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Church and H.O.W. – Forums for HOW Sound and AV - Your Displayed Name Must Be Your Real Full Name To Post In The Church and HOW Forums => Church Sound => Topic started by: David Pedd on October 15, 2018, 11:58:07 AM
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My pastor contacted me and asked if we can improve on the current mic stand that is used by those who play the piano and sing.
The stand is a cheap tripod-base stand with a cheap boom arm.
I'm guessing the users have difficulty in adjusting and getting it to stay in position.
Any recommendations?
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My pastor contacted me and asked if we can improve on the current mic stand that is used by those who play the piano and sing.
The stand is a cheap tripod-base stand with a cheap boom arm.
I'm guessing the users have difficulty in adjusting and getting it to stay in position.
Any recommendations?
Do you want to stay with something ON the piano, or is a floor standing boom mic stand acceptable? There's different options based on how much your pastor is willing to spend. :)
-Ray
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Do you want to stay with something ON the piano, or is a floor standing boom mic stand acceptable? There's different options based on how much your pastor is willing to spend. :)
-Ray
The piano is an upright. Not sure of the options for that.
The current stand is floor standing.
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Maybe find out by the pastor what the exact issue is that he would like solved. For a cheaper option look at Hercules stands, I have quite a few of their tripods and they seem to work just fine. More expensive options can be found by searching the forums, the topic of mic stands have been discussed to death here.
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If the stands loses its balance due to extending it too much then a stand sandbag is a great option.
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Sand bag or On Stage Stands sells metal counter weights that bolt onto the boom or the legs to add weight and help balance it better.
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If the boom arm is drooping depending on how it is made it might be able to be taken apart and cleaned and put back together and it should be tighter. The really good K&M ones need this done to then occasionally. If they try to move it up and down without loosening the pivot point it will mess up the rubber disks, they can be cleaned and made to hold the boom arm tight again.
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Buy K&M part number 25200B. Problem solved.
Here is a B&H link but you can get it cheaper from others like Northern Sound.
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/154642-REG (https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/154642-REG)
My pastor contacted me and asked if we can improve on the current mic stand that is used by those who play the piano and sing.
The stand is a cheap tripod-base stand with a cheap boom arm.
I'm guessing the users have difficulty in adjusting and getting it to stay in position.
Any recommendations?
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Thanks so much for the suggestions. Much appreciated.
So today I get this video showing the "problem". I don't even know what to call that thing - "octopus stand"?
He'll have a new tripod stand on Sunday. Thanks again.
https://www.voxer.com/v/dcc948a3ca
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Thanks so much for the suggestions. Much appreciated.
So today I get this video showing the "problem". I don't even know what to call that thing - "octopus stand"?
He'll have a new tripod stand on Sunday. Thanks again.
https://www.voxer.com/v/dcc948a3ca
Looks like maybe the legs have bent?
Another thing that can happen -- and this can happen with ANY tripod stand -- is that the users don't set the vertical tube properly in the base. I don't know how many times I've seen the stand with the center tube resting on the ground underneath the base. DON'T DO THAT! That will make for a wobbly stand. Always be sure to raise the center tube fully in the socket of the base before tightening the locking knob. Some, like K&M, require a solid tug to get it properly seated. If you can't get it all the way up, loosen the screw some more.
(See attached diagram. Contact me about my mad drawing skilz for your next product launch.)
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Looks like maybe the legs have bent?
Another thing that can happen -- and this can happen with ANY tripod stand -- is that the users don't set the vertical tube properly in the base. I don't know how many times I've seen the stand with the center tube resting on the ground underneath the base. DON'T DO THAT! That will make for a wobbly stand. Always be sure to raise the center tube fully in the socket of the base before tightening the locking knob. Some, like K&M, require a solid tug to get it properly seated.
(See attached diagram. Contact me about my mad drawing skilz for your next product launch.)
I can't count how many times I see this. I have, many times, seen people loosen the thumbscrew to drop the center tube down on the deck thinking that's how it's supposed to be.......
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For me, the best piano stand starts with the Atlas MS25 base: https://www.atlasied.com/ms25e
Then add the PB21XE boom to it: https://www.atlasied.com/pb21xeb
That base is super heavy and won't move. The boom extends a good long way, and has a 2 pound counterweight on it. It doesn't sag, like ever. This is the best stand to put a vocal mic in front of a pianist while keeping the stand out of the way of flailing appendages.....
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I can't count how many times I see this. I have, many times, seen people loosen the thumbscrew to drop the center tube down on the deck thinking that's how it's supposed to be.......
Then they complain about that "POS wobbly mic stand"?
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Thanks so much for the suggestions. Much appreciated.
So today I get this video showing the "problem". I don't even know what to call that thing - "octopus stand"?
He'll have a new tripod stand on Sunday. Thanks again.
https://www.voxer.com/v/dcc948a3ca
Even on it's best day that stand in the video was never going to fully support a mic at the end of the fully extended boom at or close to a 90 degree angle.
That stand was a Radio Shack special.
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Even on it's best day that stand in the video was never going to fully support a mic at the end of the fully extended boom at or close to a 90 degree angle.
That stand was a Radio Shack special.
Whatever you end up with I would suggest making the deep investment into a 12 inch flexible extension to give you the option of coming in over the shoulder like many drummers do
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Whatever you end up with I would suggest making the deep investment into a 12 inch flexible extension to give you the option of coming in over the shoulder like many drummers do
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And make that an Atlas extension. Bargain extensions need viagra.
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And make that an Atlas extension. Bargain extensions need viagra.
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+ a lot. Since the 13 inch atlas can be had for $10 I never really considered any other
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The one that gets me with vocal mics at a piano is that most singers seem to prefer that the stand be to their left; problem with that is, the weight of the mic can spin the mic clip loose. Then you get them wrestling with the boom and all bets are off. If they allow it, I put it to their right and this doesn't happen.
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The one that gets me with vocal mics at a piano is that most singers seem to prefer that the stand be to their left; problem with that is, the weight of the mic can spin the mic clip loose. Then you get them wrestling with the boom and all bets are off. If they allow it, I put it to their right and this doesn't happen.
I always put the mic stand on the right unless the player really complains. I usually take the opportunity to explain why the right side is best and that sways most of the people who want it on the left.
The other thing to keep in mind is that people need to be taught to loosen the stand clutches before adjusting. So many people just grab and force it into place which wears out the parts and causes droopy stand syndrome.
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The one that gets me with vocal mics at a piano is that most singers seem to prefer that the stand be to their left; problem with that is, the weight of the mic can spin the mic clip loose. Then you get them wrestling with the boom and all bets are off. If they allow it, I put it to their right and this doesn't happen.
Ours at church is on the left-best for visual and I haven't had a problem with clips coming loose-if I did I'd find some loctite and fix the issue.
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Everybody else covered things nicely, but I'm still going to weigh in.
Which side you put the stand on can depend on a few factors. If the piano is staged so that the lid opens downstage, the player/singer is probably situated more towards the bass side of the piano, but will be facing more towards the audience. This is better for camera angles and audience visibility as well. But Their upstage shoulder can hit the boom of the stand. Also, most player/singers will play much more towards the lower keys than the upper ones, routinely hitting the lowest octave but rarely adventuring into the upper two octaves. Unless the stand is placed more away from the keyboard down the upstage side of the piano there won't be enough clearance on their left side and that means a LONG boom and a heavily weighted base. In my experience you really need a counterweighted boom arm with an extension and a sandbag on the mic stand base to ensure a rock solid solution.
If you have to use a "normal" boom stand, you can sometimes get away with a position like in this picture. It's not ideal, but at least it reaches to the position where you need it.
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Forgive me, this is silly! Just buy a new decent boom stand - in Europe, K&M are the best, but there are tons of decent ones, some at really good prices. Sites like studiospares.co.uk (here) are full of normal, weird and wonderful stands - there's no shortage. Stands, screw on boom arms, clip on boom arms, goosenecks - so many to chose from. The only requirement is stability, easy of adjusting and a decent clamping action.