A full service audio and lighting company, Fette Productions specializes in sound reinforcement for orchestras, concerts and live shows throughout Minnesota, and the company has been utilizing Astatic 1700VP remote control variable pattern microphones on an increasing basis.
Concerts that combined a band and choir always posed a special challenge for company owner Roger Fette and his team: “It’s a problem when you have a concert band incorrectly positioned in front of a vocal choir, and you need to get the sound of the choir above the band. We’ve only had minor success trying a variety of miking tricks over the years, until I heard about the Astatic 1700VP remote control variable pattern mic.
“I was intrigued by the 1700VP and the fact that you change the patterns remotely,” he continues. “I read some positive reviews, and decided it could fill a spot for our business. I bought six of the 1700VPs with matching miniature carbon fiber booms to mount them in a variety of band and orchestral reinforcement situations. That was the turning point for us.
“We started having a lot of success at being able to isolate sounds and get exactly what we wanted into the mic because of the continuously variable patterns. I was really impressed that I could dial the background noise out and get rid of the horns in front of the choir with as much of the vocal content as possible and then mix that into the system. All of my sound guys are amazed by these mics too. The ability to control the mic pattern remotely is a truly outstanding feature.”
This past fourth of July weekend Fette and his crew had three major events with two concert bands in entirely different mixing situations. “So we used the 1700VPs for each show,” he explains. “We used to put up four or five kinds of studio mics in different parts of the band with mixed results. This time, we went to three of the 1700VPs and actually got much better quality sound. We were just able to dial it in.
“I’m a great believer in simpler is better,” he concludes. “Usually, the more mics you put up, the more things can get into your mix in terms of cross bleeding between the stage and different microphones. Keeping the inputs simple minimizes that extra noise. So we use less microphone and tighter control of what we’re putting into the microphones. There’s been a big difference in the sound we get since we started using the 1700VPs.”