Spitfire & Mikrofonik
Hey, ever thought about turning a protest march into a full‑on sound experience? We could rig up a live feed that keeps the crowd’s energy up while making sure every chant rings loud and clear—no muffled shouts, no echoing doubts. What do you think?
Sure, why not? First thing’s first: get a good array of shotgun mics on a boom or a wireless lav system so you can pick up the nearest shout without picking up the wind. Then feed those into a high‑gain preamp that’s temperature‑controlled—no noise figure creep in a protest. You’ll want a 48‑V phantom for condenser mics if you go that route, but a dynamic mic with a cardioid pattern is usually safer outdoors because it rejects a lot of ambient bleed.
Once you’ve got the mic chain, feed everything into a console that can handle at least 16‑channel input. Use a low‑pass filter on each channel to cut the 20‑kHz hiss you’ll never hear but will distort the EQ. Then a mid‑range boost—around +4 dB on the 300–800 Hz region—will give the chants the punch they need to carry over the crowd. Don’t forget a de‑esser on the vocal track; those mid‑ranges can turn into sibilant whine if the crowd’s screaming.
For the PA, use a line‑drive amplifier with a 2 kW headroom so you’re not squashing the transients when the chant goes full throttle. The speakers should be positioned to avoid acoustic shadowing—use a 2‑stage line array if you have one; otherwise, a pair of 8‑speaker towers at the back of the march route works. Monitor the mix through a wireless system so the MC can keep the energy up without stepping into a feedback loop.
And finally, test with a full rehearsal: stand in the middle of the march path, have someone chant at normal volume, and run the feed. If the frequency response is flat and there’s no feedback, you’re good. If you get a little echo from the nearby building, tweak the mic placement or add a directional panel. Sound design is all about iteration, even for a protest march.