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To PA Or Not To PA? The Conundrum Of Deciding When To Deploy Sound Reinforcement

Analyzing when, where and why a system may – or may not – be necessary, and in fact, do more harm than good...

Since we’re all in the sound reinforcement business, one way or another, the question asked in the title of this article might not seem very relevant. But the truth is that there may be as many times that we either don’t need a PA system at all or end up using less kit than we initially anticipated.

As both a musician and a “sound person,” I’m often confronted with problems (or at least decisions) on this topic. Let’s look at some examples.

400 Weddings, Anyone?

I play music at about 30 weddings per year, on average, and over the years I’ve been to more than 400 of them. Many are held in smaller, intimate venues where a PA isn’t required for the officiant nor for the string quartet playing ceremony music.

When we get into larger venues or if the event is outside, the issue of a PA system often comes into the equation. The quartet is still almost never miked, which I generally prefer, so that the inevitable problems with amplifying stringed instruments is avoided.

But really, it generally just isn’t needed. Acoustic instruments were developed over centuries to carry sound to the back of the room. Need it louder? Bring more musicians.

However, a PA for the officiant is another story. For rooms seating, say, 50 or more people, and certainly in outdoor settings, a reinforcement system is almost always required so that all the guests can hear the vows, readings, and exchange of rings. Along with the PA come the problems – the most common of which include: improper wireless system setup, loudspeakers not facing the right way and/or not properly covering the audience, a loud acoustic problem such as a fountain that’s running during the ceremony, and a lack of wind protection for the mics (if outdoors).

These problems beg the question (at least in my mind): Why use a PA if it’s not going to be implemented correctly? It’s along the lines of what my dad would say: “Any job worth doing is worth doing right.”

I realize that often, the micro PA systems are provided and set up by hotel staff, park employees, wedding planners, and the like. In other words, usually not sound professionals. I’m sure if any of us are at an event where these things are happening, we all cringe and share in the sound person global spirit of “what the heck?”

What can be done about this? I’m not sure I know the solution, other than when possible, point out simple fixes that might make a difference. This can be a delicate proposition, though, and I for one don’t want to suddenly be responsible for the DJ’s rig when I’m there with another job to do (play the viola) or even attending just as a guest. Still, sometimes a friendly suggestion can make a difference.

Finding Answers

At one particular wedding outdoors at a very exclusive venue, I noticed the wireless mic was cutting out from time to time. I looked over and saw that the receiver antennas weren’t raised up and splayed; rather, they were in a folded position.

And, of course no one else seemed to notice anything, although everyone there must have been at least mildly annoyed by the voice dropping in and out. I went over, raised and splayed the antennas, and voilà (see what I did there?), there were no more dropouts.

For wind protection, I bring a few small windscreens for lavalier mics as well as a larger one for a handheld mic in my music bag. On windy but otherwise beautiful days (we have a lot of them in New Mexico), it can be a lifesaver. A little low cut can help, too. No speaking voice needs anything below 80 Hz, and probably not even 100 Hz.

As for the roaring fountain that, for some reason, can’t be shut off during the ceremony, who decides that this is the rule? Because the net result is that a good portion of the audience will not hear the sermon, and the ceremony musicians probably won’t be able to hear themselves or each other.

Sure, it looks nice, and the idea of a fountain running during the ceremony seems appealing, but in reality, it’s terrible. When confronted with this problem, I ask the venue management if it can be shut off. If the answer is “no” then at least I can wash my hands of it because the responsibility falls squarely with them.

Up The Ladder

Let’s move up the scale a bit, shall we? When – and when not – should something be miked. Further, how should it be done? I was recently watching a lecture presented by a prestigious organization on YouTube, and the person speaking was miked with what appeared to be a quality headworn unit.

The speech intelligibility was crystal clear, perhaps even too much so, as the lip smacks and dentals could be heard to the point of distraction. One of the YouTube commenters opined, “They should have used a lav mic, as has been done since the 70s. These headset mics look terrible and sound terrible. A more distant mic would have worked better.”

This statement prompted a thread where someone came to the defense of using the headworn mic, pointing out that for instrument recording, distant miking can work well, but for voice, closer is usually better, adding that for speech, having reverberation in the signal can be detrimental to the goal of intelligibility.

What I found odd was that no one mentioned the main issue at hand: recording is one thing, but when a PA system is in the mix, it’s a different animal altogether. Gain before feedback becomes a huge issue, and to get natural sounding speech in a large auditorium with good audience coverage from the system can be challenging. Using a lav in that context would raise the level of challenge considerably.

Not A Simple Matter

Getting back to my string quartet, the idea of adding amplification has certainly come up when we’re likely to play in a larger venue or if there are a lot of guests (talking and drinking) in the room. However, the question becomes: Who’s responsible? The venue, or the client, or the DJ, or the band playing the reception – or my quartet?

As previously noted, simply zone-miking the group is not likely to provide enough gain before feedback. So, then, tighter miking is required, and then the mix itself comes into question, along with the fact that close-miked strings don’t usually sound all that great. In other words, it’s not a simple problem, and probably not an inexpensive proposition either.

Returning to the original question of whether or not to PA, “it depends” is the correct answer, which is why Pat Brown of SynAudCon replies with it for a wide variety of questions. So, go forth and solve problems, keeping in mind that there are probably as many ways to do these things as there are sound people.

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