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Author Topic: Micing a School Musical  (Read 4366 times)

Andrew Scully

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Micing a School Musical
« on: March 01, 2015, 05:05:13 AM »

OK so whilst I've done sound for bands, I have now been given the job of doing sound for a version of Camp Rock and I'm a bit nervous about how to have everyone heard.

There are 14 characters who sing solo (or duets) and also chorus members.

The stage is approximately 10m (33ft) x 10m (including thrust) with a proscenium arch

I have a Mackie 3204 Mixing desk (Mackie - Onyx 32-4)

I have two JBL EVO Double 14 inch, and horn powered speaker cabinets. These cabinets have a power rating of 1,200 watts each and are flown on either side of the stage.

The hall holds about 300 people

The band (Kit, keys, guitars, bass) will be in a different room and will see the show via a video feed and will be miked and fed back to the desk

What i'm looking for is suggestions on mics...I have access to 14 head set mics which covers the soloists but what I would like advice on is how to mic the chorus. Any advice would be appreciate...including whether i should get any rack units for processing (compression, limiter, gate, EQ etc etc)
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Scott Holtzman

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Re: Micing a School Musical
« Reply #1 on: March 01, 2015, 06:00:54 AM »

Hi welcome to the forums.  When you signed up did you happen to notice the requirement to use your real name?

If Sausagedogs is on your birth certificate I do apologize for the assumption.

One of the fine ops is going to lock the post until you fix this. 

Once you update your name we can assist you with your chorus situation.

You may also want to search the forums as there have been many discussion on the subject.
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Scott AKA "Skyking" Holtzman

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Andrew Scully

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Re: Micing a School Musical
« Reply #2 on: March 01, 2015, 06:28:02 AM »

Thanks Scott...I've changed the profile

I've read a few but the posts are always about different venues...I guess i was trying to get some advice to my specific situation

Happy to read a few more though
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Scott Holtzman

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Re: Micing a School Musical
« Reply #3 on: March 01, 2015, 08:12:35 AM »

I am curious as this happens often, do you feel the name rule is not clearly explained?  Your feedback is important.

How many members other than the 14 to cover?  Do they move around? 
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Scott AKA "Skyking" Holtzman

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Kevin Maxwell

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Re: Micing a School Musical
« Reply #4 on: March 01, 2015, 11:59:18 AM »

First thing I do is I EQ the system for linearity, what goes in is what comes out.

Are all of your headset mics the same make and model? If they are I would put those all in a subgroup and insert an EQ (and usually a compressor in line also) on the subgroup. Then EQ that subgroup for gain before feedback.

As far as picking up the chorus, when everybody is singing together they are usually belting it out. They are more confident as a group then as individuals. So you can usually get decent results with some area mics. The choices depend on what you have access to. I was doing a show last week with a bunch of Broadway actors doing a fundraiser. They originally told us the requirements for mics was minimal and then after they showed up they kept adding things. One of those things was a couple of guys doing a tap number and they wanted the stage mic-ed. We just taped a Shure Beta57 on the floor at the edge of the stage, it worked great. If we had known we would have brought some floor mics with us. So one choice is mics along the apron of the stage. This isn’t always a good option because it will pick up a lot of foot noise, now if that’s what you want to pick up like I did that can be good. Also the leads that are mic-ed are usually the ones that are in the front of everyone, and you are already picking them up on their headset mics. The next option for area mics is to hang some a little bit upstage that will be above the main part of the chorus singers. I use the Audio Technica hanging mics because that is what we have like these at this link. http://www.audio-technica.com/cms/wired_mics/1e904e3760bfdde3/index.html

I then put the apron mics in their own subgroup and insert an EQ and I put the hanging mics in their own subgroup and insert another EQ channel there. Then EQ each of those inserted EQs for gain before feedback.

Also keep in mind - Hanging and apron mics are great for chorus numbers, if the chorus has some volume to them, and they don’t have something (like a loud pit) that is louder then them at the mics. As with any mic the loudest thing at the mic wins.

If you need help in how to EQ these mics let me know and I will post a write-up I have for that.

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Jeff Baumgartner

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Re: Micing a School Musical
« Reply #5 on: March 01, 2015, 02:25:44 PM »



Are all of your headset mics the same make and model? If they are I would put those all in a subgroup and insert an EQ (and usually a compressor in line also) on the subgroup.

Unless you are using a high threshold on the compressor, this isn't such a good idea. One loud singer takes out everyone. If you have extra channels of compression, i would leave one across the group but set its threshold high enough to just catch the occasional screamer or an actor hitting their mics. Be sure to add a HPF and LPF as needed.

PCC160s on the apron, High passed around 150-200 and throw those in a subgroup with an EQ. Compressing this subgroup won't be as noticeable as trying to compress 14 mics at once. Speaker placement will be key here.

Overheads work for action further upstage.
To maximize GBF, mute mics that are covering a section of the stage that is not in use. If the scene is all on SR, having the mics open that are on SL is pointless. I try to teach all of the students this but usually, they unmute them all and let er go.
Gates are a great addition to overheads and to floor mics.


Good luck!
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Kevin Maxwell

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Re: Micing a School Musical
« Reply #6 on: March 01, 2015, 03:39:04 PM »

Unless you are using a high threshold on the compressor, this isn't such a good idea. One loud singer takes out everyone. If you have extra channels of compression, i would leave one across the group but set its threshold high enough to just catch the occasional screamer or an actor hitting their mics. Be sure to add a HPF and LPF as needed.

PCC160s on the apron, High passed around 150-200 and throw those in a subgroup with an EQ. Compressing this subgroup won't be as noticeable as trying to compress 14 mics at once. Speaker placement will be key here.

Overheads work for action further upstage.
To maximize GBF, mute mics that are covering a section of the stage that is not in use. If the scene is all on SR, having the mics open that are on SL is pointless. I try to teach all of the students this but usually, they unmute them all and let er go.
Gates are a great addition to overheads and to floor mics.


Good luck!

I could probably write a book on the subject so I have a tendency to forget that when I make certain recommendations that there usually needs to be a caveat. Maybe I should say it becomes a book that I am writing if I include all of the information that one needs to properly answer this type of question. The caution is basically correct BUT since the feed to the compressor is post fader and one should be mixing the show and bringing down those that are sticking out that shouldn’t be a problem. I actually find that when done right the subgroup inserted compressor after the EQ actually helps a lot, when you push someone for a solo it has a tendency to keep everyone else in the group sitting a bit lower in the mix. Now I am very fussy as to what compressors work well for this situation and I like the DBX160x for this. At the most I am doing 3:1 ratio but usually about 2.5:1 and the threshold is set so that it is never compressing more then about 6db. Just enough to smooth it out and let them sit in the mix better.

Mixing for theater/musicals is never a set it and forget it, one should be constantly mixing. I only bring up the area mics for chorus numbers and most of the time they are all over the stage but sometimes they might be only in one part of the stage and yes it is usually good to bring the unused mics down. I use the built in scene management or external scene management software depending on the console and I even use Automixers (for the dialog parts only) and even with all of that I am still actively mixing.

And I think you did the same thing that I did when you recommended using a gate on the apron and overhead mics. Used wrong in this type of situation gates can be disastrous. If a gate is to be used it needs to be ALMOST doing nothing at all. 

And yes speaker placement will make or break this type of show almost more then concert work. And I really like having a delay hang besides the main hang and front fill speakers and using the matrix out of a mixer and sending different rations of your groups to the different speaker zones. But I have a feeling that that is beyond the original posters question and equipment available. 
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Andrew Scully

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Re: Micing a School Musical
« Reply #7 on: March 02, 2015, 01:31:01 AM »

No the rule is clearly explained...I just didn't notice the spot where to put my real name in when i registered.

As well as the 14 leads there will probably be a chorus of an additional 15-20(ish) students ranging in ages from 13-17
« Last Edit: March 02, 2015, 01:44:52 AM by Andrew Scully »
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Andrew Scully

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Re: Micing a School Musical
« Reply #8 on: March 02, 2015, 01:43:45 AM »

PCC160 I'm reading is a boundary mic...are there any other similar and worthy boundary mic brands? I'm asking for no other reason than accessibility...I'm not sure how easy or difficult it's going to be to find that mic here (australia)

It seems like a combination of boundary mics and overheads seems to be the oversimplified solution yes?
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Jonathan Goodall

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Re: Micing a School Musical
« Reply #9 on: March 02, 2015, 02:35:53 AM »

PCC160 I'm reading is a boundary mic...are there any other similar and worthy boundary mic brands? I'm asking for no other reason than accessibility...I'm not sure how easy or difficult it's going to be to find that mic here (australia)

It seems like a combination of boundary mics and overheads seems to be the oversimplified solution yes?

PCC160 is/was an industry standard pretty much.  Try contacting  Norwest productions (I have no link with them) http://norwestproductions.com/contact/  I would be very surprised if they didn't have any.
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ProSoundWeb Community

Re: Micing a School Musical
« Reply #9 on: March 02, 2015, 02:35:53 AM »


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