Wireless in Worship
It seems as though almost every established church or place
of worship has at least a basic PA system, with at least
one wireless microphone. They are used to free the speaker
from the pulpit. Sometimes they use handheld wireless microphones,
but often the worship leader has a wireless lavalier microphone
clipped onto them. Despite their widespread use in places
of worship, wireless microphones are probably the least
understood tool used there. This is understandable, as wireless
microphones are not fully understood by everyone involved
in music and sound. On the whole, it is one of the least
understood PA components used on a regular basis. Fortunately,
this confusion can all be cleared up.
One of the questions often asked is "can I use more
than one microphone with the same receiver?" This is
best answered by looking at the way they work. One receiver
is set to pick up only one frequency at a time, much like
a television. You can have multiple receivers picking up
the same frequency from the same transmitter, but one receiver
can only pick up one transmitter at a time. Much like a
television transmitter tower, or a radio transmitter tower
being picked up by a television or a radio. The microphone
is the transmitter or is attached to a transmitter, and
the receiver picks up the signal and outputs it to the PA
system.
While only one microphone can be used with a single receiver,
one may wish to have a second receiver placed in a different
room, going to a different set of speakers. This can be
useful if you want someone in the nursery to be able to
hear the sermon, or if you want it to be recorded in a different
room. Also, more than one wireless system can by used at
the same time. While some brands require purchasing wireless
systems in different frequency ranges, Sennheiser has a
wide range of frequencies available on their systems. With
their autoscan feature, the system automatically detects
frequencies currently in use. It will pick the clearest
frequency range not being used by television stations in
the area, or other wireless microphone systems. If you want
to use more than one Sennheiser system, simply turn on the
first system and use the autoscan to find the clearest frequency.
Turn on each additional system individually and use the
autoscan to find another clear frequency. The autoscan on
the second system will detect the frequency used by the
first system, and will use a different frequency. Although
there is a limit to how many of these systems can run at
once, several can work together at the same time.
If you need to run more systems, Sennheiser does offer
different frequency ranges in their systems. Using several
systems of the same frequency range, and using several different
frequency ranges, you can have quite a lot of these wireless
systems running at the same time. Wireless microphones can
be used by praise music groups, as well as the worship leader.
In addition to using wireless microphones, the music group
can also use wireless in-ear-monitors. As long as the requirements
are not too great, such as miking everyone in the choir,
wireless can be used for most applications in worship settings.
There is a limit to the number of systems you can have
running, but there is also a limit when using traditional
microphones with only one set of speakers. Too many human
voices running through a mixing board, and being output
to the same pair of speakers will interfere with each other
and cause masking. This creates a lack of clarity, and diction.
You can use panning to compensate for this, but only to
a certain degree. There is always a practical limit when
using microphones for live sound, but much can be done within
these limits. Nobody really needs to mic every individual
in the choir, so there is not usually a great strain on
these limits. Wireless microphones can be used to almost
the same extent as wired microphones, as long as frequency
ranges are accounted for.
The only limit is usually monetary where wireless is concerned.
They are considerably more expensive than their wired counterparts,
and should only be used when a wireless microphone would
be a benefit. Applications such as miking a drum set, or
a piano should be approached with wired microphones, for
example.
Hopefully, Microphone Heaven's article on wireless microphones
in worship has proven to be beneficial to you in your wireless
decisions. As always, if you have any questions feel free
to call our 800 number posted on the website.
