by CRAIG STARK
DROP THAT MIKE
To put it bluntly, I hate microphone stands. Most of them are as heavy as sin and cost a good deal more. They're awkward to store and transport, and on stage they're unsightly at best ("Remember, young man, this is a concert, not a recording session!" a musical matron once reminded me). Worst of all, they may transmit enough floor vibration to muddy the recording. There must be and is--a better way.
"Dropping" (hanging) microphones from overhead supports is one professional approach, and the cables used for this purpose are a common sight in concert halls. True, you and I have to think in terms of a local school or civic auditorium, not Boston's Symphony Hall, and further, we can't usually afford the luxury of permanently installed cables in the ceiling leading back to an acoustically isolated recording studio. We normally have to set up our gear for each performance and be satisfied with an out-of the-way table in the wings, or perhaps a spot up in the lighting or projection gallery. That's no reason, however, to abandon the principle of using overhead mike drops, if we can only get around problems such as having to punch holes in ceilings or using impossibly placed light chandeliers for the cables.
Though not myself a fisherman, I'm glad there are chaps who are, for their needs led to the development of "nylon monofilament line," a thin, translucent (and therefore invisible) strand of in credible strength. In "60-pound test" weight it's not much more than one thirty-second of an inch in diameter, yet it will support the weight of any combination of mikes and cables I've ever used.
Now, in every hall I've been in I've al ways been able to find some set of anchoring points (lighting stanchions, balcony railings, or the like) at least roughly above the regions from which I'd like my microphones to hang, and to which I could tie a length of this monofilament line to make an invisible guy wire spanning the whole width of the performing area or the auditorium. A couple of wraps of electrical tape will then fasten the mike cables to the monofilament line when you've decided just how far below it and how widely spaced the micro phones should be hung for optimum pickup. A couple more wraps of tape along the monofilament support line will hold the cables to it neatly until they can be brought inconspicuously over to your recorder. When stringing up the mono-filament line initially, be sure to leave enough excess length at each end before cutting and tying it down. This will allow for later adjustments and for lowering the whole assembly enough to reach the mikes' cable receptacles to plug them in.
If you're using omnidirectional mikes (recommended, when possible) and you've been able to anchor the ends of the monofilament support line in desirable places, you're all get. However, directional mikes such as cardioids must be "aimed," and even omnis may have to be swayed forward or backward to get the right balance between direct and reverberant sound. Here a spool of black carpet thread (again, it's invisible to the audience) saves the day. One length of thread tied between the microphones sets their maximum spacing, while additional lengths of thread from each microphone to the sides of the stage or hall allows the mikes to be swayed fore-and-aft and/or side-to-side in tandem. To set the vertical angle of a cardioid, tape its cable (about a foot from the end) to the little plastic or metal swivel clip you would normally screw onto a mike stand to hold it. The swivel action now lets you set the vertical tilt so you can aim for the musicians. With cardioids, too, you'll need two lengths of thread leading over to the sides, one tied to the front and the other to the rear of each mike. These will let you aim the mikes from side to side.
Complicated? Not really; half an hour or so when you've had a bit of practice.
And the better-balanced sound you can achieve by dropping your microphones from overhead will be the convincer.
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Also see:
CHOOSING SIDES, IRVING KOLODIN
NEW PRODUCTS--A roundup of the latest in high-fidelity equipment
THE BASIC REPERTOIRE, MARTIN BOOKSPAN