How to mic a tuba for a live performance

[Dave Detwiler]

Dear TubeNet friends,

I will be playing my tuba in our large church auditorium in a few weeks, and the piano that will be accompanying me is a digital piano that will only be heard through our sound system.

My question is: What is the best way to mic a tuba in this situation, and what sort of mic should we use?

Thanks for any help you can provide.

[Ben]

I am not certain you will need to be mic'd in this situation. Are you concerned about the piano bein too loud? Is their poor control of the amp system? Is there other loud accompaniment? Without knowing more about the specifics of the situation, I would think mic'ing the tuba would only add to the acoustic soup of a large room. If you really gotta know, I've some suggestions, but I think you'll be fine unless it's a rock concert and everyone else is amped.

[Tom]

The answers to a few questions can help narrow things down...

-Can they bring the digital piano down to your level so that you don't need to be amplified? If no, then...

-Do you (or "they") have a sound guy that will be mixing the piano and the tuba together and THEN sending BOTH through the house PA? Can the piano be pulled out of the house PA and run through some sort of smaller amp?In my opinion having a good sound guy to mix is FAR more important than what kind of microphone you use.

-Is there an existing microphone inventory to pick from or do you really want to buy something just for this? With a good sound guy (see above), you can use almost anything including something cheap like an SM-57. Surely they have something like that. They are THE multi-purpose microphone.

If you've absolutely got to buy something, look at a high quality clip on, like something from DPA. They start at about $600. Run that into a wireless belt pack (like many live guitar players use), and you'll be good to go. Your sound guy will need to be setup for wireless and know how to use it.

EDIT: Microphone placement, no matter what you use, is important. Work with your sound guy for best position. I would put it in line with the bell, and overhead. Relatively close to the bell, but generally not in it.

[Dave Detwiler]

Thanks for the help - as to your questions:

-I'm not concerned about the piano being too loud, just the piano sound coming from the house speakers, which are above, and my sound coming from the horn on stage (if not mic-ed)
-We have an excellent sound engineer who can control and mix the sound, but he has never dealt with a tuba until now.
-It will only be myself and the pianist playing
-The piano sound could be limited to a stage monitor next to the piano; is that better than sending both sounds to the main speakers?
-We have many mics to choose from

Let me know if this gives you a better idea of how to guide me in this - thanks so much!

[Ben]

I figured someone else would have jumped in, but here is my opinion... Don't worry about it. People have wonderful ears, and they will be able to tell where the sound is coming from. The option to use the stage monitor for just the piano may also be perfectly acceptable. I would make sure you have one rehearsal in the space prior to the event, and bring a pair of ears you trust in addition to the sound engineer. If you don't trust the engineer, then you can get your second opinion that way. You'll be fine.

Have fun!

[swillafew]

Doesn't sound as though you need a mic; if one is offered, play as you would otherwise and let the engineer do their job.

[kontrabass]

whether you need a mic or not probably depends on how the church's sound system is set up.

are the mains only above/beside the stage? if so it may not be necessary, because they will create a natural stereo image of the piano on the stage right next to where you are, and you'll blend naturally.

if however there's speakers going all the way back to the church in a 'surround sound' sort of deal, which is common to help people hear the sermon especially in large churches, then you'll want some of your own sound in there, or else you'll want to just go with the stage monitor for the piano. What you don't want is someone in the back of the church to hear piano very clearly in a speaker that's right next to their ear, and hear tuba faintly from 100 ft away.

Any kind of mic on a boom stand - SM 57 for example - will probably do the job.
Put it above the bell about 6 to 12 inches.