THE LAPEL MIC IS DEAD – LONG LIVE THE EARSET MIC!
Think back with me for a moment. How did we find ourselves in this predicament anyway? Why did we start using lapel mics in the first place? And why do we need something better?
It started when churches grew to the size that they needed to amplify the pastor’s voice so that all could hear the message. Early on, simply placing a microphone at the podium allowed us to pick up the senior pastor, as well as the song leader and others making announcements. But that didn’t work so well for pastors who preferred to move around while delivering their message. So someone got the idea to strap a lanyard to a cabled microphone, and let the pastor hang it around their neck. They called this apparatus a “lavaliere” mic.
That worked okay, but of course it was big and heavy and cumbersome. Manufacturers eventually developed a smaller microphone that could be clipped to the coat lapel or to a tie, and appropriately called this new invention a lapel mic.
The lapel mic gave us a way to capture the natural sound of the pastor’s voice with a microphone that is all but invisible. But it can be prone to feedback, especially with a poor-performing loudspeaker system.
You know empirically that if you can’t get a person’s voice loud enough without putting the system into feedback, the cure is simply to either have the person talk louder, or move the mic closer to the talker.
What if we could simply place that mic within a couple of inches of the talker’s mouth? That’s exactly what the Crown CM-311 achieved. It worked great, but was too noticeable for any pastor to consider wearing.
The first small, earworn mic to really catch on was the Countryman E6. It started a revolution by allowing us to discretely place a good quality miniature microphone within inches of the sound source.
It was quickly embraced by sound techs because not only could we now pick up the pastor’s voice clearly and consistently with minimum feedback problems, but finally – finally – we could get the big solo during the drama to sound good without the actor having to grab a handheld mic.
The good news is that the pastors who I’ve talked with who have embraced the earset mic tell me how wonderful the experience is for them, how they used to have to strain their voice each time they preached, and how the earset mic has spared their vocal cords.
Based on what we’re hearing (pun intended), the popularity of the earset microphone will simply continue. It genuinely solves a myriad of technical issues that church sound techs have been chasing for years. It gives us a clean pickup of the pastor’s voice, consistent sound character no matter how the talker moves their head, excellent gain-before-feedback, and it’s virtually invisible beyond about thirty feet from the platform. What’s not to like!?!
Today, one can find earset microphones from several different manufacturers. The retail price varies from about $200 to $700, and most can be wired to work with any major wireless microphone transmitter.
Curt Taipale
Curt@K2Audio.com
http://www.K2Audio.com
