[Worship] Wireless headset mic feeds back, no volume control

[Dave Hooker <dhooker@skynet.ca>]

Judson Taylor wrote: 
> We tried out a new wireless headset mic for me this past Sunday so I could
> have more freedom of movement as I sing, play keyboard and direct the music
> team. Unfortunately it kept feeding back like crazy from the monitor, and
> nothing we tried (moving the monitor, adjusting volume, etc.) seemed to
> help. In addition, I can no longer "work" the mic as I sing (softer, louder,
> etc.) because the mic is always right there. I know other worship leaders
> use this...how do you overcome these problems? Thanks!

Judson,
May I ask what the mfr and model of headset you are using?  Is the mic
element pointed the right way toward the mouth?  I know that that is a
silly question, but once I heard of someone wear a Crown head mic (like
Garth Brooks') so the element was pointed away from the mouth, and the
backside was pointed at the mouth.  he he.  So, make sure that the mic
element is properly in front of (with the Crown headsets) or close to
the corner of the mouth.  If it's at your cheek, then that is not good. 
Is the mic facing the monitor?  If it is, then some headsets have the
option so the mic arm is on the other side of the head.  Omni vs
cardioid; cardioid would have better gain before feedback and would
offer more rejection of stage (monitor) noise.  Can the volume be
lowered in your monitor, or can your monitor be moved further away from
you?  Was the feedback at a low freq or high?  Let me know.  

I bought a headset for our worship leader because of his poor mic
technique; we could never get him to move close to mic when he said
something (vs singing), it picked up a lot of piano (he plays and leads
at the piano), and it limited his movement.  The headset solved all of
those problems, in addition to the great improvement with clarity of
speech through the house and through the monitors for the worship team! 
The comments from Ben Bradley are right on, especially about controlling
your own instrument volume!  :-)  It is a learned thing with a headset,
so don't be discouraged.  Tip: I inserted a compressor on the channel at
the mixer-- it helped to reduce the loud portions (i.e. singing) and
increased the quiet portions (e.g. speaking during a song). The sound
tech still must "predict" when the speaking occurs during a song to
increase the level at the fader, but the compressor helps.   

Blessings!

Dave Hooker
Tech Ministries
Faith Baptist
St. Thomas, Ontario
Canada

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