Podcasts about Accessibility
I recently had the opportunity to speak on two different podcasts about a subject I’m very passionate about - Event Accessibility. The conversations are a bit different -
On the first, with Alana Mediavilla of FilmKik, I speak more generally about the role and importance of accessibility, and the ways video producers can ensure their content is accessible to all
On the second, Ben Powell of BetterCast and I get into the nitty gritty of different caption systems and how they work. Fair warning, this one is long and has a lot of tech detail.
Talon Tech Tip: The Basics of a Public Address System
I recently received a message from a long-time client asking for help understanding how to amplify voices at a socially-distanced, outdoor event. They knew they because their very small audience was all separated from each other and from the presenters that they needed microphones for their event, but were unsure how all the pieces worked together. This article came out of offering one client some basic help understanding how the pieces of an event sound system (often called a “Public Address” or “PA” system) fit together.
In general the basic components of a public address system are the microphone(s), the mixer, the amplifier, and the speakers. Sometimes one or more of these components are combined in all-in-one units.
NOTE: Much of my writing published here has taken a broad look at the industry and with a fairly philosophical tone. Other posts have been super geeky and designed for industry technical peers. This one is a very basic intro to an AV topic. If you have much experience in the technical side of production, you probably already know this, but if you’re less confident in your understanding of audio technology, or are just getting started in the events industry, you might check it out. I break down the very basic building blocks of a Public Address system. If it’s not your jam, feel free to gloss over. Even if this isn’t your cup of tea, I hope you’ll come back to see my future writings - I’ll be jumping between tech-heavy and more general postings.
The Basics of a Public Address System
I recently received a message from a long-time client asking for help understanding how to amplify voices at a socially-distanced, outdoor event. They knew they because their very small audience was all separated from each other and from the presenters that they needed microphones for their event, but were unsure how all the pieces worked together. This article came out of offering one client some basic help understanding how the pieces of an event sound system (often called a “Public Address” or “PA” system) fit together.
In general the basic components of a public address system are the microphone(s), the mixer, the amplifier, and the speakers. Sometimes one or more of these components are combined in all-in-one units.
Microphones
In terms of microphones, a very common live sound microphone (in fact probably the most popular / famous mic in the world) is the Shure SM58. A microphone is a transducer that takes the physical sounds of your voice (or a musical instrument) and turns it into electrical energy, which is carried over a wire to the rest of the system.
Wireless microphones have two more parts - the transmitter, and the receiver. The transmitter has the microphone element attached to it, and that picks up the sound from the person speaking, and the transmitter converts the electrical energy from the mic element into radio waves. The receiver turns those radio waves back into an electrical signal that connects to your mixer. You can think of a wireless microphone transmitter as a tiny radio station, to which the receiver is “listening.”
Wireless microphone transmitters typically come in either a Hand-Held form factor, which can be held or placed into a stand, or a “Body Pack” form factor that is designed to be clipped to the belt and used with a lapel microphone or a headset microphone.
Because wireless microphones use radio frequency to transmit sound, they offer different "channels" which adjust the frequency each mic is using. The transmitter and the receiver need to be on the same channel to work, just like you have to have your car radio on the correct frequency to hear your favorite FM station. If another microphone, or a local TV station, or a walkie talkie, or any other device uses an overlapping frequency, the mic will get radio interference, causing dropouts or unpleasant noises. There is a whole science to frequency coordination, but a great start is to use the “scan frequencies” function on your microphone system to find available channels in your area.
Many new wireless microphones use digital encoding to provide high-quality audio over minimal radio bandwidth, but the basic principles above still apply.
Mixers
The next component of the sound system is the mixer. Mixers take multiple audio signals and “mix” them together, allowing the operator to change the relative volumes of the inputs and adjust aspects of the sound from each one.
Mixers can come with as few as 2 up to 70+ inputs, and come in various feature sets. To use 4 microphones with one PA you would need a mixer with 4 microphone inputs, and to mix an arena rock concert, you probably need a much bigger mixer.
Small, low channel-count mixers are usually analog devices that manipulate the sound with physical electronic components. Larger, higher-channel count mixers are often digital, encoding the audio into a digital signal and using digital signal processing to manipulate and mix the signals. This approach gives a great deal of control over the audio when working with complex systems.
Amplifier and Speakers
The mixer connects to the amplifier, which raises the amplitude of the audio signal high enough to physically move the speaker drivers, and then to the speakers, which are transducers that physically reproduce the electrical signals as sound waves.
Some mixers have built in amps (amplified or “powered” mixers) and some speakers have built in amplifiers (“active” or “powered” speakers). Depending on the configuration, you may be able to connect your mixer directly to your speakers, because the amplifier is built into one or the other.
NOTE: You should not cannot connect the output of an amplifier or amplified mixer to the input of a powered or active speaker - make sure you are connecting the appropriate kind of equipment.
There are also many all-in-one PA systems, some with batteries, that have built in wireless mics, mixers, and amplifiers. These are super useful for small events and events in unique or challenging locations that may not have available electrical power. Note that most will only work with a limited number of inputs and may have somewhat limited output power due to the limitations of the battery.
Connecting it All Together
Once you have all the components, you can connect them together. You will use several different kinds of cables to connect your system together. Make sure components are all connected while they are powered off, and then when you power them on, turn them on in the direction of signal flow. That is, Sources, then Mixer, then Amps. When powering down, turn off the power in the opposite order - Amps, then Mixer, then Sources. This helps avoid unwanted pops and noises that can occur during power up and down.
For most events, your AV provider will be using a fairly complex sound and video system, with multiple types of speakers, electronic mixing and routing controls and several trained operators, but even the biggest audio rigs for arena rock tours are combinations of these basic parts.
So now you have the basics of a PA system.
Tim Kerbavaz (he/him) is the founder and Technical Director of Talon Entertainment Audio Visual as well as a freelance Technical Producer with over a decade in corporate event production after an early career in live music production management. As both a live event technology professional and a creative geek, Tim serves as an event technology sherpa, guiding clients through production and technology decision making and delivering events to production bliss.
Improving Virtual Meeting Attendee Engagement with an Interactive Coffee Break
Let’s take this online
In mid May, the staff at Veloz, a nonprofit organization focused on electrifying transportation in California, came to me with a challenge. Their July member meeting, scheduled to be an in-person round table in Downtown Los Angeles, was going to be impacted by COVID-19 travel restrictions. Like most event planners, they wondered how to take the meeting online. The conference involved 50 members around a table discussing state policy, industry marketing, and increasing member investment. How would we move it to an online format while maintaining the networking, conversation and attendee engagement of the in-person meeting? How could we make members feel valued and invested in the organization without being with them in person?
Let’s take this online
In mid May, the staff at Veloz, a nonprofit organization focused on electrifying transportation in California, came to me with a challenge. Their July member meeting, scheduled to be an in-person round table in Downtown Los Angeles, was going to be impacted by COVID-19 travel restrictions. Like most event planners, they wondered how to take the meeting online. The conference involved 50 members around a table discussing state policy, industry marketing, and increasing member investment. How would we move it to an online format while maintaining the networking, conversation and attendee engagement of the in-person meeting? How could we make members feel valued and invested in the organization without being with them in person?
Author and Technical Director Tim Kerbavaz takes a selfie during a session break while managing the webinar from the client’s office.
They were familiar with Zoom, and already had a Webinar license, but weren’t sure how to ensure good audio and video quality as their Executive Director hosted the meeting. They also wanted to provide an extra level of engagement for their members as they participated in the meeting.
In order to ensure that all the member organizations were able to participate in the discussions, each member was asked to designate one delegate to have a seat at the virtual Zoom Webinar table. These appointed delegates were invited to the webinar as panelists, so that they could participate in the round-table discussion. Any other member representatives, or attendees from non-member organizations, were enrolled as listen-only attendees to streamline the conversation in the meeting.
In addition to pre-production planning, Talon provided onsite AV support at the Veloz office. We turned a conference room into a studio with camera, lighting, and audio equipment, allowing the Director to host the meeting on camera with high-quality video. Talon staff remotely controlled the production from down the hall in an office suite to preserve social distance and prevent noise or distraction on camera.
Make your guests feel at home, at home
Custom Camping-Style Coffee Mugs were sent out along with freshly roasted coffee beans from a local roaster.
To ensure members felt valued, and to ensure they were alert and attentive for the meeting, each member delegate was sent a Veloz-branded coffee mug and a bag of locally-roasted coffee. We partnered with Sacramento, CA -based Seasons Coffee Roasters. Seasons offers a retail mail-order coffee service, as well as wholesale beans for retail and foodservice, so they were a natural fit to enlist for both coffee and fulfilment of the gift packages. Boxes were shipped to arrive at attendees homes the weekend before the event, to allow plenty of time to enjoy the coffee and be ready for the meeting.
What’s that sound?
Screenshot from the webinar of DJ Jon VonRonk spinning records for the conference audience.
To set the tone of the meeting, attendees were greeted by Sacramento local vinyl DJ Jon VonRonk from Kicksville Vinyl & Vintage spinning records on the webinar, joining us live from his home studio. Because the audio from the DJ’s studio was music, not speech, Zoom’s standard audio processing would have interfered with the quality of playback. To prevent this, we adjusted some key audio settings within Zoom to disable the noise and echo cancellation processing, ensuring the highest possible music fidelity in the webinar environment. While the music played, attendees were presented with some light-hearted polling questions designed to spark conversations and encourage creative thinking before the discussions began in earnest.
Feel-Good Impact
Many members made a point to have their coffee mug in the frame for the call, even a few who admitted it was filled with water because they preferred tea or cocoa to coffee. Throughout the conference, and in a subsequent meeting of the same group, members exclaimed how exciting it was to have a DJ open and close the meeting. “I’ve never been to a webinar with a live DJ before” said several attendees. Some guests lamented that they don’t have music to greet them at all their conferences.
Overall guests responded with great excitement to the “virtual coffee break” and it provided a great example of combining creative attendee engagement tools to keep virtual event attendees interested and connected to the meeting and message.
Tim Kerbavaz (he/him) is the founder and Technical Director of Talon Entertainment Audio Visual as well as a freelance Technical Producer with over a decade in corporate event production after an early career in live music production management. As both a live event technology professional and a creative geek, Tim serves as an event technology sherpa, guiding clients through production and technology decision making and delivering events to production bliss.
Not Quite Live Stream: A Virtual Event Video Playback Solution
I got a call this week from a client asking “how do we do an event that looks like a live stream, but is actually pre-recorded?”
Lots of the virtual events I’ve been working on have had pre-recorded sessions, if not been fully pre recorded, so I thought I’d share how I’ve been handling playback for Zoom calls or Live Streams.
Signal Flow Diagram of a typical virtual event playback solution
I got a call this week from a client asking “How do we do an event that looks like a live stream, but is actually pre-recorded?”
Lots of the virtual events I’ve been working on have had pre-recorded sessions, if not been fully pre recorded, so I thought I’d share how I’ve been handling playback for Zoom calls or Live Streams. For my higher profile events I use an ATEM Mini as an A/B switch for my redundant playback machines as well as for USB capture, but you could easily use a single playback machine and a capture card like a Magewell, a U-Tap or an UltraStudio to ingest the HDMI input into your streaming computer, and/or go directly into an encoder like a Teradek Cube to go live to stream.
Using Figure53 qLab for playback, I set “wall clock” triggers to play certain files at certain times based on the time-of-day, and then once it’s set, it’s easy to manage multiple breakout rooms at once with minimal manual input.
Reach out if you need help putting together a live event broadcast system (or if you’d like Talon to turnkey your production). Happy to provide a consult, additional assistance, or a full-service production.
Tim Kerbavaz is the Technical Director of Talon Entertainment Audio Visual.
Talon Entertainment Audio Visual provides event AV production services for private, corporate, and community events across the United States. Serving a wide range of events, from political round-tables, to Silicon Valley Tech Company Conferences, to community festivals, to automotive-industry board meetings, Talon AV provides expertise and an exemplary attendee experience.
24 Months and Beyond: The Event Industry in a Post-Social Distancing World
Many of us have written about what the next 12-18 months look like for the events AV industry, but I haven’t read much about what our industry will look like after the events industry bounces back. What happens in the next 24 months, and beyond?
Here are some of my thoughts.
Many of us (myself included, twice) have written about what the next 12-18 months look like for the events industry. It’s going to be rough, there will be a lot of video conferences, and we’ll figure out what “virtual event” really means. I think we’ll see some interesting innovation, and some people and companies will be able to make a decent, if less than typical, living. Others won’t be so lucky, and I expect some production companies won’t be in a good position, and some technicians will leave the industry. I am confident, however, that our industry will come out of this and thrive. I’ve read lots of thoughts about the short term, but I haven’t read much about what our industry will look like after the events industry bounces back. What happens in the next 24 months, and beyond?
Whenever live events come back, I expect our whole world will look a little different, and that the AV and Events industries will reflect that.
Counting on video conferencing
At the lower end of the market, Zoom, Webex, and other desktop Video Conferencing platforms are commoditizing and democratizing VC. With the news that Verizon is buying BlueJeans, we can expect more and more consumer and self-service commercial VC to be the norm. Our clients and audiences have embraced desktop VC, often entirely without AV professionals.
One rental and staging executive I talked to was worried about how to keep providing value at the lower end of the market when there are so many DIY technologies. I too often worry what value I provide when supporting Zoom or other VC calls - what is the value proposition when the end users can do it themselves. “It’s so easy” I say to myself. To this point a friend reminded me that of course it’s easy for us, this is our livelihood, but for our customers it’s a business need and worth hiring help to remove pain points. My friend offered the analogy “think about how your accountant feels doing your taxes” - it’s old hat for them, but I gladly pay for the service. While the technology is more and more consumer friendly, I think we can continue to provide value in white glove VC and remote event services, in both the short- and long-term.
The small stuff will come back first
Even before conventions and sports games and concerts can happen, I expect to see smaller events happening in smaller venues, bars, and restaurants. Audiences are starved for socializing, so I expect that companies will have small meetings, small bars will have live music, and hotels will see bookings trickle in. Humans are social creatures, and I suspect we’ll gather in small groups as soon as it’s allowed and reasonably safe to leave the house. These events will have strict in-person attendance caps, and many attendees still won’t be comfortable going out. While they won’t necessarily have much production budget, many of these smaller events will have a live-streamed or video conference component. Once the service sector returns to operation, we’ll start to see bookings for these small gigs, and a niche market for value-engineered turnkey small event VC and streaming packages.
Once a vaccine is available and wider restrictions are lifted and, we will see the return of larger events. At this higher end of the market, I expect to see changes in the way events operate, and perhaps even growth in some areas.
An evolving office means evolving events
As companies have transitioned employees to remote work for the duration of this quarantine, I have heard from business executives, tech support staff, and space planning teams that many companies, across industries, are reconsidering their office layout. The open office may no longer be trendy, and frequent or permanent remote work may become the norm at many companies across industries. Businesses that are equipped for a partially or fully remote workforce will be able to get back to work before a vaccine is ready, and will be able to quickly adapt to future challenges because the infrastructure for telework will already be in place.
““I think you could see a doubling down on the (big in-person events) where they create a ‘narnia’ in real life because everyone has been living behind a device””
The big challenge for both management and remote workers is that they see less of their colleagues in person, so connection, shared vision, and team bonding can be a challenge. All-Hands meetings and team retreats will be increasingly important to building cohesive teams and to business success. With limited time for team bonding and internal networking, the ability to gather in one room for a meeting becomes critical.
With fewer desks and less expensive real estate to pay for, operating budgets may have more room for bigger, more elaborate productions, both internally and for client- or public-facing events. An added incentive - with everyone, coworkers and clients included, working from home on a laptop, the chance to go out to an event is a great change of environment. Thus event production, scenic, and lighting can be positioned to provide a welcome sense of escapism from the home office.
“I think you could see a doubling down on the (big in-person events) where they create a ‘narnia’ in real life because everyone has been living behind a device” posited Kyle Santen of PixelForge. “More money will get poured into physical events to make up for the lack of physical connection outside of the events” because everyone has been working remotely from home.
An increased interest in escapism, wow-factor, and atmosphere makes a ripe market for Media Server makers like Disguise, GreenHippo, Watchout, and Resolume. New demands for immersive experiences, polish, and effects could lead to new opportunities for augmented reality, mixed reality, and virtual reality, both in person and online.
Even in-person events are likely to have an increased focus on the online viewer; broadcast will be less of an afterthought and more of an equal (or potentially primary) audience. With larger online audiences, and more demand to stand out with eye- catching video, more of the event may be focused on the camera, which leads to more opportunities for new video technologies, 3D graphics, and mixed reality environments.
It will be a long while before we can gather in person and events can return to some semblance of normal. We’re looking at a timeline of 12-18 months to start moving back to large gatherings, and in the meantime client needs and expectations are changing. When we’re back on production, we should be ready for an evolved events market that includes more online and video-heavy productions, both big and small, and be able to provide an increasingly immersive and exciting in-person experience. We have a lot of down time, so now is a great time to re-imagine our recurring events to make them ready for a Post-COVID world. There are lots of training opportunities, and now would be a great time to share skills you have with your friends and peers in the industry. Even if we won’t see the curtain rise on a big show for a while, we can make sure now that our shows on the 24 month horizon are ready for a revamped production environment.
Tim Kerbavaz is the Technical Director of Talon Entertainment Audio Visual.
Talon Entertainment Audio Visual provides event AV production services for private, corporate, and community events across the United States. Serving a wide range of events, from political round-tables, to Silicon Valley Tech Company Conferences, to community festivals, to automotive-industry board meetings, Talon AV provides expertise and an exemplary attendee experience.
Cover Photo by Oscar Keys on Unsplash | In-Line Photo by Joshua Hanson on Unsplash
Death by Dongles
If you give presentations regularly, chances are you’ve had a video adapter mishap more than once.
Perhaps you worry as you head to a new venue: Does the room have the right video connection for my laptop? With so many devices and so many competing connection standards, can you be sure you’re prepared and have the correct adapter before you present?
Here are a few suggestions for making sure you have the correct adapter for the job and some ideas for organizing your adapters.
Managing Video Adapter Woes
If you give presentations regularly, chances are you’ve had a video adapter mishap more than once.
Perhaps you worry as you head to a new venue: Does the room have the right video connection for my laptop? How many dongles do I really need to carry around to give my presentation?
With so many devices and so many competing connection standards, can you be sure you’re prepared and have the correct adapter before you present?
We support lots of presentations here at Talon Entertainment Audio Visual, and we have amassed a pretty large collection of video adapters. Here are a few suggestions for making sure you have the correct adapter for the job at every event, as well as some ideas for organizing your adapters, no matter how large your collection may be.
What adapters do I need?
If your computer has both HDMI and VGA built in, you probably don’t need to carry any adapters, as you’ll pretty much find one or both at any venue you visit. That said, most new macs and many smaller PC laptops, ultrabooks and tablets will need an adapter - they use smaller connectors to save space. You’ll encounter USB-C and Mini DisplayPort the most these days (USB-C has become a fairly common standard, certainly by 2019 we’ve been seeing it on a broad swath of computers) but we still see Mini DisplayPort, Full Size DisplayPort, and Mini and Micro HDMI a fair bit.
If your computer has built-in HDMI, you might consider adding an HDMI-to-VGA adapter to your laptop bag. I know it seems VGA is on its last legs, but we still encounter it a lot, particularly in smaller conference breakouts or older venues. We’ve had good luck with this one from Cable Matters, which has an audio output and the ability to get power over USB if your HDMI port doesn’t supply enough power. Hopefully as 2020 approaches we’ll see VGA less and less, but we always have a couple of VGA adapters, because it shows up.
USB-C to HDMI Adapter
Many new laptops have USB-C. Make sure when you buy an adapter that it supports your specific computer make and model. Different hardware makers implement the standard slightly differently (The same connector can be used for USB, Thunderbolt, and DisplayPort signals, so you have to make sure your computer and the adapter can communicate in the same language.) I’ve had good luck with this model for VGA and this model for HDMI.
Mini Display Port Combination Adapter - VGA and HDMI
If you have Mini Display Port on your computer, you probably want to get adapters to both HDMI and VGA. Some manufacturers make combo adapters that have both HDMI and VGA out. Keep in mind that you can only use one of the outputs at a time (either VGA or HDMI but not both at once), but it still saves carrying two separate adapters - I like this one, and have carried it with my 13” Macbook Pro for a few years.
HDMI Connector Types
If you have an ultrabook or tablet, you might have Mini HDMI or Micro HDMI. If you have those, make sure you carry an adapter - these are not super common and venues might not have the correct adapter on site.
For Mini or Micro HDMI connectors, you can get an adapter that has a short cable between the Mini HDMI and the full-sized HDMI ports, like this for Mini HDMI and this for Micro HDMI, or you can get a one-piece adapter like this. Either way, be very careful that the HDMI cable and adapter combination are supported from below—do not put strain on you computer or tablet’s Mini or Micro HDMI port—these connections are very delicate, and you don’t want to damage your device with a heavy cable pulling on the port
Where do I keep my adapters?
At Talon AV, we have so many adapters that we keep them in a large clear tackle box, but likely you don’t need to carry that many on a daily basis.
For a daily carry, I like to use zipper bank deposit bags like this. They are small enough to fit easily in a laptop bag or backpack, but easily hold several video adapters, USB Cables, and a phone charger or two. I carry one in my backpack with all my most-used accessories so that I’m always prepared.
Do you have other ideas for using or storing video adapters? Let us know!
7 Questions About Event AV Your Team Needs to Ask
So you’re planning a meeting. You’ve got a venue picked out, you’ve got your speakers lined up, and your boss is ready to sign off on your plan. But Wait! What about your Audio/Visual plan? Make sure you and your team think about these questions before you sign off on your event.
When you plan an event, make sure you and your boss are asking these questions before you sign on the line. If you are the boss, then make sure you pay attention.
So you’re planning a meeting. You’ve got a venue picked out, you’ve got your speakers lined up, and you (and/or your boss) are ready to sign off on your plan.
But Wait! What about your Audio/Visual plan? Have you thought about your AV needs? Who your suppliers are going to be? Make sure you and your team think about these questions before you sign off on your event.
Do you have your AV needs documented? Make sure you know what you need AV wise, and that you arrange in advance to make sure it’s all ready for your event. Whether you provide the AV yourself, or you hire a company to do it for you, make sure you make a plan and stick to it to avoid last minute surprises.
Are you comfortable setting up yourself? If you are, then you’re all set. If not, do you need to call Steve from IT to set something up? Or is Anita from Accounting your Go-To setup wiz? No matter who you have doing the setup, make sure you know in advance who that will be and you schedule them to be there.
Do you need to bring in a professional? Remember both Steve from IT and Anita from accounting have a full-time job. Does taking your skilled employees away from their desk really make the most sense? Sure, if it’s just hooking up a laptop in the boardroom, it’s no problem, but if you’re taking them away for a long period of time, doesn’t it make sense to hire a professional?
Does your Venue provide AV support? When you’re looking at off-site meetings in Hotels and conference centers, find out what’s included in your rental. Does the room come with drop-down projection screens? Do you have to pay extra for the projector? Does a lectern and riser come with the rental, or does that cost extra? Do you have to arrange with the AV team separately, or is there a default setup? Will a technician be in the room the whole time? Will there even be a tech onsite? How much does that all cost?
Is in-house AV your best option? The answer to this is often no. Did you know that at most hotel properties, the in-house AV is not done by the hotel, but by a 3rd party company that pays to be the prefered provider? These companies often pay a 40-50% commission on the rates you pay back to the hotel. They also don’t usually travel to other locations, and have different crews for each property, so you’ll have different technicians at every event you do. They may be a great value and are certainly a great onsite resource, but they may not be your best choice, which brings us to #6:
Did you red-line exclusivity agreements in your venue contract? Given that they get 40% back from the in-house AV vendor, venues often have exclusivity clauses in their contracts which will require you to use the onsite provider. These can almost always be negotiated off the contract - the hotel salespeople are in the business of selling meeting rooms and guest rooms. While they like the AV kickback, it’s almost never a deal breaker for them, but it should be one for you. This doesn't rule out using the in-house AV, in fact they may be a great option, but if you redline the exclusivity clause, you have the option to use whoever you want, and the in-house has to be more competitive.
This is the most important question - Did you schedule time for your own breaks? You, your staff, Steve, Anita, and your AV crew all need to eat, rest, and use the restroom. Did you build in breaks for self-care, and schedule coverage for your positions while you’re gone? Your boss needs you in one piece, and you need your staff and crew in tip-top shape. Take care of yourself, eat, and don’t forget to drink water!
Microphone Tips from the Pros
“Is this thing on?”
I can’t count how many times I’ve heard someone announce this uncertainty into a live microphone to a room full of attentive listeners.
Microphones: Using one should be simple, but event attendees and presenters are often confused when you hand them a mic. Where do I hold it? Where do I set it down? And the eternal question, "IS THIS THING ON?!"
Hopefully this blog post will help clear up some basic misconceptions about microphones, and help make you a microphone pro.
Are you confident about using microphones at your events? Here are some microphone tips from the pros.
“Is this thing on?”
I can’t count how many times I’ve heard someone announce this uncertainty into a live microphone to a room full of attentive listeners.
Microphones: Using one should be simple, but event attendees and presenters are often confused when you hand them a mic. Where do I hold it? Where do I set it down? And the eternal question, "IS THIS THING ON?!"
Hopefully this blog post will help clear up some basic misconceptions about microphones, and help make you a microphone pro.
How Do I Hold a Microphone?
Hand Held Microphone
Hold the microphone in front of you, pointed at your mouth, about 3-5 inches from your face, and about an inch below your mouth. You want to talk into the microphone, so it can pick up your voice loud and clear, but you don’t want to breathe directly into the mic to avoid heavy breathing and the annoying plosives - the popping sound when you say “P” and “B” sounds with a puff of air. We’ll cover those pesky on-off switches a bit later.
Gooseneck Microphone - Lectern or Panel Discussion
Again, make sure the mic is about 3-5 inches away and about an inch below your mouth. Try not to turn your head too far away from the mic as you reference your slides or look around the room - you still need the mic to pick up your voice to be heard by your audience. Don’t talk too far away from the mic, but also don’t talk right on top of the mic. If you’re up too close to the mic, you may hear distortion and clipping from the mic being overpowered by your voice, especially on plosive sounds. If you hear distortion, back off the mic a bit.
Lavalier Microphone
If you’re using a lavalier microphone (the kind that clips onto your shirt), make sure it’s high up and centered on your chest, so that it picks up your voice over the room noise. You want to make sure that it can still hear your voice if you turn your head and that you won’t suddenly change volume as you move. If you wear it on one side, put it on the side you’ll turn towards to face the screen.
Headset Microphone
If you’re using a headset or an “earset” (a headset that clips to only one ear), make sure you position the mic element so that it’s just off to the side of your mouth, so that you don’t get breath noise or plosives, but still close enough to hear you well. Make sure the headset or earset is securely attached to your head, and, if appropriate, clip or tape the cable to your shirt so that it doesn’t pull on the mic.
With any wireless body-worn mic, make sure you clip the mic transmitter pack (called a “belt pack” or a “body pack”) to your belt or put it in a pocket, taking care not to pull on or put strain on the microphone cable.
What is that awful squealing noise?
Feedback - we’ve all been to a meeting where the microphone squeals and screams, making the whole room cover their ears and wince.
Feedback occurs when the microphone picks up the sound from the speakers more than the sound of the person speaking. This can occur because the mic volume is too high, because the person with the mic walks in front of the speakers, or because the microphone is being held in such a way that it picks up too much room noise.
The basic rules are these:
Don’t point the mic at the speakers.
Make sure the person speaking is louder to the mic than the amplified signal.
Don’t cover the mic with your hand.
That last rule is a bit counter-intuitive - you would think that covering the mic would make the feedback go away, but in fact it can make feedback worse. Most microphones used at events are directional - they pick up sound in front of them, and reject sound in back of them. If you put your hand over the top of the mic, or cover part of the windscreen “rapper-style,” you can turn a directional mic into an ominidirectional mic - one that picks up sound from any direction. This is a great way to make feedback happen; unless you want feedback, don’t cover the mic.
If you need to make a comment off-mic or walk in front of a speaker, mute your mic instead of covering it.
On/Off
Wireless Mics
All wireless microphones have a switch of some kind, but every brand of mic is different, so the mics at your event may have a slightly different interface. But no matter the brand, there will be a switch labeled “Power” or “On/Off”. If it’s a toggle switch, flick it on. If it’s a push button, press and hold for about 3 seconds until the screen and lights turn on.
Most mics take between 1 and 3 seconds to power on, so turn the unit on, and wait a few seconds before you talk.
On mics with a push button, a long press and hold usually turns the unit on and off. Often, a short press mutes and unmutes the microphone. On these models, the light is often green to indicate “on” and red or amber to indicate “mute”. On models with only one color of light, there is usually a small text indicator on the LCD screen on the mic transmitter to indicate mute status.
If there’s a sound operator in the room, he or she may ask you to leave the mic transmitter on all the time and allow him or her to unmute the mic remotely when you begin your presentation and mute it for you when you come offstage. If you turn off your mic manually, the operator won’t be able to remotely turn it on again, so make sure you leave the transmitter on and unmuted if that’s what the technician asked when they gave you the mic.
Gooseneck Mics
If you’re using a gooseneck mic at a panel discussion or lectern, there may be a push to talk button. Many of these mics are Push-On-Push-Off, meaning you push the button once and let go to turn it on, and push again and let go to turn off after you’re done using the mic. If that’s the case, make sure you turn off your mic after you speak to avoid picking up rustling paper or any side comments you make. Often these mics will have a light on the mic or the base to indicate the mic is on.
If the mic is Push-and-Hold to talk, press the button and keep it pressed as long as you are speaking, then release the button when you’re done talking.
Off to the meeting
I’ve covered the major types of microphones you’ll encounter at events, so with this guide under your belt, you should be ready for your next meeting.
Just remember the basics - the mic has to pick up your voice, and avoid picking up the sound in the room. Avoid plosives and feedback with proper mic placement, and take note of your on-off switches.
Now you’re a microphone pro!
© 2019 Talon Entertainment - All Rights Reserved
Cover image via Depositphotos - Halfpoint
You want how many microphones?
“You want how many microphones?”
I’ve found myself asking clients that question on many occasions. Big board meeting. National membership meeting. Round-table committee discussion. Meetings where there are 30 to 100 people who all need to be able to hear and be heard.
I’ll be honest -- you cannot have 50 microphones live at once in one meeting room without digital processing and expect to not have feedback. There’s no way one sound technician can manually keep track of who’s speaking and who’s up next and keep it all going smoothly. It’s not going to be pretty. And think of how many cables you’d need!
Luckily there’s a solution that lets everyone have a mic, prevents feedback, and keeps technicians from ripping their hair out.
It’s called an Audio Discussion System, or alternately known as a “Congress” or push-to-talk system.
“You want how many microphones?”
I’ve found myself asking clients that question on many occasions. Big board meeting. National membership meeting. Round-table committee discussion. Meetings where there are 30 to 100 people who all need to be able to hear and be heard.
I’ll be honest -- you cannot have 50 microphones live at once in one meeting room without digital processing and expect to not have feedback. There’s no way one sound technician can manually keep track of who’s speaking and who’s up next and keep it all going smoothly. It’s not going to be pretty. And think of how many cables you’d need!
Luckily there’s a solution that lets everyone have a mic, prevents feedback, and keeps technicians from ripping their hair out.
It’s called an Audio Discussion System, or alternately known as a “Congress” or push-to-talk system.
A push-to-talk system in use at a business meeting.
A Discussion System can come in multiple styles and feature sets, from installed systems with voting, speaking order tracking, translation, and video displays (as is used at the United Nations), to wireless systems with multiple zones, to simpler portable systems with basic push-to-talk microphones and fewer frills.
All of these systems offer simple wiring, as most allow the mics to daisy-chain around the table. They also have a central processor that both limits the number of simultaneous mics that are turned on as that processes and adjusts the audio on the fly, preventing feedback and excessive room noise in recordings and conference calls.
Each mic unit has a push to talk button on the mic base, and in many of these systems the base contains a small speaker, allowing all the participants to hear each other clearly without external speakers, and all can all be plugged into external sound systems for reinforcement, conferencing, or recording.
These systems provide a solution for events where everyone needs to be heard. They are typically used with audiences seated around a U-shape or hollow square table arrangement, with all the participants around the room facing in, or with rows of delegates in classroom style or tiered seating all facing a central dais or head table. They can be used with one mic station per seat, or spaced between alternating seats, with one mic for every 2 people.
We typically recommend that no more than two people share a discussion mic, because the bases are daisy-chained together. With a wire running in each direction, it’s best that they not be picked up and moved so the cables from the other units won’t be pulled too much.
If you are planning a large board meeting, or you’d like a large group to be able to have a round table discussion, with or without an off-site teleconference, a multi-mic discussion system is a solution worth exploring. We carry a range of these systems, and we’d be love to chat about your event. We’re in California, but if you’re curious about how these systems work, feel free to drop me a line no matter where you are -- I love to geek out about AV technology, especially if it helps folks find solutions to their event technology problems.