Throughout Project 3 we were mainly practicing in Henry Mitchell Hall ( a medium sized music venue near the college and the space we performed in for our gig at the end of term). Therefore most weeks we would set up the microphones and live sound in practice for the gig.
Jobs would range from setting up microphones on amps, on the drumkit, doing sound checks and setting up the sound desk. When testing each microphone we adjusted the gain level and sound level of each track to create the best overall sound.
For the bass guitar and keyboards we didn’t plug them into amps and mic them up but instead used DI inputs to send the sound directly to the sound desk.
In rehearsals I used a mixture of a dynamic microphone on a stand and a clip on microphone for my saxophone. In the end performance I used a dynamic microphone on a stand for both the saxophone and the congas. However I did prefer the clip on microphone as it allowed me to move much more freely when I was on stage.
Above is a soundcheck we conducted before the final performance. Our band come on stage around the 14.30 mark.
This allowed us to iron out any technical issues as well as experience the full preparations of a gig. A minor criticism I would have is that the congas were slightly quiet however I thought that overall the it sounded great.
Microphone techniques
Above are some useful and interesting ideas for microphone set up and placement in order to create different sounds.