juju
Oud Junkie
Posts: 125
Registered: 11-13-2011
Location: Paris - France
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need basic advices for live amplification
Hi,
I own a condenser mic, I would like to use it to amplify my oud on stage.
I play in pretty quiet situations on stage (no drummer, etc.).
I'm not a sound engineer... so I would like to know the basics to avoid feedback. I already made several tries with an AER amp and a condenser mic,
but It often produces feedback ...
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Jody Stecher
Oud Junkie
Posts: 1353
Registered: 11-5-2011
Location: California
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If you keep the mic well behind the main speakers you should be fine. If you use stage monitors use them turned up just enough to hear the oud well.
Don't point the condenser mic directly at any of the sound holes. Experiment with mic placement. The oud and the microphone should not be so far apart
that the mic has to be turned up high. All of these should help. I have used a condenser mic on oud in a situation where there were a good number of
other instruments, including, believe it or not, a full trap set (drums) seated one foot behind me and there was no feedback. But the speakers were
well placed, the levels were reasonable and the board of the sound system was not set to a bizarre EQ.
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juju
Oud Junkie
Posts: 125
Registered: 11-13-2011
Location: Paris - France
Member Is Offline
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Thanks a lot Jody.
Any idea about the distance between the oud and the mic ? 50 cm ?
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Jody Stecher
Oud Junkie
Posts: 1353
Registered: 11-5-2011
Location: California
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50cm might be ok for *recording*, though it depends on the microphone and the oud. For stage that is too far. At that great distance the mic will need
to be turned up so much that feedback is likely. It is true that when a condenser mic gets too close to an instrument there is an exaggeration of the
lower frequencies, called the "proximity effect". But "too close" will usually mean 4 cm. When I play mandolin in bluegrass bands I am standing, not
sitting, so I move back away from the mic and step up to it. If I have a condenser mic and I am playing rhythm behind someone else's solo I will move
back to 50cm with the understanding that the sound technician will leave my mic at one level and will not turn me up. I am deliberately making myself
quieter in the mix. Turning me up will upset the balance even if we are lucky and there is no howling feedback from the volume increase. With the
level not turned up the effect is that what goes into that mic gives the listener the awareness that the mandolin is part of the band but it is not
prominent. When I take a solo or am playing something behind a singer that needs a soft touch that might be lost I will walk up to the mic and play
just a few cm-s from the mic capsule. But 50 cm is for when you want to not be noticed very much. If you want to be heard as a soloist and you are
that far from the mic you have the danger that you will be heard as a feedback soloist rather than an oud soloist.
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