Rayman Posted February 28 Share Posted February 28 As the lead singer and bass player of the band, I’ve often wondered about a headset microphone instead of our usual SM58s on a stand. Anybody do this? Any good? Any recommendations? Am I stuck in the 80s? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skybone Posted February 28 Share Posted February 28 (edited) Do lots of running around, acrobatics and/or dance routines? You will benefit from using headset microphones. If the answer is no to any of the above questions, then it may be better to stick to an SM58 on a stand. Edited February 28 by Skybone 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rayman Posted February 28 Author Share Posted February 28 Have you never seen Nils Lofgren bouncing off trampolines on the stage? I wanna do that. While looking like Janet Jackson (I’m a middle aged white man). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skybone Posted February 28 Share Posted February 28 27 minutes ago, Rayman said: Have you never seen Nils Lofgren bouncing off trampolines on the stage? I wanna do that. While looking like Janet Jackson (I’m a middle aged white man). You'll have to be VERY careful with your costume choices if you go for the latter. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fretmeister Posted February 28 Share Posted February 28 I’ve got a Line 6 one. I bought it for magic shows but used it to sing with too. Was also handy for sound checks and saving a bit of space on stage. The downside was if I wanted a quiet word with a band member during a song I’d have to turn it off and then back on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimR Posted February 28 Share Posted February 28 (edited) 1 hour ago, fretmeister said: I’ve got a Line 6 one. I bought it for magic shows but used it to sing with too. Was also handy for sound checks and saving a bit of space on stage. The downside was if I wanted a quiet word with a band member during a song I’d have to turn it off and then back on. "Cough drop". If you can, fit an inline momentary push mute button so you're not messing around. Edited February 28 by TimR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosie C Posted February 28 Share Posted February 28 We're just starting with headset mics, I have a Sennheiser ME3 the BV singer is using a Thomann own brand one. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike257 Posted February 29 Share Posted February 29 15 hours ago, Rayman said: As the lead singer and bass player of the band, I’ve often wondered about a headset microphone instead of our usual SM58s on a stand. Anybody do this? Any good? Any recommendations? Am I stuck in the 80s? If it worked that well, everyone would be doing it. They're a big compromise in a lot of ways. An omni headset mic will pick up loads of spill on a live band stage. A cardioid one will be very sensitive to positioning. Genuinely good headset mics are a lot more expensive than their hand held equivalents too. Unlike a mic on a stand, you can't back off or move in to control your dynamics if you're one of those singers that really belts it out. You also can't turn away from the mic to cough, catch your breath, call the next song, tell the guitarist the right chords or ask the drummer to slow down. It's always there, picking up every huff, puff, grunt, burp and muttered curse. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wateroftyne Posted February 29 Share Posted February 29 38 minutes ago, mike257 said: If it worked that well, everyone would be doing it. I dunno. Even if it worked well, it would still look prohibitively daft. 3 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
police squad Posted February 29 Share Posted February 29 i used one in the early 90s for a while. It was great. would I use one again? Not sure, although I noticed Sting was using one in the vegas shows 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Starr Posted February 29 Share Posted February 29 Really interested in people's direct experience of these. Like so much in PA there are obvious advantages and disadvantages but for every singer who has great mic technique and learned to use their mic there are a hundred who like me have poor mic technique. There's clearly a discussion to be had about the 80's fitness video look v's the 70's rock god stuck immobile to the mic too, but anyone considering this change has um.... considered it. In my case I'm strictly a backing singer just filling in the bits that need a third voice, I'm quite active on stage adding to the energy but sometimes late on the mic and I find playing and singing at the same time a stretch. If you add in running the PA and cueing in band members who don't know arrangements as well a they should and I'll sacrifice a bit of proximity effect for consistency with my vocal feed. If it's good enough for Kylie it could be good enough for the 20 punters at the Dog and Duck. there is of course the need for a profanity filter when I pink torpedo up Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rayman Posted February 29 Author Share Posted February 29 I saw Ian McNab use one with the Icicle Works back in the 80s… I always fancied one after that…. but I’m thinking the cons outweigh the pros on reflection. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
police squad Posted February 29 Share Posted February 29 I saw Kip Winger using one when they supporting the Scorpians about 1991/2. it seemed to work well 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itu Posted February 29 Share Posted February 29 (edited) One certain off white Moon bass has a built-in stand for mic. Edited February 29 by itu 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crusoe Posted February 29 Share Posted February 29 17 hours ago, Skybone said: You'll have to be VERY careful with your costume choices if you go for the latter. Could end up looking a right tit... or was it the left one? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosie C Posted February 29 Share Posted February 29 5 hours ago, Rayman said: I saw Ian McNab use one with the Icicle Works back in the 80s… I always fancied one after that…. but I’m thinking the cons outweigh the pros on reflection. The first problem we had was all the headset mics we looked at need phantom power... and our PA doesn't have it. If going wired they all need a little pre-amp adapter, which adds more to the price, more to go wrong, etc. I looked at wireless, but that was another minefield. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fretmeister Posted February 29 Share Posted February 29 3 hours ago, itu said: One certain off white Moon bass has a built-in stand for mic. Yeah - but he's one of the coolest guys on earth, and we.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cliff Edge Posted February 29 Share Posted February 29 (edited) Most vocalists in the big West End musicals are kitted out with wireless versions, and they are very good at hiding the mics, quite often in the artists hair. Back in the dim and distant past I saw the original run of JC Superstar where hand held mics were positioned in clips around the stage. The artist would grab one, sing and put the mic back in the clip for the next singer. Great choreography made it strangely fascinating to watch. Edited February 29 by Cliff Edge Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike257 Posted March 2 Share Posted March 2 On 29/02/2024 at 18:54, Cliff Edge said: Most vocalists in the big West End musicals are kitted out with wireless versions, and they are very good at hiding the mics, quite often in the artists hair. Back in the dim and distant past I saw the original run of JC Superstar where hand held mics were positioned in clips around the stage. The artist would grab one, sing and put the mic back in the clip for the next singer. Great choreography made it strangely fascinating to watch. There's a real skill to hiding the mics discreetly in the costumes and still getting them in a good spot for the audio. The advantages they have on a West End stage is that they're working with top notch musical theatre performers who really understand how to project their voice, and the band are quiet, and below them in a pit (usually with the drummer in a box) so they're not fighting stage spill. They also mix the shows line by line, with the FOH engineer having every scene in the script blocked out with a corresponding scene in the console to recall mutes/levels, and riding the faders of every live mic with each line. It's a whole different art/skill set than mixing a band! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimmyb625 Posted March 3 Share Posted March 3 20 hours ago, mike257 said: There's a real skill to hiding the mics discreetly in the costumes and still getting them in a good spot for the audio. The advantages they have on a West End stage is that they're working with top notch musical theatre performers who really understand how to project their voice, and the band are quiet, and below them in a pit (usually with the drummer in a box) so they're not fighting stage spill. They also mix the shows line by line, with the FOH engineer having every scene in the script blocked out with a corresponding scene in the console to recall mutes/levels, and riding the faders of every live mic with each line. It's a whole different art/skill set than mixing a band! Mixing live musical theatre is a full-on task. I used to do some for an amateur group, prior to the widespread adoption of digital desks. It took 2 of us to do it and even though we only had 10 channels of radio, we were usually filling a 48 channel desk. I don't think the OP would want to use the same type of microphone as musical theatre does though. One of the more rugged types with a boom arm would be a better choice (imho) as the capsule types have a tendency to succumb to sweat and stage makeup. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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