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[Kevin Maxwell]

Hi Kevin,
The trussing is roughly 2-3'ft in front of the stage
The curtains close after every act. There will be roughly 12-15 acts in a matter of 24 hours - non stop. (It's insane!)
The FOH and truss will be setup exactly the same for this year.

I was asking about the truss and curtain because I was thinking along the lines as a few others have said about hanging some mics from the truss. But I was going to suggest that you strap a mic stand (without the bass on it) with a boom arm down to the truss about a third of the way out (towards the center) on each side. Then extend it just enough upstage so it is still clear of the curtain, with the boom arm hanging down enough to get the mics in a better position. You can relatively easily play with the position of the mics a little bit easier than just hanging them off of the truss. Or leave off the boom and hang the mic from the end of the stand, this will get these mics a little bit upstage from the truss. Then use whatever appropriate mic you have for this. If you have a small diaphragm condenser I would think that would be the best choice. This is all assuming that the look of this is acceptable to those in charge.

Depending on what mixer you have I would then assign these to a Mix Bus or subgroup and EQ that Bus for the best gain before feedback. Be careful to not over EQ that Bus. Then assign that bus to your mains. Be sure those channels aren’t also assigned to the mains. Apply a little bit of delay to these mics on their channel or the bus, to time align them to the mains. You won’t need much delay maybe only 4 or 5ms.

[Sam Costa]

Sam, why not put a couple of short shotgun mics mounted on the truss?  Point them to the area of the stage you want, bring them up when needed. 
Any reason you can't mount mics on the truss?

Hi Eric,
Believe me, I've thought about that too, but they close the curtain in-between every act so that they can perform set changes for the next group.

[Kevin Maxwell]

Hi Eric,
Believe me, I've thought about that too, but they close the curtain in-between every act so that they can perform set changes for the next group.

Why would that be a problem? The method I suggested and the one that Eric has suggested should clear the curtain when that open and shut it.

[Eric Snodgrass]

Hi Eric,
Believe me, I've thought about that too, but they close the curtain in-between every act so that they can perform set changes for the next group.

Like Kevin, I don't see a problem with this.  Does the curtain rub against the truss?  Then mount the mics on the downstage side of the truss.  Short shotgun mics should be just about the same length as the truss width.  And it's triangle truss, so you can clear the truss with the mic element if it is mounted below the top of the truss, yet the truss will still keep it from being hit by the curtain. 
A couple of c-clamps and short desktop mic stand stems and you have the perfect mount for that truss.  Run the cables through the truss.  Easy.

[Stephen Kirby]

I think you may like SDCs better than LDCs for the general area pick up.  At the lounge level prices they tend to sound more even at the edges of the pattern.

[brian maddox]

I know you asked about mics, but i would leverage the Heck out of an Automixer in this environment.  Don't know what you're using to mix, but even the X32 automixer can add a HUGE amount of GBF, especially free for all situations like this one...

[Lyle Williams]

Place mics to have their nulls pointed at your speakers.  Ring out the room. 

The quest for an array of perfect mics is the wrong quest.

[Roland Clarke]

4 condensor of whatever type you can afford, everything from lowly AKG c1000, to AT 4050.  Hpf the bass at 100-120 and blend to taste.  The further back from your foh speakers you can get the better and the closer to the performers will help.  A little eq to prevent them getting close to the ‘ring’ and blend to taste. 

Lav’s can work, but expensive and really need some rehearsal, shotguns are a waste of time in my experience, either too directional and not much better at a bit of distance than an ordinary cardioid.  Good luck hope it works out for you.

[Steve-White]

4 condensor of whatever type you can afford, everything from lowly AKG c1000, to AT 4050.  Hpf the bass at 100-120 and blend to taste.  The further back from your foh speakers you can get the better and the closer to the performers will help.  A little eq to prevent them getting close to the ‘ring’ and blend to taste. 

Lav’s can work, but expensive and really need some rehearsal, shotguns are a waste of time in my experience, either too directional and not much better at a bit of distance than an ordinary cardioid.  Good luck hope it works out for you.

That would be my approach, 4 condensers boomed off the overhead truss - tune it up and go.

[Dave Garoutte]

If you decide to use the truss,
I have some clamps with extensions for a mic that would work perfectly for this.
I have different lengths available.

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