Ambient mic - anybody using one?

[JPJ]

So with my main band now being all on in-ears, we’re thinking about adding an ambient mic or two to ‘warm up’ the in-ear mix as it can be a little sterile and isolating. Question to the Basschat PA guys & girls, are you using ambient mics and if so, what are you using and how do you set them up (position, eq etc)?

[Wombat]

Quite a lot of chat on this in the IEM bible thread.

https://www.basschat.co.uk/topic/389429-the-iem-in-ear-monitors-bible-thread-a-guide-to-help-every-musician/page/69/#comment-5412888

[tauzero]

I asked something similar: 

 

I haven't had a chance to try anything out yet - I did a little experiment in my lounge using a Zoom H2 which seemed promising. Haven't got a gig for about three weeks. Note that my intended use is to pick up guitars and drums rather than just the audience. If it seems successful, stage 2 is probably Behringer C2s.

[mike257]

I use them on touring shows all the time, almost always a pair of small diaphragm condensers, but you can use LDCs, shotgun mics, or even dynamics if that's what you've got to hand (is there ANYTHING you can't point an SM57 at?  There is not!)

 

On an elevated stage I'll pop them on short stands at the left and right corners at the downstage edge, panned respectively in the artists' mix, but on a lower stage I'll often use tall stands and get them higher up to fire above the punters.  I often see others positioning them to point directly at the crowd but I much prefer to angle them upwards so they're aimed at the roof to around the centre point of the room.  This gets you more room vibes and less of the front row's conversations, which can be very distracting popping up in your ear mid-show.

 

Depending on the acoustics of the room, I'll turn them down or mute them completely during soundchecks, as an empty room will have a lot more reflections bouncing back and you don't want to compensate for that the wrong way in a mix and then find yourself backpedalling once the crowd are in and the acoustics of the space change. 

 

When I'm mixing monitors, for some artists they prefer the ambients pushed up in the breaks between songs so they can feel the energy of the audience, then pulled back during songs for a more direct sounding mix.  Others prefer to set a level for them and leave them, just to give a sense of space to take the edge off the directness you can feel in a clean ears mix. Everyone's got slightly different preferences here. 

 

Definitely worth experimenting with and a great way to overcome a clinical/sterile IEM sound - a little dash of room ambience can go a long way.

[gazhowe]

We use a couple of Behringer C2 condenser mics on a small stand positioned on top on of our subs and pointed at the audience.  Possibly not the best placement but it works well enough to provide an ambient feed to the three of use that use IEM's.  They are pretty inexpensive (approx £42 for a pair of C2's on Amazon).

 

 

 

[pete.young]

Talkback mike plugged into a socket on the mixer?