[Dixielandjazz] Mad Dawg on Lavaliere Mikes

[Robert Newman]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Lowell Busching" <verbose at daktel.com>
To: <Bob Newman>
Sent: Sunday, July 29, 2007 5:22 PM
Subject: Abe's Mike. Private email


> Ringwald forwarded your comments.
> 
> 
> > In his last several playing months Abe Most used a Shur UT4 system 
> for amplifying his clarinet.    It's a lavaliere button mic he wore on 
> his chest (practically invisible) wired to a transmitter (cigaret pack 
> size) on his belt.     The receiver was plugged into the PA system 
> amplifier.
> 
> Part of the problem of clarinet or sax players using them is that they 
> are at the mercy of whomever is on the sound board, especially in the 
> smaller venues that do not have professional sound people. I knew what 
> they were all about and had no problem with it.  In fact I prefer then 
> they do that as then I don't have to try and talk them into playing 
> somewhere near the mike. Ha
> 
> Is Bobby Gorden still playing?  He never used one of those wireless 
> pickups, but when he would stand anywhere near a mike, and not just back 
> up with everyone else into the piano or drum set, he was a master at 
> using the standard mike. Move the clarinet and down by the holes where 
> the sound was coming out and not a mile away or at the bell. None of 
> which work.  Get one level, tell the sound person to leave it alone if 
> necessary (not with me. ha) and do your own dynamics. I really miss him, 
> but if he backed up with the rest he would not do it either.
> 
> Abe's seemed to work fine, but most players give up on them after 
> awhile. Probably because of the variations in sound people more then any 
> displeasure with the mikes.  Hedges used a mike for while, but gave it 
> up. Draga, the only one this year I could count on bringing in a crowd 
> to the Sheraton Ballroom, does not use one, but he likes the way I do it 
> so he can do his own thing. He plays the mike good too.
> >
> > He used it at his last Sweet and Hot weekend and I asked him about 
> it. "I love it," he said, "I have complete freedom and I can play as 
> softly as I want.:"
> 
> Again, providing the sound person knows what he is trying to do and does 
> not try to crank him up on the soft parts.  Saxes don't really need a 
> mike of any kind in most rooms, just like the trumpet, but more are 
> going to it for loudness. Like the Cornet Chop Suey reed man and the 
> Jump band saxes. They can move around the audience and be heard also.
> 
> Inexperienced sound people find the special hookups to be a problem or a 
> pain, but I don't mind.  Except for singers who should never be 
> wireless. The batteries can fail at any time and will. Ha
> 
> 
>   He showed he was obviously enjoying it, and showed me the components 
> as he was packing up after a Hangover Lounge session.     Ask Mad Dawg 
> about it.   That was his Dominion.
> 
> Most wireless mikes work well today. The receivers are very sensitive so 
> you can just throw it anywhere near the mixer, plug it in, and be heard 
> anywhere in the room if the mixer turns it up properly. I have 
> personally had no problems with them fading out due to distance even in 
> a room as large as the Sheraton Ballroom!  Providing the musician keeps 
> his transmitter at max.
> 
> Lowell
> >
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