Will wrote:
"Your overall goal is to adjust the sound coming out of the house speakers to
get as much volume as you can without any 'ringing' sound."

Thank you Will for this information.  I 
understand how this process would work for most 
PA system setups at musical concerts and other 
performances.  It is certainly targeted at 
minimizing feedback--a worthy goal in any situation.

I have concerns, however, if this is the best way 
to set up a caller's mike.  When I attend dances 
I find that the caller's mike is often set up 
with a lot of low frequency response and little 
high frequency.  I wonder if that may be because 
the audio person has followed this very advice.

With little high frequency response the caller is 
likely to have difficulty being understood 
clearly because the highs are essential for 
hearing the speech articulation sounds that help 
us to distinguish between words.  The words 
"left" and "right," for example, will sound 
almost identical when the high frequencies are removed.

A concert is a very different situation than a 
social event.  At a concert the fans already know 
the words and those who don't can simply buy the 
album and read the insert, (if that kind of thing 
is important to them).  The voice is really being 
used as a musical instrument and clear 
articulation is not vital.  The context of words 
in a song will often reveal the meaning without 
being able to make out every word.  In any case 
there is no pressure to catch every word either sung or spoken.

Do you remember the sound of a PA system on a 
military ship?  You've heard it in movies.  The 
voice is transmitted through metal horns that are 
very tinny, reproducing all of the high 
frequencies with great effectiveness.  This may 
not sound soothing or melodious but in a critical 
situation--where lives depend on instructions 
being understood clearly--this setup is perfect 
for cutting through the roar of the sea, the 
engines, and the wind to make the message understandable.

At a contra dance we don't need the blare of a 
ship's PA system, but the principle is an 
important one.  English is not a tonal language 
and fricatives, stops, and glides are essential 
for communication.  We need to hear these speech 
elements clearly, and they all occur in the higher frequencies.

Contra dances are social events.  As such the PA 
system is really there for reinforcement only and 
high volume does not need to be the primary 
goal.  Perhaps our efforts would be better 
directed at discussing the skills a caller uses 
to earn and hold the attention of the hall so 
that we can lower the overall volume.  For many 
dancers this would be greatly appreciated.  It 
would lower stress levels in the hall and 
encourage a more sociable and gracious tone.  I 
find that at a lower volume I can crank up the 
treble on my mike without feedback problems.  It 
is much easier to be understood at a lower volume 
with the high frequencies emphasized.

Thank you Will for educating me on this 
technique.  I can see why it is done and I can 
also see how it can create problems for a dance caller.

I would be very interested to hear what others think of all this.

Just a thought,

Greg

*********

At 06:42 PM 5/6/2009, Will wrote:
>A very knowledgeable pro audio person just gave me a mini-course on how to
>do basic sound setup for a mike, something I¹ve always wanted to know more
>about. At many dances there is a sound person who will do this for you but
>sometimes there isn¹t and this little bit of info may be of help. It
>certainly demystified things for me. I wrote this up and then edited it a
>bit more after getting his feedback. Others may have additional comments.
>
>How to ³Ring Out a Channel² for a microphone
>
>You overall goal is to adjust the sound coming out of the house speakers to
>get as much volume as you can without any Œringing¹ sound. Every room is
>different in terms of what frequencies it absorbs and reflects, so the
>necessary settings will differ from place to place. Different mikes will
>also require different settings. The adjustment described below can be done
>systematically and in just a few minutes.
>
>1. Setting Initial Gain from the Mic (aka input level or ³trim²)
> > * Turn house volume (for your mike) 
> completely down ­ usually the last knob or
> > slider
> > * Set all EQ controls to flat (middle position)
> > * Turn up Gain - usually the first control 
> knob or slider for your microphone
> > Œchannel¹ - while speaking into mike until 
> you see levels on the meter or the
> > clipping light flashes. Adjust gain to just 
> below clipping or 0db (same thing)
> > depending on what kind of feedback ­ level meter or clipping light - is
> > available on the sound board.
>2. Setting EQ (balancing the sound for the room by getting rid of the
>ringing)
> > * Turn up house volume on the mic channel 
> until you hear a ringing along with
> > your voice
> > * Reduce level on first EQ slider/dial (often labeled Œhighs¹) to see if it
> > reduces or eliminates ringing. If it does, 
> increase house volume again until
> > ringing is again apparent. If no change, reset to flat and go to next EQ
> > range.
> > * Reduce level on next EQ slider/dial to reduce/eliminate ringing. Increase
> > house volume again until ringing occurs.
> > * Repeat for each subsequent EQ range 
> available on sound board ­ some may just
> > have highs, mids and lows, others may have 
> multiple mid-range adjustments. You
> > may not need to adjust all the EQ¹s, e.g. the low frequency in particular,
> > just keep running up the volume and adjusting out the rings until you have
> > plenty of volume. Your objective is to get as 
> much volume as you need for the
> > performance without ringing.
>3. Fine-tuning: If time permits after you¹ve rung out the channel you can
>then play with the EQ to adjust for sound quality. Keep talking into the mic
>and make very subtle adjustments to the EQ until you get a smooth natural
>sound.
>
>
>
>Will Loving
>Amehrst, MA
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