Mic Swing Arm for live

[Pat Azzarello]

I've been frustrated by typical mic stand mounted booms and keyboard stand mounted booms for a while. I stand when I play (most of the time), and with a couple of keyboards, multiple splits, and reaching for pedals, having a traditional boom is frustrating as hell. I have a headset mic, but those are more difficult to manage singing (can't back away), plus the one I have (AKG) is pretty heavy.

 

it seems I'm singing more and more in the groups I'm in and I'd like to find a way to use a spring loaded, articulated boom similar to this, but they can't see an "easy" way to mount it to any of my keyboard stands AND make it so that it does what I need it to. I have a Rode broadcast arm in my studio for a big condenser mic and I love it.

 

Spring "broadcast" Boom style

 

Years ago I saw Steve Walsh use one live and it seemed like a great way to manage it.

 

Has anyone else done this and mounted it to a keyboard stand? Or a traditional mic stand?

[Brad Kaenel]

I use these CAMVATE clamps to attach lots of things that have standard mic threads, to the tubular parts of my keyboard stand:

C-clamp with mic threads

 

My mic boom isn't articulated, it's just a short, telescoping one:

 

Ultimate Support Mini-Boom

On-Stage Mini-Boom

 

But any articulated boom design that can be screwed onto a mic stand can be attached to the C-clamp. There are variations of the same clamp with different connector options; some may prove sturdier than others for your particular needs.

[stoken6]

What keyboard stand do you have Pat?

 

Cheers, Mike.

[Stokely]

I've had problems with this also. For both my Spider Pro and Omega Pro stands, I have a boom attachment with a bolt sticking up. This doesn't have to be super-tight as the boom screws down a bunch of revolutions...by being loose I can swing it just a bit (but nothing like an articulated arm).

 

I messed around with a couple gooseneck attachments (one long, one short) and they don't do that well holding the weight of my mic horizontally (probably be ok if it was more vertical).

 

Mic stands/booms have definitely been a work in progress for me and a point of frustration.

[Baldwin Funster]

I had a drummer I few years ago that sang lead about 50% of the time. He had a big mic stand that sat outside his drumset, reached over the top with about a 10 ft arm and dropped straight down to hang his mic right at his face. He didnt seem to have any problems swinging it out of his way when he wasn't singing.

 

Sorry I dont have a pic but I'm sure it wasn't custom made.

[Pat Azzarello]

I will give the clamp a try. The Rode articulating stand doesn't screw into a standard mic stand, but I can find one that does.

 

Which stands DON'T i have

 

I primarily use a Standtastic (48") stand for two keyboard gigs, as well as a ZStand for single keyboard gigs. I've created a couple of modifications for the Standtastic that allows me to keep the keyboards closer together, and I'm working on something similar for the Z Stand (as it's easier to setup.

[Pat Azzarello]

I rmeember a lot of drummers doing that in the 70's (including Don Henley I think).

 

Good idea, but the problem with doing it this way is that while dummers are relatively immobile (swivelling on their stools), the problem I'm having problems becuase I move laterally as well as up and back.

 

I'll keep looking....

[Tom Williams]

I've spent decades moving my baby boom stands right up to my keyboard stands and listening to them bump each other. Sometimes I extended the boom by using a gooseneck.

 

This summer I bought a (used) On-Stage SB96+ studio-sized boom stand. I removed the wheels. The result is 6' (~2 meters) tall with an 80 inch (200 cm) long boom, plus an 8" vertical hang at the end. The band thinks it a bit pretentious, but I love it.

[stoken6]

Take a walk through the products on this page - there may well be something that works for you: https://www.k-m.de/en/products/mic-stands/microphone-holders/

 

Cheers, Mike.

[zxcvbnm098]

Take a walk through the products on this page - there may well be something that works for you: https://www.k-m.de/en/products/mic-stands/microphone-holders/

 

Cheers, Mike.

 

Wow, a lot of good stuff there!

[EricBarker]

Another shout out for the K&M Spider with standard boom. I too have had a lot of difficulty in getting the right mic setup, but this has been my best so far. Goosenecks look like a great idea, but they are finicky. Standard telescoping booms on tripods are just too droopy at that distance (behind the board), and prone to problems if you try to adjust them. A column stand with a central mic boom mount is absolutely the best option. It's the closest attach point for the boom to your face, which is the real issue here. The further away from your head the attach point is, the more problems you're going to have.

 

I have the K&M mic attachment plate (they don't tell you, but you NEED for a boom), and then a quick-release mic lock up to the boom. This setup is fantastic, as the boom fits perfectly in the Spider bag. With the attach-point being so close to my head, I can easily move it around without any concern of droop-age. I even used to spin it 180degrees, come out, and sing into the mic IN FRONT of the stand while playing keytar or trumpet. I could never do this with any other setup.

[EscapeRocks]

As Brad above does, I have a couple different attachments for my tubes of my stand

 

This clamp, that attaches to the standard 1.5" tube, and allows for any type of boom arm

 

Then this that I use for my mic boom

 

Here's one example of the top clamp (in stainless finish) holding the boom portion of a mic stand

 

Finally, I have also used that same clamp to hold a tray for my Behringer Model D