had question about a new situation

[snareguy]

Okay this is the first time I have worked with a Taiko group before and I have a hypothetical question. We had 2 Sanshin (japanese traditional instrument) players hooked to di's. Originally they had requested a single mic for the amps that they wanted to bring in to be amped...

So I was thinking of all options for this situation and I decided a 421 sennheiser would be our best fit in my theater even though I was seriously concerned with the sound pressure from the taikos. If in a high house sp level situation how would you deal with this issue had they demanded mics instead of taking a di.

 

[Footer]

A DI is never a replacement for micing an amp. Any musician will tell you their amp is just as much part of their sound as their instrument is. You can still run a DI to get a "Dry" signal from the instrument, but you should mic the amp and run that way.

 

[snareguy]

Oh that was the players call as far as the di's for their instruments. We were prepped for the normal situation of having a mic for their amp. My question is more towards how to deal with the extreme amounts of sound pressure from the 25 drums feet away from where their amp would be set up.

 

[avkid]

A DI is never a replacement for micing an amp.

Except if the amp has a modeling output.

 

[FMEng]

The 421 is well suited to high sound pressure levels. It's a pretty good choice for micing a guitar amp. If I didn't have an SM-57 in the box, I'd go for a 421 next. Some condenser mics can be fickle about high SPL because they have active stages that can clip. Many dynamic mic specs don't even list maximum SPL because it isn't a practical issue. The 421 is a dynamic mic.

As for getting some isolation, the further you can place the amp and mic from the drums, the better. A few extra feet can make a big difference thanks to the inverse square law. The microphone's pattern null will help if you can orient the amp and mic to point the mic's connector end toward the loudest neighbors. You can also get more isolation by placing some kind of solid barrier between the mic and the undesirables. The barrier might even be the amp itself if it is large enough.

On the other hand, if the guitarist has the amp cranked up to hear himself over the stage full of drums, you may not have to worry about isolation.

 

[BNBSound]

Sometimes due to the confines of the venue you're just stuck with what you've got as far as placement. That's when it's time to turn to isolation. A simple three sided plywood structure with some foam on the inside can work wonders for separating out a loud amp. Churches in particular will use these so that guitar players can maintain the tone they get from driving their amps while allowing the engineer to protect the audience from high SPLs. I even know a couple guitar players to have their own and set them up as a matter of course when they load into a club. If image is important (some guys just have to have that old Vox visible to the masses) a smaller version of a plexiglass drum shield is an option. In that case it might need to be a full enclosure as amps are pretty directional and you might get a lot of reflection if the back wall of the stage is a hard surface.

As other posters have mentioned, people are particular about their amps. Getting an iso box in place can sometimes take a lot of careful talking to a musician. Lines like:

"Keeping the stage volume under control is crucial to having a good performance in this room."

"I know it's an inconvienience but you wouldn't believe how much it helps the sound in here"

"I can put this into the monitors for you, no problem"

and

"Just trust me on this, I'm trying to make sure everyone in the room enjoys the performance and I'll work with you on this until you're satisfied"

It can take quite a lot of psychology to get a musician to play along but demonstrating your competance and coming from the stance of being there to help instead of being the iron fisted sound guy goes a long way.