(OK, I know the mic threads have been varied and sundry,
but most that the search turned up were about recording…)
I have a Sure Beta57 mic on a boom mic stand. I am playing
whistle as well as singing on stage and I was hoping to use
this mic for both. I’ve been struggling with mic placement,
though. I try to put the whistle’s windway right up to, and
just above, the mic. I mean I’m almost touching the mic with
the whistle. Still it can be hard to get the level high enough
to hear myself in the monitors when the guitar and 2 fiddles
and vocals are going. And the last time I did get the mic hot
enough that I could just hear the whistle in the monitors,
when I sang into the mic my voice sounded like God speaking
to Noah.
So I’m guessing that I’m not placing the whistle/mic correctly.
Is there a better placement for onstage playing? I have a
gooseneck, so I can put the mic anywhere I want for whistling,
then shove it into vocal position when necessary. I guess I can
get another mic so I have one for vocals and one for whistles,
but I still wonder if I can position the whistle mic better…
Has anyone already trudged their way through this problem?
Hello, there. The Shure Beta 57A microphone has a hyper-cardioid pick-up pattern that includes a lot of rejection off-axis. The standard cardioid pattern SM57 and SM58 models are a lot kinder on the performer, for on-stage use. However, I used the Beta 57A for a lot of years on stage - for low/high whistles and vocals - successfully. It’s pickup pattern is very tight, and unforgiving. It must truly be aimed at the sound source. Side rejection and most rear rejection are both more extreme than on the standard models.
Depending on the angle at which you have placed the microphone in order to deal with your vocals, the positioning for the whistle may be compromised - or vice versa… I suggest that you and your monitor engineer have a go at it for about 10 minutes, in order to sort out the mic adjustment challenge. If you have any direct questions in which I might be able to help, please ask…
I’ll add a related question to the original question. I’m using some kind of mic at church. I’m using this mic to sing and play a few instruments (whistle, flute, harmonica, and I am standing very far back from this mic when I play the ocarina.) When I play the flute, I find I have to push the mic up higher. I would think that I want the mic above the flute and I found that I could not get much volume out of the flute when i leaned forward to get my body, head, and flute below the mic. Does anyone else have to do this? I’d almost like to have a step by the mic but I’m sharing a music stand with my wife who is about a foot shorter than me and we don’t need to call any more attention to this height difference. I keep the boom loose enough so that pushing the mic up and down during Mass is achievable.
Get a long one. You can place a mic in
all kinds of positions and it will stay put.
I think the trick for flutes might be to
have the mic pointing in a downward
angle toward the flute’s embouchure
hole.
Thanks for answering my question. I will put a steeper angle to the mic. I can see where that would matter and help. How nice that a gooseneck will only cost $4.00. One of the people in the folk group buys something from Musicians’ Friend every 5 minutes so I should be able to get him to add this to one of his purchases.
Changing the mic angle worked at church this week. The gooseneck will be in the next order. Way to go.
Our keyboard and bass player weren’t at church this week, so it was just three of us, a 12-string guitar player/sometime singer, my wife a singer, and me a 12-string guitar player/singer or crystal flute (that was the only other instrument I played this week.) We stand in front of the congregation. We weren’t the full sound that we usually are and I got to hear the congregation singing loudly right back at us when I played the flute. That was sweet.
I’ve found that holding the whistle transversley is what gets the sound out for me. I play it out of the corner of my mouth. That way I don’t have to change the angle for vocals, but can cram the whistle right into the mic.
Maybe that is the wrong word, I dunno, “It’s inconceivable!”
I mean I hold it like a fife or a flute. That lets me get the fipple right up to the mic without angling the mic downward. I can lean right into it while it’s in the ‘vocal’ position, that is, angled slightly upward with the back of it away from the monitors. Although I do have the angle rather shallow compared to most vocalists. My mic is more horizontal with a little upward tilt.
Oh, and I should probably mention that I play an old model Sweetheart whistle. It’s LOUD.
Really? So the whistle is still between your lips,
but held out to the side like a flute? Maybe you were using the right word. That’s interesting.
I’m not sure I could play like that!
Well, give it shot. The worst thing that can happen is that it doesn’t work for you.
I’ve found that angling the mic downwards like in the pic above is just a feedback nightmare waiting to happen. It defeats the rear-rejection of my mic. Other mics may be different though.
I just went through the pics on our site, and of course not one of them shows me doing this. I play in the ‘normal’ position when backing my partner’s vocals, but I go transverse to blast out over everything when playing a solo.
I’ve seen Flute mics that have two elements, one goes near the embouchure hole and the other goes at the toneholes between the hands. I think that arrangement gets the best sound balance, would probably work well with whistles also.
Next time you have a camera and next time you feel like uploading pictures, let us see what you’re talking about. I can count on one hand and have fingers to spare the number of live whistlers that I have seen. I’d like to see what the less standard-issue people are doing.
Well, I’m probably just describing this badly. There have to be a lot of whistlers doing this, I’m just not that creative or unusual.
Just do this:
Assuming you’re right handed,
Adjust your mic angle so that it is nearly horizontal with a slight upward tilt and at a hieght comfortable for singing.
Stand in front of your mic and hold your whistle normally, left hand on top, right on bottom, head slightly down.
Keeping your head down, move your head about 45 degrees to the left.
Move the mouthpiece to the right corner of your mouth, keeping your lips tight around it.
Move your hands about 45 degrees to the right.
Roll the whistle forward slightly.
Re-adjust your stance so that the window of the whistle is pointing right into the mic.
Blast away.
In this position you should notice at least a two-fold increase in volume and also that your breath isn’t being picked up by the mic, as your mouth is off to the left side of it.
