano and fiddle.
4) Also mic some quiet instruments like mandolin or jaw harp.
5) Individual mics for everyone.
I think #2 and #3 are a good choice for a lot of situations.
Jeff