Re: [Harp-L] Approaching an unfamiliar PA a further thought

[Richard Hunter <turtlehill@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

"John F. Potts" wrote:
<If a PA mic starts feeding back when you are not playing, hold the  
<mic so the grill/element is pointing straight up--dunno why, but this  
<will stop the feedback more often than not.

I've never tried this myself, but I can tell you why it works.  "Feedback" literally means that the mic is part of a loop, in which signals enter the mic, are amplified, and then re-enter the mic, where they're amplified again, and on and on until the sound is overwhelmingly loud.

Vocal mics are designed to be highly directional, meaning they hear what's directly in front of them and reject signals coming from the sides and back.  When you point the mic at the ceiling, it's not picking up the vast majority of whatever signals are coming from the stage or the PA--so the feedback loop is broken.   

Regards, Richard Hunter

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