The worst moment in audio isn’t bad sound—it’s no sound at all.
Early in my career I was running sound for a mid-sized conference hosted by my church. One of our staff pastors was the MC. On the opening morning of the conference he was doing the welcome and kicking off the day. Everything had been tested and was functioning normally. When our MC walked onto the stage, house music faded, and here we go... nothing!
The heart-sinking moment every FOH engineer dreads. The dead quiet of a voice barely heard from the stage, but nothing coming out of the PA. The ultimate fail. A deafening silence that seemed to last forever even as our team did a hot swap right then and there. A humiliating way to open a conference.
The Jelly Donut Incident
Later I discovered that even though the headset had been line-tested and checked, right before he went on stage the MC took a sip of coffee and a bite of a jelly donut. Unknown to him or anyone else, the headset microphone also got a taste of the donut and was completely clogged with fresh-baked goodness. No audio was going to pass through it until it was cleaned.
I bare my soul on this to point out that it was an early lesson for me: lead pastors, guest speakers, and “pastors of announcements” do not look at audio through the same lens that my engineer friends and I do. It’s not completely their fault. You don’t know what you don’t know, and if no one ever works with them in this area, they never will.
I’ve never encountered another jelly donut incident, but I am constantly surprised by how little some pastors know, or even care, about how their headsets, and the placement of them, contribute to the overall quality of their presentation. I’ve worked with some very well-known speakers who seem completely oblivious to how their headsets affect the message. I worked with one speaker who, by the time he finished, had the headset mic literally closer to his eyebrow than the corner of his mouth. It was like we were mic'ing the logo on the side of his glasses. Again, I’m not blaming him specifically. But if you’ve had this issue with your pastor or anyone who speaks on your platform, I’m writing this so I can be an outside voice to help you have a conversation with your pastor about something you cannot accomplish without his help.
Headset mics work best when the speaker and engineer share a clear understanding of how they’re used.
I was working with a church for a long season and we purchased a new headset mic for our lead pastor. We tested it and everyone liked it. Over the next day or so I noticed him walking around in the normal course of his day wearing it. It seemed weird to most of us, but he explained, “I want to get used to having it properly placed on my face where it becomes second nature to me, so I am comfortable enough with it that it feels natural and isn’t a distraction.” In retrospect, what some considered strange was actually the smartest, most professional thing he could do. I really miss that kind of intentionality.
The sound of the preaching is important too
When training new engineers I often say, you may have the greatest mix ever during worship. The congregation is fully engaged, hands raised, maybe even some tears, clearly a special moment. But when that is done and the pastor steps on stage, if his mic is dead, then you failed. Nobody is going to remember the Holy Spirit moving just moments before. You have just run him out of the place and drawn attention squarely on yourself. Aside from a great mix, your primary job as an audio engineer is to create a distraction-free environment. A dead mic is definitely a distraction, but a loose, noisy, too-far-from-the-source headset mic on the verge of feedback is equally distracting.
Like so many other things in our world, successful headset mic use requires some pre-planning and intentional execution. Your lead pastor may not want to walk around for a few days with a headset on during budget meetings, but a little effort spent helping him understand what it takes to make it sound right will help both of you.
If you have read much of my content, you know I am an advocate of getting the sound right at the source before we try to fix things on the console or with plugins. The source in this case IS the speaker’s mouth, and oddly enough, his face as well. A stable, consistent location is half the battle. This is where you need to communicate and work with your pastor, respectfully of course.
Location, location, location
In most cases, manufacturers recommend positioning a headworn or earset mic just back from the corner of the mouth, usually somewhere around 1/4 inch to 1 inch away depending on the model and pickup pattern. You will need to experiment to find exactly what works best for you, but that is a good starting point. Too close and you may pick up breath plosives. Too far away and you will lose clarity and definition. Also, some breath sounds that come from the speaker’s nose can be a factor. Just like everything we discuss in audio, spending a little time will help you find the sweet spot.
Pro tip: every person’s face, voice, mouth, and so on is unique, so yes, you can use someone else as a stand-in to do a line check, but using the actual person speaking, your lead pastor for example, is the best path to success.
With most of the major manufacturers, you will usually find both single-ear and dual-ear headworn options, even if every model does not come both ways. In my experience the dual-ear version stays in place better and is less likely to drift away from the sweet spot. But some pastors do not like that and you may have to compromise.
Beards and fashionable five o’clock shadows
If possible, with pastors who have beards or even heavy stubble, you want the microphone far enough off the face that the hair does not create additional noise. I have worked with clean-cut pastors where having the mic arm lightly touch the cheek actually helped hold the position in place. That probably won’t work with the bearded class. Yet another good case for the dual-ear piece, since you can bend it far enough away from the fuzz to keep it from rubbing.
Surface noise from headset mics can still be an issue. If some of the connecting adjustable areas are too loose, or even too tight, just the body of the unit itself can contribute extra unwanted sound. When you help your speaker get the mic in place, have them turn their heads in different directions to reveal any contact issues. Use the manufacturer’s provided clip to secure the wire to the back of the collar or coat, with enough slack for head movement.
A word to the ladies...
Dangling earrings and sometimes necklaces are easily amplified by headset mics and can create a distraction. Fashion or function... choose wisely here.
Once you have worked with your pastor on good placement, show them what is working best, maybe even with a mirror. I used to tell them, “OK, using your peripheral vision, look down to see where the mic is. That’s where we want it to be every time. If you notice it’s not there, we need to adjust it.” Oddly enough, it took me a long time to realize that one widely used headset manufacturer includes a mirror mounted inside the carrying case. Now I know, and you do too.
When it comes to choosing models and manufacturers, we have more choices than ever. When I first started in this industry there were only a few good ones and many bad ones. Now there are lots of great choices in both quality and cost.
Specifications and tech stuff
Omnidirectional headset mics are generally more forgiving when placement is less than ideal. That can be very helpful in the real world. The downside is they can be a little harder to control in very live acoustic environments.
Cardioid or hypercardioid headset mics are more focused and give you better control of directionality. They can work especially well when you have multiple open mics on stage at once or in more challenging acoustic situations. The tradeoff is they are less forgiving if they don’t stay exactly where you put them.
When it comes to making them sound good, using your high-pass filter (HPF) is almost always necessary. Dialing it in carefully can help with plosives and contact or body noise if you still have a little left after working with the headset itself. Start at 100 Hz and go up from there. Remember to use your ears to find the right stopping point, not your eyes.
And speaking of using ears over eyes
There is a lot of noise on social media about how to EQ a headset mic. Things like, “If you cannot run it flat, then there is something wrong with your PA.” In an ideal world that may be true. But there are a lot of components to EQ'ing a headset mic. Even on a really well-tuned PA, your channel EQ may need to look a little more radical than any other individual channel. Pick your battles here, but do not stress over how your curve looks. Don’t be surprised if you find yourself making more drastic cuts than what the keyboard warriors on Facebook deem acceptable. Headset mics are more lively than typical handhelds and often require more control, especially in acoustically challenging situations.
And before somebody turns this into a formula, let me be clear: without being in your environment, there is no way for me to tell you exactly what frequencies will cause you problems. Every PA, every headset model, every stage, every pastor’s voice, and every auditorium is different. That said, there are some common areas worth paying attention to in worship environments. I often find myself looking somewhere in the 250 to 400 Hz range for mud and buildup, 800 Hz to 1 kHz for that honky or boxy quality, and 1.8 kHz to 2.5 kHz for the harder upper-midrange stuff that can get out of hand in a hurry. Those are not rules, just common places you may need to cut and rarely boost. Again, use your ears, not your eyes, to get as much clarity as you can.
And finally, plugins
Once you conquer the physical side of the mic, consistent placement, a good HPF setting, and some basic EQ, there are lots of great tools on the desk that can help. Every digital console has multiple noise gate options and/or some form of Primary Source Enhancer (PSE). I don’t typically highlight specific manufacturers’ products, but most console manufacturers have their own version of the Rupert Neve 5045 PSE. If you are in a Yamaha ecosystem, their DaNSe dynamic noise suppressor plugin is impressive. Not to mention the vast selection of Waves plugins. Regardless of your choice of tools, be cautious with any gate or PSE. Experiment with attack and release times, along with threshold settings, to make sure you are not cutting off softer content.
I’ll end with this note to our pastors…
I’m not too worried about jelly donuts anymore. But your headset mic is the first delivery point of the message straight from your voice. It’s not just something we clip on right before you walk out. If we work together and spend a little time on it, that mic can disappear into the background where it belongs. That’s a win for all of us and, more importantly, it keeps the attention where it should be: on the message, not the technology.
