Mic'ing the front ensemble or pit for marching band

[gots2drum]

Hi guys,

I was wondering if I could get some professional advice on what I need to amplify my front ensemble. I am looking for a simple solution, money isn't an too big of a problem, so any reasonable price range under $6,000 would work (budget can possibly go as high as $10,000). However, anything under 10,000 would be better, as these funds can be dispersed throughout the rest of the percussion department. We have two marimbas, two vibes that need mic'ing.

A lot of drum corps are mic'ing now-a-days, but their set ups can become pretty complicated with the amount of power they need and want, I would like to keep this as simple as possible to set up and tear down. Any advice? Please list mic's, PA system, (if power amp is needed). I would like to go wireless if at possible.

Thanks in advance for your help

Ricky Morrow

[cmchamp]

Ricky
Welcome aboard.
As a band director and audio professional, I understand where you're coming from.
Wireless - meaning running off batteries - isn't going to provide you the Umph, definition and clarity you're going to expect to get.
I know what kind of SPL (sound pressure levele - volume) you're talking about keeping up with, and that doesn't come cheap.
Additionally, you're going to need something that provides as much directivity as possible to keep from feeding back into the pit mics, especially if you're wanting to use the amplification system in/near the pit to keep the mallet's sound originating from there.
Let me ponder this a bit, and I'll get back to you. I'm sure others will chime in before I get back.
C.

[gots2drum]

Thanks for the early chime-in, and advice. Hope to hear from you again with some more info, soon.

Thanks,

Ricky

[fluidsoul]

Right up my alley... I thought I would never get to talk about this stuff again...

I ran the audio for a university marching band FE and winter percussion for three years.

This thread is kinda old, but if you're still looking around at equipment, or have it and want some setup thoughts, post again or shoot me an email. (my username at comcast.net)

[Applied Microphone]

To Whom it May Concern,

The big selling models that AMT manufactures getting allot of use in marching bands would be the AMT WS (Clarinet), AMT Z1 (Flute), and AMT LS (saxophones). For vibes and marimba, the AMT VP2 is being used quite a bit in the marching bands in Texas and Indiana.

AMT