3.5.12 Adam in Dallas -- Radio Promo continues

HEY, MODS! HELP NEEDED!

There's something weird happening in "member news and advice"... ???


(ETA Or should I have sent a pm to you? Seems like I'm the one who needs help - I obviously don't know how to behave here... ;D)

Lindsay Bilyeu ‏ @lindsayinthesky Reply Retweet Favorite · Open
Adam is performing @ 106.1 KISSFM @10 am today. If any of yall can get there that soon please do. They only just now announced he's playing!

Mika got it right. I am not a sound engineer either, but as a singer, I have worked with mics. If the sound level on the mic is set to pick up and broadcast your voice when you are singing softly and intimately, then when you go for your power notes, for the big belt, or for the part of your range where your voice is the most resonant you will blow out the mic, causing distortion and static. Or, alternately, if the mic has certain limiters, when the intensity of the voice increases to over-capacity, the sound will automatically be cut back, cutting off some of the frequencies and muddying or deadening the sound.

With someone like Adam, who uses so many variations of tone, intensity, power and resonance in just one song, it would be impossible to set the mic at a certain distance from his mouth and forget it. That leaves two choices. 1) Set the mic at a constant distance from the mouth, and work the sound board to compensate, or 2) Move the mic. Adam chooses to do the latter. I recall one recent performance where, on the glory note, Adam moved the mic so that it was at his waist and pointing toward his body, not his mouth. With all the problems and frustrations Adam has had with the sound mix, I cannot imagine him giving up control of his sound to someone at the sound board constantly adjusting dials and levers to balance the volume and intensity. Since Adam is famous for changing his delivery at different performances, the sound guy/gal would have to be a mind reader to keep on top of the levels.

As to the point about the hand held mic sounding better, it has to do with the frequency response of the mic. What frequencies (low and high) it picks up and amplifies. Generally speaking, the very small mics have a narrower frequency response. They don't pick up the extremes of low and high frequencies as well, or at all. A "warmer" sound refers to resonance in the low and mid frequencies. The small mics can have trouble with the low frequencies, making the voice sound brittle or tinny. Think of the radio you had in your old beater car before there were good speakers and sound systems in vehicles. Or, the telephone, where voices sound less full and vibrant.

With a voice like Adam's, that has such a wide range, plus has such resonance and sympathetic harmonics, (which is why Adam's voice sounds and feels so good), he needs a VERY GOOD mic to pick up all of that. Hence, the hand held.

Hope all that made sense.

So, has Adam already been on? Did anyone hear it????