Question for the gigging flamenco guys

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polishcomedy

Posts: 66
Joined: Feb. 7 2009
From: Orlando

Question for the gigging flamenco guys

How do you mic up your guitar, and what mic do you use? Or do you use an acoustic/electric? There's a Spanish restaurant downtown here and the guitarist there uses a Yamaha acoustic/electric, but has higher quality instruments at home that he records with. He says he tried mic'ing it but had feedback and other problems so he bought the Yamaha for that gig.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Apr. 26 2009 20:33:50

a_arnold

Posts: 558
Joined: Jul. 30 2006

RE: Question for the gigging flamenc... (in reply to polishcomedy)

I recently bought an AudioTechnics "Freeway" wireless transmitter condenser lapel mic on the recommendation of the guys over in recording advice -- for about $100. This is just the transmitter and receiver -- you still need an amp, but the receiver has a standard 1/4" jack so it plugs into most guitar jacks on house amps or portable gig amps.

I was fed up with crouching over a mic stand and being unable to move around, and the AT wireless system, even though designed for public speaking, actually sounds better than my shure sm58 mic, which is supposedly the industry standard.

I got the idea from the 2 guys that play for Soledad Barrios and "Noche Flamenca" (they performed here a few months ago to an audience of about 1500). They used wireless mics inside their guitars instead of pickups. Sounded great, even their solos.

Positives: I just clip the lapel mic inside the soundhole. A tiny wire comes out and goes to a battery-powered belt pack (the size of a deck of cards), which transmits to a wireless receiver (which is jacked into your amp). Being able to move around and still have amplification is a BIG positive. The whole package is small and portable. and you can move 100 feet from your amp.

Negatives:

(1) Feedback is a (fixable) issue with mics, especially one inside the guitar, but requires some fine tuning of the amp volume, and adjustment of the amp's bass/mid/treble balance is needed to compensate for the mic characteristics. My gig amp (combo amp/speakers -- Roland AC-60) has bass/mid/treble adjustment built in that is enough to do the job, although an equalizer (a pedal equalizer like the 7-band Boss GE7 for about $50 on ebay) would give more precise control.

If the gig supplies a house amp, you will need some setup time to figure out the right settings for their amp if you use the wireless condenser mic.

I find that letting the whole system warm up for 5 minutes actually causes a lot of feedback to go away. Don't know why. It isn't a tube amp.

(2) other negative: the lapel mic alligator "tie clip" is designed backwards for a guitar, and leaves a thumb lever sticking up that could interfere with playing up at the 19th fret or a really energetic rasgueado done directly over the soundhole. To solve this problem you have to modify the clip by shifting the mic holder to the other side of the clip and turning it upside-down, which makes it all extremely low profile and is very easy. email me for details at arnold@gly.fsu.edu . I also got some of those adhesive nose pads they sell for eyeglasses to pad the clip and protect the guitar finish.

(3) Minor negatives: You are tethered to your guitar, so don't put it down and walk away! It can also be embarrassing if you forget to turn off the mic. One of the guitarists of the Soledad Barrios group forgot to turn his mic off while he was tuning up backstage during a palo seco cante performance. His tuning was transmitted to the amps and interrupted the cante. The cantaor stamped angrily off stage, heated words were spoken, and he had to start his solo over again.

It's an ideal solution for anyone whose guitar is too nice to modify with a pickup. And I've been told by several people that the condenser mic actually has a superior sound to the Fisher classical pickups that are available. I'm very happy with it.

I experimented by buying one of those cheapo wireless lapel mic systems that sell on ebay (mostly from Hong Kong) for about $15 incl shipping. They are supposed to accomplish the same thing but don't. (Belt pack and tiny receiver, both battery powered). Don't bother. The sound is totally unacceptable and unfixable.

Tony Arnold

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"Flamenco is so emotionally direct that a trained classical musician would require many years of highly disciplined formal study to fail to understand it."

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Apr. 27 2009 13:57:37