In 2021, it might seem as if pulpit mics are a thing of the past. Indeed, the vast majority of folks on the platform are either singing into a handheld vocal mic or speaking into a headworn mic — and with good reason — both are excellent choices for their respective applications. But before modern times, pulpit mics were all the rage. Part of the reason for the shift from pulpit mics to headworns and handhelds is a shift in the way that worship is done and the way that the message is given.
In days of yore, the pastor was more likely to step up to the pulpit and remain there for the duration of the message. Eventually, pastors realized that they could use a handheld vocal mic and gain a little range away from the pulpit. And then they wised up to the idea that a wireless handheld gave them virtually limitless range. And somewhere along the way, they were introduced to the notion of a wireless headworn mic, which not only gave them the ability to roam around, but also freed up their hands to gesture and punctuate their words. But this freedom is not necessarily for everyone. There are still pastors who step up to the pulpit and stay there. And there are houses of worship that don’t use a pulpit or a podium at all — there are altars and tables and all manner of surfaces that don’t quite fit the description of “pulpit.” There are times when a stationary mic in proximity to these surfaces is ideal, such as when a lay reader steps up to read a Gospel passage. We’ll examine these applications, how to choose the right mic for them, and how to use the mic the right way.
Achieving Goals
We have a number of goals in relation to mics intended to capture the voice of the person standing before the congregation. We want clear, full reproduction of the entire frequency range of the voice, with intelligibility and richness. We want consistency in level and frequency response. And we want to avoid unpleasant artifacts like harshness, low frequency thumps, and the arch-nemesis of all audio pros — feedback. Choosing the proper mic for the job may very well be the most important consideration in the quest to accomplish these goals. Our focus here is specifically on “pulpit mics” so we will not be addressing headworn or lavalier mics.
The mic should be close to the speaker’s mouth, and the best way to accomplish that in the pulpit is to deploy a mic with a stand that elevates the mic capsule to the level of the speaker’s chin or thereabouts. A common solution here is a gooseneck mic, as shown above. This style is popular for a number of reasons. It does indeed elevate the mic capsule to the height at which we need it. It facilitates easy adjustment of that height, which is important because speakers of varying degrees of height will be stepping up to the pulpit at various times. Of course, there are a number of ways to adjust the height of the mic — all of them managed by the stand to which it is mounted. Most mic stands have a clutch that facilitates craning it straight up or down, and many have booms that can be tilted up or down as well. But these maneuvers usually require two hands, and are invariably a challenge for those who don’t handle mic stands frequently. The beauty of the gooseneck is that you literally just grab the mic and move it to the position where you want it. Adding to this versatility, some goosenecks include a rigid section or two that facilitate even more latitude in terms of where the mic ends up pointing, for an easy adjustment of mic location — no training required.
Our mic must be able to transduce sufficient bandwidth, and if it has bumps or dips in its frequency response curve, they must be centered around frequencies that are helpful to us. We probably don’t want a 6 dB bump centered at 80 Hz if our speaker is prone to p-pops or other thumpy things that cause our woofers to jump out of their cabinets. We also probably don’t want a 6 dB dip between 2k Hz and 4k Hz, which would substantially reduce intelligibility. Nice, smooth, near-flat response is probably going to serve us best, and we can touch it up with a little EQ if necessary.
Patterns
There’s also the issue of the mic’s polar pattern. As we well know, omnidirectional microphones in a live environment can be troublesome. It’s not impossible to use them, and sometimes they’re even preferable. But the amount of gain before feedback is definitely lower with omnis, and you way end up with insufficient gain when someone speaks very quietly in the pulpit, which some pastors or lay readers are known to do. You may have voices ranging from whisper soft to thunderous booming — or a single pastor who covers that entire range of dynamics. The bottom line? If the speaker gets whisper-soft at any point in time, an omnidirectional mic is probably not going to work, because the additional gain necessary to pick up those gentle, soft words will likely result in feedback.
For this reason, most of the mics found in pulpits are cardioid in nature, with a pattern that points in the general direction of the speaker’s mouth. Yet just how cardioid do we want this mic to be? If we choose a hypercardioid pattern, an animated speaker may end up dancing in and out of the pickup pattern, rendering a very inconsistent mic output in terms of level. But if the pattern is not directional enough, we may very well run into our old nemesis — feedback. A potential solution here is to decide not to decide. Keep a number of capsules on hand ranging from cardioid to hypercardioid, and deploy the one that makes the most sense for your speaker based on their level of kinetic animation.
Options, Options…
Another question we will want to consider: should we have a redundant mic in place? When we tune in to a news broadcast on television, if we can see a lavalier mic at all on the anchor’s lapel, we usually see two. Or if we see an important dignitary speaking from a podium, there are usually two microphones pointing toward their mouth. This ain’t for stereo, folks. It’s a redundancy — a backup microphone in case the primary mic fails or is otherwise spewing a signal that does not sound good. This is probably not that important for our application, but worthy of consideration if it’s within your budget. A more likely solution when a single pulpit mic betrays us is to have someone quickly hand the pastor a wireless handheld so they can finish delivering the message.
One slightly unorthodox possibility is a boundary mic. These are particularly useful if the pulpit is not exactly a pulpit, and more table-like. There are indeed flat altars and tables used in lieu of the traditional pulpit, and a boundary mic can work very well if this is the case, although gain before feedback can be an issue that needs to be ironed out. And while our focus has been on mics integrated with goosenecks, another reasonable option is the traditional handheld dynamic mic in a clip. There are goosenecks to facilitate these too, granting us all the benefits that otherwise accrue to goosenecks, along with the option to take the mic out and walk around.
But whatever you choose, if you’re going the way of a pulpit mic, put just a little thought into it, and you’ll arrive at a solution that works for you.
John McJunkin is the chief engineer and staff producer in the studio at Grand Canyon University.
