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FixIt: Kenny Rogers Technical Director/Monitor Engineer Frank Farrell

Rogers’ current tour includes a vocal choir. We asked his technical director how they mike a choir in a sound-reinforcement situation.

From left: Frank V. Farrell, Keith Bugos (FOH engineer) and Brian Parkos (system tech)

Rogers’ current tour includes a vocal choir. We asked his technical director how they mike a choir in a sound-reinforcement situation. “Miking choirs is a major challenge, which explains why we like the Astatic 1700VP [remote-control variable pattern] mics so much. We’ve tried all kinds of different ways of miking the choirs, and so far the Astatic 1700VP offers the best solution in terms of pattern control and sound quality. The choir is on a riser in an opening centerstage between the drummer and keyboard player. We’re using two of the 1700VPs for choirs that vary from 18 to 30 members. The mics are in front of the choir on stands positioned at the corners of the riser, and it’s really cool being able to dial the pattern in tight and experiment to get the best sounds for different situations. Even though the Astatic mics are off-axis and 25 feet upstage of the monitors, you still get reflections from the stage, but the mics are very good at picking up from the direction you aim them because of the different patterns you can dial in.”

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