How to Handle PA Mic
David,
What do you do in this scenario:
1. You get up on stage at a jam and are handed a PA mic.
2. It's really loud, shrill and awful sounding - like the treble is goosed for a singer maybe.
3. The singer says "Let's hear some of that harp!" and you have to play a solo.
Also, after the song, what do you tell the PA guy (or in this case the bass player standing next to the onstage mixing board)? "Low treble, high bass" or something like that? I don't own a PA and have never worked with a PA mixing board so I'm not sure what a good default harp setting would be.
This happened to me last night. My first response was to back off the mic, which made it softer (good) but more shrill (bad). So I cupped the mic and played softly - but forgot to play softly in the heat of the solo and blew the doors off the place (but not it a good way). I played a few more songs this way and it didn't occur to me until afterwards that I could have asked to have the PA adjusted. Not a comfortable experience!
Steve
Thanks David. Actually I don't think things went *too* badly - people seemed to like it, but I wasn't happy. I'm just not used to playing electric blues through a PA mic yet.
Just to be make sure I'm understanding, you leave the PA mic on it's stand and play maybe 2 inches off it as a default - you don't take it off and hold it freehanded like you would a bullet mic, correct?
Steve
I leave the mic on the stand... but my hand is touching the mic... not holding... but touching. If the mic is really hot, yes, I will pull back about an inch or two. Every PA is of course different.
Sorry to hear last night went south... bummer... no fun when that happens.
In my experience, no changing of the EQ is necessary. If you EQ the mic dark, then the vocals are muddy... if you EQ the mic bright... then the harp jumps out too much. You can control how dark or light your tone is with your hands.
I generally play with a relaxed cup (normal cup... but fingers are loose and palms are not closed). I walk up to the mic until the pinky of my left hand touches the mic... this is my reference point. If I need a darker sound, I cup up more. If I need more volume and/or a more bright sound, then I open my hands more and approach the mic... closer, but with less cup. If you can hear yourself, go as far onto the mic as you need to... you can't play if you can't hear yourself... if it's too loud for the house, someone will come up and adjust... again, YOUR goal is to hear yourself... someone can adjust as necessary. With this in mind, it's not a bad idea to ask someone to check your volume in the house before the song starts... they can adjust as the song start for you then.
In the end, it isn't easy... it's always a compromise... hopefully not much though...