To Mic, or not to Mic.

[lieperjp]

That is the question.

So, here's the hypothetical scenario. Not all actors need to be mic'd. Some do. Director is apathetic toward micing. Would you mic all actors (enough mic's not a problem, enough board space, knowledgeable board tech, etc.) even if you didn't have to? Say one or two really need it, but many could get by without it, even if the rear seats are a little quiet, but not terribly quiet?

So, the question. Do you mic even if you don't have to? Or do you let the actors fend for themselves, vocally.

Note: I'm thinking about a future show that hasn't even been cast yet, nor have I even gotten the script yet. Just thinking about wireless micing principles in general.

[waynehoskins]

I've pondered that too. The answer I came up with is "it depends".

In general, you want to mike everybody or nobody. In general, you only mike a musical; in a comedy in a typical sub-2000-seat venue, the actors should be able to project well enough if the acoustics don't totally suck. To mike a weak actor in educational theatre is to keep giving them a crutch.

As much as the goal of reinforcement is to be transparent, the Amplified Sound and the Unamplified Sound have different qualities. To have them both going on at the same time can be distracting.

That said, I worked on a community theatre show a few years ago where there were but two major speaking roles, two narrators, and then ensemble who said relatively little. The narrators were both older gentlemen, and one of them just couldn't project, just couldn't do it. So I miked him, and it wasn't the end of the world.

So my preference is to never mike a non-musical unless I absolutely have to. It's just better that way.

In a musical, given enough wireless, ideally everybody has a mike. Everyone with dialogue, that is. In the nonideal world we live in, I'll settle for those with singing roles or dialogue that's in a number or underscored.

[avare]

Originally Posted by waynehoskins

I've pondered that too. The answer I came up with is "it depends".

In general, you want to mike everybody or nobody.

That's it.

Andre

[waynehoskins]

Also for what it's worth, a trick that stands a fair chance of helping in a miked show, and especially in a half-miked show: time delay.

I didn't believe it fully until I went to one of the sound classes at USITT, where they did a demo. Delaying the PA back to, or slightly past, the original sound can do wonders for imaging (the brain figuring out where a sound is to have come from). That's one of the major characteristic differences between the natural sound of an actor, the words coming from his mouth as he walks across stage, and the amplified sound, everything always coming from the loudspeaker in front of you and slightly to your left. The brain uses the first, not necessarily the loudest, sound it hears to figure out directional information, so if you hear the actor himself slightly before the amplified reinforcement, you perceive his amplified voice to come from his mouth instead of the loudspeaker.

I haven't miked any musicals since then (my theatre stuff is mainly lighting now), but that sure would have helped a ton, I bet. Probably would have helped a lot more on those half-miked shows back in high school .. as would many other things like wireless that didn't suck, and enough of them.

[lieperjp]

I guess I forgot to include my own opinion!

Anyway, I guess I was thinking along those lines as well. I've done shows where we've mic'd everyone who is important (musical) and where we've only mic'd some of the important characters. I really did not like the way the latter worked, as to me it was blatantly obvious that only two of six actors were mic'd, but then again, my non-tech friends said they really couldn't tell most of the time. I guess if general mics (floor mics, suspended mics, etc.) can do the job, it works, but I prefer to have control over individual mics, especially to EQ and reduce ambient noises (shoes clacking on the floor, etc.)

[TupeloTechie]

I think that (if the funds are there) everyone in the cast of a musical be miced. Unless you have means of controlling the orchestra (which I find that most high school and amature production cannot do) then It is almost a necessity. However in a play I do not think I mic should be used unless the house is extremely big and is practically physically impossible for the actor to project enough to have clear communication to the rear seats. I have seen great plays ruined by mics and a poor sound board tech.

[Sayen]

Originally Posted by waynehoskins

To mike a weak actor in educational theatre is to keep giving them a crutch.

I agree, and giving a mic to a performer who can't naturally project is usually futile anyway.

For high school theater, I like to sneak a few boundary mics into my set. The moderate reinforcement makes a big difference for the audience, while still requiring that the actors work to get sound out. Four or five boundary mics are much easier for a novice board op to run as well.

I don't like to give crutches to my actors, but I do feel a sense of responsibility towards the audience, sometimes. Sometimes, it's better if they can't hear what's going on. Seems like most of the professional shows I've been to recently are using mics on everyone.

[themuzicman]

In high school, I would occasionally use the mic as a "reward". I would mic all principals in the cast, get all supporting, and than with the left over I would mic a few chorus members.

Usually there would be one or two left over for the chorus, and we would tell them (usually a lot of underclassmen) that the best and strongest singers would be mic'd. What would happen is the freshman saw that mic=I'm good. They would start learning their parts better, improve themselves, and work to get up there with the upperclassmen. They would show up to more vocal rehearsals and actually practice out of school.
Than, once in a while I would throw a mic to a freshman or two, that I thought had worked really hard.

I never actively mixed it, and when I did I would throw it up on a monitor so he/she could hear themselves when they were by it, but they were the envy of their friends. And, they would go home bragging to their parents (who somehow heard them from the back row, thanks to the miraculous mic!)
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But seriously: I never mic for plays, unless the FX processor was being used or special circumstances, and for musicals I hit up all leads, supporting actors, and strong soloists.
The only time I did mic for plays, was when I was doing a camera feed, and wanted to be able to mix the audio in post-production.

[Sayen]

Are any of you using hearing assist systems for your audience? That was part of my shift to boundary mics, although I never have time in a school setting to getting around to using them. They're only useful if everything coming off the stage is amplified, somehow.

Hearing assist as in portable ear buds.

[DaveySimps]

I have aways used the mic everyone or mic no one approach for the same reasons as mentioned above. I hate going to a show and having to adjust my hearing for miced and unmiced characters, it distracts me from the show.


Sayen, everyone should be using hearing assisted devices as it has been the law for quote some time now (as well as a good idea). In both of our theatres we have ambient mics hanging from the first catwalk to pick up what is coming from the stage. We do a lot of music things as well that are not miced, so this works well for us. The patrons who use the assisted system really seem to like.

A recomendation if you are doing your own set up is to put a compressor last in the audio chain before the transmitter. This is a good way to protect your patrons hearing.

~Dave