Behind The Mixer
Church Sound Systems
uses of D.I,s on stage instead of amps that the desk has no control over
My question for everybody is D.I's a good way to go to solve this issue?
I already run the acquistic through a D.I and it works really well but the bass and electric just won't comply with repeated requests to turn down their amps.
At times I can even turn FOH of and make no difference to the instrument level at the sound desk which is about 30 meters from the stage.(comfortable listening level)
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Syndicate
mic the amps
Here's something I posted a while back on the old blog about how to mic and amp. I'd recommend taking it to the guitarist and say, "here's this article on mic'ing an amp so you still get the amp sound." Using this method in this article, they can turn the amp to point directly at them so it's mic'ed the right way and loud enough for a monitor - but not as a direct sound source.
Mic'ing an Amp.
The first time I saw a guitar amp being mic’d, the microphone hung down from the top of the amp with the head of the mic in the center of the amp. The first time I mic’d an amp, that’s what I did. 100% wrong. Location, direction, sound, mic’ing an amp is more than just location.
First, let’s talk tone. Every amp has a unique tone. Look at the money people pay for tube amps. They have great tone! A guitar, an effect’s pedal, and an amp can combine to form very unique tones. When your guitarist sets the tone of his amp so he likes it, have him/her stand in front of it and make sure the tone is right. Tweak until correct. After all, this is what the microphone will hear.
There are two very easy and common ways to kill that tone - poor microphone placement or poor amp EQ settings for the given microphone location.
Amp EQ Settings
An amp sounds differently when you are standing in front of it compared to standing beside it. When a microphone is placed directly in the middle of the amp speaker (pointed towards the amp), it’s in the hot zone. In the hot zone, the high frequencies are louder than the mid’s and lows. Given this information, the guitarist/bassist, etc would need to tweak the EQ settings to compensate for the high frequencies being pumped out.
Microphone Placement
Point the microphone at the amp. Don’t drop it down the front so it hangs limp. Use a small mic stand or something else that gets you the proper height and direction.
Microphone Location
Sound doesn’t resonate from the center of the amp’s speaker cone; it comes from the off-axis - or “off center” area. For a loud treble-strong sound, place the microphone towards the center cone. For a warm tone, move out from the center. You can even use two mic’s at different locations though this is probably more in line with recording quality.
Microphone Type
The best types are dynamic microphones like the Shure SM57 and the Sennheiser E609. I’ve read that condenser microphones can be used for soft music, like jazz, but I have never tried one.
amps and di's
You are looking at a dependence on the amp's by the players. If the amp's have an output jack, you can run that into a d.i. and then into the mixer. This way, you still get the amp sound. If you can, then run a spot monitor (floor or pedestal type) for each player.
Bass players feel the thump of the bass just as much as hear it. So that's always an issue.
While I'm not sure about your sanctuary and settings, I'll say this, the amp's are fairly directional so while the player might hear it, half of the congregation might not...it it will sound muddy. Have the bass player walk around the sanctuary during the next practice while the guitarist is playing. Ask them how the guitar volume sounds in the different areas of the church. An amp is not a main speaker. Main speakers are usually set to cover most of the areas of the sanctuary.
You can also explain to the players that you can't get a proper great mix when you can't control to of the key sounds coming from the stage.