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Let's see, this week our worship music features a classical-style chamber ensemble. Last week was cool jazz, and in February we hosted a bluegrass gospel group. Of course there's the continuing pop-rock style praise band. And when was it—2012? —when we had an exchange student from Australia play his digeridoo?
That's the musical menu here at First United Methodist Church of Ashland, Ore. It helps keep our worship services diverse, engaging and a source of surprise. But musical variety involves a multiplicity of instruments, and that in turn requires an appropriate selection of microphones. Alas, for small- and mid-sized churches (we're the latter), fully stocking a mic locker can challenge the budget. How do you prioritize purchases to make sure you can cover all the bases at an affordable cost?
This guide approaches the task by looking at different types of microphones relative to both breadth of applications and cost. It's best to start with a foundational stock of microphones that can do a decent job at most assignments, and then start adding in targeted, higher-priced microphones that will do an even better job at capturing particular instruments. Smaller churches may be limited to the basic types, at least for now, while larger churches can select specialized mics suited to particular instruments of importance to their worship music.
Except where noted, all microphones are assumed to be directional types with cardioid, hypercardioid or supercardoid patterns.
Essentials I: General-purpose Dynamics
A good quality, dynamic instrument microphone is the Swiss Army knife in your mic locker. It’s the best of all possible solutions across a wide range of instrument applications, and it will do surprisingly well in in capturing just about any instrument. It’s a top choice for snare drums and toms, guitar cabinets, lower-tuned percussion, and just about any other instrument that is focused on the midrange frequencies and is relatively loud. The Sunday a digeridoo landed in our church, I had no doubt that a general purpose dynamic would be right for the job. (It sounded good … but rather strange.)
Most general-purpose dynamics will have a capsule diaphragm in the ½-inch to 1-inch range, and offer a frequency response starting around 30 Hz to 50 Hz and extending out to 15 kHz or 18 kHz, although a few are tuned with a “high-end bump” that pushes out to 20 kHz.
Another advantage of general-purpose dynamics is that they are simple and rugged, making them largely “newbie volunteer proof.” Many good quality models have no switches. Pads to reduce capsule output are not needed, as SPL handling is inherently high. However, some more expensive models will have bass rolloff switches, which can be helpful if you use them on something like acoustic guitar, where the proximity effect on a cardioid dynamic can create low moaning feedback.
Once you have a good stock on general-purpose dynamics, you can look at a sub-set of specialty dynamic microphones—particularly if you need to mic the drum kit. For the most part, drum kit dynamics are repackaged to mount directly the drums, eliminating a forest of mic stands. One exception is the dedicated kick drum mic, which have a larger diaphragm to handle the transient impact and with a capsule tuned to emphasize bass frequencies. Also available are a few side-address dynamic microphones, with a “paddle-like” shape that works well on guitar cabinets.
Quality general purpose dynamics are available for under $75, with top-end models featuring multi-position rolloff switches selling in the $300 - $400 range.
Essentials 2: Small Diaphragm Condensers
"Condenser microphones, as a group, are more sensitive than dynamics—a characteristic with both pluses and minuses"
Bruce Borgerson
Once you have two or three good dynamic instrument mics, it’s time to start building a collection of small diaphragm condensers, continuing in a roughly 2-1 or 3-1 ratio as you stock your locker.
In general, compared to their dynamic cousins, these microphones are slightly more delicate (but not inordinately so), cost a tad more for the same quality level, and require phantom powering—though rarely an issue these days. But in any applications that require accurate tracking of high frequency transients, these condensers outperform dynamics by a significant margin. As a rule, frequency response from 10 kHz to 20 kHz is flatter and more extended. Typical instrument applications include drum overheads, acoustic stringed instruments of all kinds, and any percussion with sharp transient attacks.
Condenser microphones, as a group, are more sensitive than dynamics—a characteristic with both pluses and minuses. On the up side, greater sensitivity means the microphone is better at picking up delicate and subtle sounds. Also, greater sensitivity “reaches out” and grabs sounds at a greater distance. Whereas a dynamic microphone drops off around a foot away, a condenser can be effective at double that distance or more.
On the down side, that higher sensitivity means that the capsule can overload the preamplifier at higher levels, which is why many of these mics have built-in pads that cut the output, typically by 10 dB to 20 dB. Also, greater sensitivity makes them more susceptible to feedback, so you have to be more careful with placement and equalization. As a general rule, I’ll use a dynamic rather than a condenser if performance is a toss-up.
Better mics in this category also will have one or two selectable high-pass filters, which cut out lower frequencies that are not wanted and could contribute to overload. Filter corner frequencies are anywhere between 40 Hz and 300 Hz with two filters, and somewhere in the middle with only one.
I’ve found acceptable small diaphragm condensers without pads or high-pass filters for slightly under $100, but have been happiest with models offering handy switches in the $200 to $400 range. Premium models push up around $1,000.
Add-ons: Miniature condensers
With the above foundation, you can handle 98% of church instrument mic’ing assignments, although it may require setting up a small forest of stands or reprimanding musicians who wander off mic. If that’s the case, it’s time to augment your selection with miniature condensers.
These mini-mics come in basically two varieties: clip-on and stick-on or (even stick-in). The clip-on types are designed to clip to the instrument, giving the musician total freedom of movement. Some are relatively wide bandwidth, general purpose mics that can be used with a variety of different instruments, with the main difference being the type of mount. Others—in a higher price bracket—have capsules tuned for a specific type of instrument, ranging from double bass up through cello, guitar, violin, trumpet, and saxophone. Many have connectors for use with wireless beltpacks.
Most dedicated clamp-on drum mics are dynamic, but there are some condenser mini-mics on goosenecks designed for drum mounting, as well. And at the end of this piece, in our “grand (piano) finale,” we’ll touch on another special application.
As for the stick-on or -in variety, you may have some of those lying about already. We have three at our church: good quality lavaliers. They’ve been largely idle since we switched to headworn mics for the pastors, but I’ve used those “Broadway standard” lavaliers effectively on a couple of occasions, both inside instruments and, in the case of a violinist, on a nearby lapel. Many, if not most, of these mics are omni-directional, so you need to stay right on the source to avoid feedback. You can add these little guys to your collection for anywhere from $125 up to $700 each.
Tie in some ribbons?
Now we move from “must have” and “probably should have” into “wouldn’t that be nice.” One mic that’s useful to have around, if budget allows, is a sturdy-enough-for-live ribbon.
In years past, ribbons had a reputation for being expensive, delicate and suited only to studio use. But a new generation of (relatively) affordable ribbons can stand up to live use in targeted applications. They can’t handle high-impact transients—a kick drum is certain destruction—but they can handle fairly high levels at a steady state.
Ribbons are prized for their distinctive sound, often described as “round,” “smooth,” or “rich.” They can take the edge off instruments like brass, and they can safely deliver a fat electric guitar sound as long as you don’t push the cabinet to insane levels. (If it will blow out your ears, it will probably blow up your ribbon.)
I’ve seen a few ribbons advertised under $200, but I’d be wary at that price. Figure on $300 to start, and with the best good-for-live models topping out around $1,300. Above that you’re really into studio class.
Premium Condensers: Large & Very Small Diaphragm
Large diaphragm condenser mics are a studio staple, of course, but they are marginal for live use. They are bulky, somewhat delicate and relatively prone to moisture penetration. True, they are highly sensitive, which makes them great for acoustic instruments, but they are consequently more prone to feedback. Larger, production-oriented churches should stock a few, but our mid-sized church doesn’t own one. On occasions when I needed one—like for the bluegrass gospel trio—I borrowed one from my home studio. That was my $100 all-purpose basic model, and it was fine for the job. For premium mics with rolloffs, pads, and multiple patterns, the sky is the limit—but anything over $1,000 may be overkill outside broadcast ministries with HD sound.
If you have an application that calls for a ruler-flat frequency response from zero to infinity, you can get reasonably close with a mini-diaphragm, instrumentation-type condenser. I call these “otoscope mics” because they look like the device your doctor sticks in your ear. These mics can deliver ultimate transparency on anything from acoustic guitar to strings, piano, and drum overheads. Mics with this appearance priced under $300 are really for room tuning and not for mic’ing instruments. The real deal for this application starts around $500, and many of these mics are omnidirectional.
The Grand (piano) Finale
In closing, we come to a sub-category that is critical to some churches and irrelevant to others. If your church a) has a grand piano, and b) the sound of it is essential to your worship, and c) it needs full amplification and/or is being recorded or streamed, then you need a piano mic system.
All dedicated piano systems I’ve seen are based on dual condenser mics, but of various types. Mini condenser and side-address small condenser mics clamp to the piano frame. One with super-linear, mini-diaphragm capsules has electronics built into a custom rod spanning the strings. No bargains here. Expect to pay from $1,300 to $3,000 to do the job right. But, when you consider the price tag on that exquisite Bösendorfer, why go cheap here?
