Microphone ideas with no pulpit

[adessmith]

Our pastor is considering, in the future, having the pulpit removed. He says it takes up too much space, and he doesnt preach behind it. He holds his bible, and walks from one side of the sanctuary to the other... He never sits his bible down, and never stand in one place for more than a few seconds.
He currently uses a headset mic, but we have a mic on the pulpit as well. This is used by other people when they read, speak, etc... We would keep a small lightweight portable podium nearby which could be used when needed, but off stage most of the time.
We are looking for suggestions on how to replace the pulpit mic with something else... possibly a hanging (choir type) microphone.
However, there are a couple of hangups with the overhead mic idea:
1) We have a projection screen hanging about 8'-10' up, and about 3' behind where the pulpit currently is. The ideal spot for a hanging mic would unfortunately turn out to be right in front of the screen. If we hung it behind (and a few inches below) the screen it would likely be behind most people we are trying to mic.
2) Speaker placement: Our speakers are on poles, about 10' on either side of the pulpit. I am afraid the proximity of the mic would be too close to the speakers. We already have a difficult time with feedback from the pulpit mic (which we overcome with careful eq'ing). I would imagine, with the hanging mic being further from the source, that problem would be exagerated.

We have a couple of boundary microphones, but the platform is painted plywood with no carpet or anything, so I'm sure a boundary mic placed on the floor would pickup every footstep and vibration on stage.

We could just leave a wireless microphone on a stand, center stage. However, the people using it would have to be educated about turning it on and off... or we could lock it in the 'on' position, but then we would be using a lot more batteries.

It seems like there is no ideal solution, does anyone else have any ideas?

[bladeaudio]

Do you know ahead of time who the other people speaking will be? Best solution - I'd invest in another set or two of wireless headset mics and place these on those people before the service.

[prochlea]

we have a wireless handheld on a stand by the stairs onto the stage, and we lock it on. Definitely uses more batteries, but we buy batteries in bulk online, and they're cheaper. There are some thinline gooseneck mics with an integrated stand, but for the cost of them, you could run through batteries for a while.

[cmchamp]

If wireless headsets aren't an option, Audio-Technica has an option to make a podium mic, such as their UniLine (90-degree narrow) microphones or other podium mics so that you could still have a focused stand or podium mounted mic that was wireless if you don't want to have a cable to manage when the temporary podium is pulled out of the way. The bodypack transmitter could stay inside the podium.

[petereit]

Wireless mic. Always on (and seal/tape/glue/weld the switch in the on position). Rechargeable batteries inserted before service, removed after.

This has worked great for us for 6 years.

[waynehoskins]

Buy some wireless. Some bodypacks with headset or lav elements, a handheld or two for things where they would be useful. Then fix the speaker system and you should be all set.

[adessmith]

Headsets would be out of the question. The way some of our services run, depending on how the spirit moves, sometimes the "program goes out the window" and you never know who is going to be up there. Also we have other pastors who are members, and it's nothing for one of them to be asked to come up and share something spontaniously.

I like the idea of just leaving a wireless mic on a stand, we are already plowing through batteries as it is, we definately need to look at ordering in bulk.
I also love the idea of mounting our pulpit mic to the portable podium and connecting it to a wireless transmitter.
I think, between the two options we could cover all our bases.

I'm thinking we could maybe screw a piece of sheet metal underneath the podium with some washers between it and the wood, so it stands off enough to make a nice place to clip a beltpack, and do it so that the on off switch is in a convenient location.

Any ideas on how to take an XLR lecturn mic, and connect it to a belt pack transmitter? What would be a good transmitter and receiver to use for this, and where can I get the proper cables?

[tdangelo]

Originally Posted by adessmith

We are looking for suggestions on how to replace the pulpit mic with something else...

I wonder if someone at the church has seen a recent award show or classical music show on TV where there is a ultra thin tube which (sometimes rises, sometimes fixed height) from the stage with a tiny condensor element on top. (or sometimes two elements on top).

These mics (if on TV) are almost always Schoeps and are some of the best mics money can buy:

http://www.schoeps.de/en/products

As others have said the hanging mic is fraught with all sorts of challenges. I think the lowest tech, easiest solution might be a wired or wired hand mic on a floor stand.

[tropicalfish]

Instead of using disposable batteries, get Sanyo Eneloop rechargeables. They're great. And you can leave the wireless on so you won't have to worry about people turning it off or popping sounds from it turning on.

[waynehoskins]

The biggest issue with most wireless transmitters, for use with a podium mic, is that most transmitters don't provide phantom power. Beltpacks provide a bias voltage for electret mics, but it's pretty low voltage and not phantom. Some of the plug-on transmitters do provide real, though low-voltage, phantom power, so some of them might work, but not all.

You should already be getting your batteries in bulk. Fresh batteries every Sunday, if not more often if you have services or events on other days. Batteries are cheap insurance. I get Duracell Procells from medicbatteries.com; there are other similar suppliers as well.

[[Admin] osborn4]

We switched to rechargeables with a slow charger a few years ago and have not regretted it.

[Tim Padrick]

Sounds like you should just get a wireless handheld, which can be put on the pulpit, and popped off and passed around. The Sennheiser 100 series are just fine.