Wireless Microphone Problems, with a show approaching.

[TheAngryFedora]

I'm working on a show that goes up in three weeks. It's my second musical, though I've designed/run other shows, and I'm having difficulty mixing the wireless mic's well. It just sounds really hollow, and it's peaking very easily with the trim pretty far down and the fader at about half volume. I'm thinking that the squelch will need adjusting, but, what might be some possible solutions?

For example, one actress has an amazing, but really high, voice. In one song, she belts out this incredible note, unbelieveable, but the mic just freaks out on me. I know that I've got to cut it back quite a bit, but even when it's practically off, it's going a little crazy. Also, she's singing it right next to the actress who plays her sister (Wonderful Town) and HER mic is up, and picks it up, especially the last note where the first sister is singing right next to her chest.

I'm sure that a lot of this is a mixing issue, I just don't know exactly what sounds good, or how to get things to sound good, especially with our sound system. It sounds so unnatural. I'm thinking of bringing in some sort of compressor, or reverb, or something. I really don't know. Would that help the sound? Would it do anything?

I've set it up so that the two main characters keep their mics for the whole show, and the other three mics are switched minimally, and always to people with a similar voice so that I don't have to do much of anything to the eq (if anything at all.)

And, would adjusting the squelch help the peaking?

Also, a problem that I'm having is that when I try to get some decent volume, the sound distorts. A bit higher and it feeds back, even though it isn't all that loud. I'm very confused. I've been learning a lot, especially from this community, but I'm still a newbie.

Help me, O omniscient Techie community!

Is it the speakers? The mic's? The amps? The signal that's causing it to distort (though the RF meter shows full signal.)

Finally, what exactly IS squelch, and how might it be used to my advantage?

Thanks,
Ben

[Radman]

Well, the first thing I'd look at is the placement of the mic element. It's been a while since I've placed lavs, I forget the tricks of the trade, but I'm sure others here will be able to help guide you in the right direction.

[TheAngryFedora]

Right now they're placed on the lapel. I'm hoping to move them to either taped right in front of the ear or on the forehead (ear is preferable.) I just can't find goot tape that will stick well and blend well. The actors are going to sweat, so I need something that will STICK. I posted this on a forum strictly dedicated to recording/sound (the exact same post.... I'm greatly in need of advice) and got some great feedback. I'm hoping for the same here, but, some of what was said was that I might want to get ahold of a couple of 32 band EQ units and bus the male vocals and female vocals into one each to help the general sound. Also, just to make sure that the output level/squelch on the reciever/transmitter are adjusted properly. I was also told that a compressor would not be a bad idea. Realistically, though, we don't have much of a budget for any of this. MAYBE to rent the EQ's. But I don't know. I'd have to check.

[mbenonis]

The first thing you should do before anything else is to try putting the mics over the ear or on the forehead. See how this works in rehearsal - you might not need to do much more.

To mount the mics, you can try a number of different methods. On girls, it's easiest to bobbypin the element into their hair. I'm partial to the center of the forehead, but over the ears works as well. For guys, it can be more difficult due to hair length. One common method of mounting is to use florist's wire to create a miniature bracket that fits the ear and attaching the element to that.

Next, you note that at some points the actors are standing face-to-face with both mics on. When this occurs, kill one of the mics - period. You're going to have more trouble with comb filtering* than you will with the actors not being heard.

If these don't work, use a graphic EQ to notch out the frequencies at which the mics feed back the most. I would suggest doing this over just the wirelesses, but if necessary it can be done over the entire mix as well.

If you're still having howling problems after trying all of the above, you may simply be trying to mix them too loud. Try lowering their volume and asking the actors to speak up more.

You shouldn't need to fiddle with the squelch - it determines the point at which a receiver will declare a signal too weak and cut the mic off to avoid radio noise. It won't do you any good to adjust it unless your mics are dropping out.

*Comb filtering is a nasty sounding phenomenon that occurs when the same voice is picked up by two microphones at different distances.

[TheAngryFedora]

Thank you very much. I'll try that out tomorrow, see what happens.

[AVGuyAndy]

Don't touch the squelch, it has nothing to do with this problem. Squelch is for overcoming noise. (static) A compressor will help knock down the peaks. Try messing with the board EQ first.

[Foxinabox10]

For mounting...clean the area of the face with rubbing alcohol (cleans the surface for the tape) and use medical tape...just standard semi-clear tape. It also allows you to make-up over it.

[jbeutt]

What equipment are you using?
When you say it's freaking out on you, do you mean it's clipping? Sounds to me like you have improper gain structure.

[jbeutt]

so i read your post on recording.org which answered my question. ew100 transmitters have a gain option in the menu. For lapel placed mics, a good place to start is -20db on the transmitter and 12 o'clock on the receiver gain knob.

Also, you'll be hard pressed to find a 32 band eq. But the eq is sort of extraneous right now. Your problem definitely sounds like gain structure. Your tinny sound is probably comb filtering, as was mentioned. The eq on mackie is alright, as long as it has a sweepable mid, but if you can get your hands on a couple of parametrics for the leads, that'd be pretty handy.

[RockLobsterNet]

What specifically are the mic peices that you are using? Are they the tiny kind like the Countryman B6 or the normal, larger kind? Your problem sound like it is mostly just placement and maybe some EQ. The board EQ should be enough--31 band EQs would be overkill.