Wireless

[mandopete]

This topic may have been covered already and if so I apologize in advance...

For awhile now I've pondered the notion of a wireless set-up for acoustic instruments (mandolin, guitar & banjo) in a bluegrass setting. #My thought is that the elimination of the wires and static microphone stands would make the utilization of a single mic much easier.

My thought is to still mic the instruments, but use a smaller mic that clips to the instrument and connects to the sound system via a wireless connection. #I've heard that the band Mountain Heart is doing this and I'm curious to hear how well it works.

[danmills]

I saw Mountain Heart at the Fathers Day festival in California last year. They were using wireless monitors, i.e. receivers on their back/belt, and little headphones in their ear(s), but they were playing and singing into microphones as usual.
Dan

[picksnbits]

I've seen M Heart in a small venue and at the Ryman and, as I recall, they were using wireless on the instruments and singing into traditional mics both places.. They put on a great show in both cases and sounded really good. I've heard that they went wireless in order to put on a more dynamic show and they do have dynamic stage presence.

However,.....

At the Ryman I saw them back to back with Rhonda Vincent and her band used traditional mics, I believe most of the vocals were single mic but there may have been one or more mics for instrumentals. Her groups stage presence was no less dymanic, maybe even more so in spite of the fact that she had one leg in a cast. The sound quality of R V was definitely better. The sound quality difference was driven home to me when R V was doing a single mic vocal with her fiddle player playing the mando as the only intrumental accompaniment. He was standing a couple of feet behind the group as they sang and would occasionally aim the mando at the mike and throw in some fill in licks. The mando filled the auditorium with sound much better than anything Steffey had been able to accomplish earlier with a wireless setup.

I left the Ryman with the impression that wireless works, but wired sounds better and doesn't have to force the pickers to stand stock-still.

IMHO, of course.

[mandroid]

And RFI isnt picked up by the hard wired gear, if its shielded and grounded properly.