Reflection from surface of pulpit

[matthewah]

Our pastor wears a country e6 mic, however when he moves to the pulpit we get feedback through the mic. I've troubleshooted it to his voice reflecting off the surface of the wood pulpit. I'm sure some of you have experienced this before, but was wondering what you have put on the surface of your pulpit to correct this issue?

[prochlea]

We used to have a problem with light reflecting off our pulpit onto the pastors face and our projection screens (its brushed aluminum) - so I covered it with black gaff tape. I haven't figured anything out for the acoustic reflections though...

[FlamHappy]

We had this issue pop up out of nowhere a few weeks ago.

No amount of EQ would take it away. It was after all a LDC choir mic that was somewhat overhead not muted and hot! The reflections were bouncing off the wood pulpit and being picked up by that cranked condenser that was 10 - 15 feet away!

Peace is restored now but oh how it kept everyone jumping for a while.
It sure seemed like the pastor's mic.

[cmchamp]

Matthewah
Reflections from the pastor's voice off the pulpit surface should not cause feedback. The reflections must be from another source, such as the mains.
Reflections from the pulpit might cause some comb filtering, but doubtful that it would be noticed.
What frequency rang is the feedback?
I would suspect that it's more likely reflections from a down-fill off the pulpit or sympathetic vibrations being excited when he steps into a mode.

[MediaGuy]

That doesn't sound right, Mattewah... The countryman has strong sensitivity but a small envelope - my experience is that it took a lot of effort to make the thing feedback. Unless this pastor is leaning down inches from the surface of the pulpit, or leaning in really close looking straight down at the surface at a 90-degree angle... And even that - reflections won't cause feedback except for very specific situations. To me the pulpit doesn't sound like the cuplrit. Like Cory mentions above, it must be getting a lot of signal from the mains or monitors, right in front of the pulpit.

[KeckCreative]

A layer of felt should easily absorb reflected sound. It will also lessen any noise of say papers ruffling and book thumps. It potential can keep things from sliding too.

[[Director] drew ryan]

We use the black rubbery drawer liner stuff. Works great at knocking down light reflections and keeping stuff from sliding around on the lectern surface. It might also help to brake up audio reflections a bit, but only in the higher frequency rage.

I would agree that it seems more likely that you pastor is stepping into a mode that is hanging out right where the lectern is placed. Try moving the lectern back a couple of feet and see what happens.

[liko81]

Originally Posted by matthewah

Our pastor wears a country e6 mic, however when he moves to the pulpit we get feedback through the mic. I've troubleshooted it to his voice reflecting off the surface of the wood pulpit. I'm sure some of you have experienced this before, but was wondering what you have put on the surface of your pulpit to correct this issue?

Pulpits are all different; ours is a pretty ornate permanent setup made of solid wood and marble, so we would have significant reflections but for two things; first, a thick Bible is left open on the pulpit at all times, and second, there is a hanging for the current liturgical season that runs over the surface of the pulpit and down the front. Between those two, any reflections off the pulpit are pretty minor. even when using the lav (there's a gooseneck on the pulpit, but when pastor starts getting animated a mix of the two works better).

Be very careful with monitor placement if you use them for spoken word. It sounds like you may be using ceiling-mounted monitors, and the sound's bouncing off the pulpit surface into the mic. Adjusting the lectern position, the angle of its surface, or simply turning down the pastor in the monitors a bit should help. If pastor can't hear himself talk without monitors being at feedback levels, you have a REALLY dead room; see if you can get him an IEM (or a hearing aid).

[Tim Padrick]

Angle of incidence equals the angle of reflection. Visualize a line from the mic to the pulpit, and then visualize a line out from the pulpit at the same angle. This should show you where the source is. (Of course there are a lot of paths.....) Or, lay the mic on the pulpit and cue it in the phones while playing a CD through one of your loudspeakers at a time, and listen to what the mic is "hearing".