How To Select A Live Vocal Mic

The Shure SM58 has been a staple of sound reinforcement systems for more than 50 years, but it's not always the right mic for the job.

In this video, Dave Rat from Rat Sound shows an easy way to test a variety of vocal microphones, then make the best choice for your application.

Beware, a single mic rarely fits all applications, as you'll see.

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How To EQ A Live Sound System

Many live sound engineers sometime make life difficult for themselves by confusing when to use the various types of EQ. For instance, if you use your board EQ more for tuning the room, you'll find that it will take you longer to tune the system every night. Instead, the board EQ should be used for just EQing the mics to either the vocals or instruments onstage, while the system EQ is used to tune the room. That way, there's only one set of equalizers that change from venue to venue.

Here's an informative video from Dave Rat of Rat Sound that explains his method (and that of most other live sound engineers) of EQing a live sound system.

One part of this that's a little different is that he uses a set of headphones that he knows well to EQ the stage mics and as a system reference. Make sure you really know your headphones well if you choose to use this trick.

For more info on live sound you can read excerpts from The PreSonus StudioLive Mixer Handbook and my other books on the excerpt section of bobbyowsinski.com.

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