Tech Forum

I have been given several recommendations for improving the music audio of webcasts:

1) Just turn up the volume of the main audio during songs, either at the receiving ends or via a mixer at the sending end.
2) Run additional mics into a mixer and then into a house input.
3) Run additional mics into a mixer and then to the webcast.

My thoughts (numbers correspond to above):
1) I would think this could result in the chorister standing out, but maybe the organ is so much louder it's not an issue. I wouldn't think the podium mic would be ideal for choirs or piano since it's a narrow pattern, but it might be OK for the organ.
2) I worry about feedback, and I would think this might make the sound disproportionately loud in the chapel -- but it might help the cultural hall.
3) Best overall but not always easy to do.

I'll be sending the webcast from our satellite cabinet, where I can tap into the house audio and video. I was looking at the wiring there and noticed two unused balanced audio lines running to the audio cabinet on the rostrum. Even though options 1 and 2 might be OK, I've asked facilities to add connectors to each end so I can use them for additional mics if needed (I could do it myself but I don't have access to the audio cabinet). They have other work to do there anyway. It seems like such a cheap addition that I thought it would be worth it.

Do you all agree or is this a waste of resources and would you recommend option 1 or 2 instead?

Also, on the receiving end do you typically run the audio into the aux input or a mic input? They each have their pros and cons.

Thanks.

I think the answer depends in part on just what you want to capture. Just the organ? Choir? Or a mix of organ and congregational singing?

Option 1 is quick, cheap and easy, but doesn't give you the best results.

Yes, feedback is an issue with #2, but I think in most cases you'll find that it doesn't make it overly loud in the chapel. I think you may find that you still have to turn up the house feed.

#3 has it's advantages, but it also sacrifices hearing the choir in the overflow area as compared to #2.

I tried to purchase as versatile a solution as possible, and settled on a small audio mixer (Behringer Xenyx 1002B) and a pair of Behringer C4 Microphones to pick up a choir, special musical number, or even just ambient sound from the chapel.

I do not attempt to interface to the house audio for these mics. The organ is already designed to fill the hall, and the choir and piano are really complicated to mic and get right - so it's better to leave them to their own rehearsed projection.

The audio inputs on my sound board are:
1. Choir/ambient mic 1 (behringer c-4s)
2. Choir/ambient mic 2 (behringer c-4s)
3. organ line input (xlr found on the back of the organ)
4. sound system line input (panned 90% to the Left if doing a Spanish simulcast, panned center if english only)
5. translator microphone (if the meeting is being simulcast in Spanish, panned 100% to right channel)
6. audio input from laptop (for prelude music, or if audio/video is used during webcast)

Audio outputs are:
Main L - webcast computer, left channel (English)
Main R - webcast computer, right channel (Spanish, when applicable)
Rec out L - Rolls PhonePatchII device (audio interface to phone line for backup audio) (English)
Rec out R - Rolls PhonePatchII device (audio interface to phone line for backup audio) (Spanish, when applicable)

Thanks for the info. I mainly want to capture the organ for congregational hymns but I would also like to capture the choir and piano accompaniment better. Our organ doesn't have an output unfortunately. Part of the problem is there is very little opportunity to test.

craiggsmith wrote:Thanks for the info. I mainly want to capture the organ for congregational hymns but I would also like to capture the choir and piano accompaniment better. Our organ doesn't have an output unfortunately. Part of the problem is there is very little opportunity to test.

With regards to feedback. I have had a 3 microphone set up for my last stake conference. Two of them were wireless and had the ability to be turned off. So while the main speaker was talking about the podium the other microphones were off.

When the choir sang, I had them turn on the wireless. I did get feedback during the meeting and so one of them were turned off. The issue with feedback comes from two issues in this case. One could have been that the microphones were too close, but that wasn't it. The other was that the volume was turned up too high, so I turned them down.

If you are running them into the house system, it should already be adjusted so that you can have multiple microphones on at the same time, but don't get them too close to each other or put them directly under a speaker.

There is a good book that I have read about microphones, placements and other stuff. You can find a copy here:

http://www.shure.com/idc/groups/public/ ... hip_ea.pdf

This is a great read and will help you understand a lot.

Hope this helps

Thanks, I've read some of the Shure guides before, not sure about this one; I'll check it out. Looks good as they typically are.

Certainly the system is designed for multiple mics but either the auto level control or the feedback suppression will kick in as needed and can counteract what you're trying to do. And the system isn't designed for sensitive condenser mics with a wide pattern as would be used for a choir. But it certainly may work well enough. I'd probably have to sit in a visible spot though, which is not my preference.

For our Christmas concert I could do this but I'll likely set up a separate speaker system in the cultural hall.

Thanks!

One thing that would help is getting the choir mics up high pointing down a bit, but that is a bit visually intrusive and I'd have to buy more mic stands. I wish we could afford Audix Microbooms.