How to Choose the Best Vocal Mics for Church Worship
Worship Matters. Worship can both inform and transform your congregation. In this guide, you will learn key factors to consider when selecting the best mics for your worship team to ensure crystal clear audio.
Worship leaders have a mission to create an environment where every congregation member feels comfortable lifting their voice in praise. For Houses of Worship, singing is much more than just the physical act of making noise with one’s vocal cords. Ministry songs are a critical part of the service to get their congregants in the mood to receive the message.
It’s currently rare for vocalists, particularly those who sing in Houses for Worship, to lead songs without the aid of a microphone. When you add on the added pressure to broadcast your worship service remotely via streaming platforms, worship vocalists use microphones more than ever to ensure their audience can clearly hear the songs from any location.
A question that arises repeatedly for Houses of Worship is figuring out which handheld microphones are best suited for praise vocals. The options can seem endless.
There are many considerations when picking microphones for the praise team, including handling noise, durability, feedback rejection, and sound. This guide will teach you key factors to consider when selecting the best handheld microphone for the worship vocalist to elevate your music experience.
What Are Microphone Polar Patterns?
Each microphone made today has what is known as a polar pattern, but what exactly is this? Though it may sound a little complicated, a polar pattern describes a microphone’s inherent directionality. In more specific terms, polar patterns refer to the sensitivity of any given microphone to sounds arriving from different angles to its central axis.
Omnidirectional Mics can pick up sound equally from all directions and accept sound from anywhere in the 360-degree sphere around the capsule. These types of mics have an open and natural sound, and they’re used frequently in the studio when the engineer wants to include the sound of the room in the recording.
When using omnidirectional mics, one thing to consider is that the mic will pick up any room sound or ambiance during the live performance. Omnidirectional mics are the most prone to feedback in a live sound environment.
Cardioid Mics’ directional characteristics prefer the front of a microphone, and they reject sounds coming from behind the mic – making them an ideal choice for live sound applications. Cardioid microphones also have a reduced sensitivity to sound coming from the sides.
Cardioid mics reduce the relative levels of room ambiance and other sounds coming from behind the mic.
Supercardioid, as the name suggests, is like cardioid but more directional. It exhibits even less sensitivity to sound coming in from the sides than a regular cardioid but more sensitivity to sound at the rear. Despite that, supercardioids perform better when eliminating background noise and focusing on a specific sound source.
Tips & Tricks to Reduce Handling Noise in Handheld Microphones
Handling noise is an important issue, especially in a live setting, compared to studio mics, which will have specially designed shock mounts to protect them from vibrations, bumps, and thumps. Mics used in a live sound environment, like a worship service, must contain ample internal shock mounts and vibration control.
If you line up ten different mics on the stands, you’re likely to notice dramatic differences in the sound caused by simply removing each mic from its clip. With some handheld mics, just shifting the mic in your hand can cause a dramatic rumble.
Mics that exhibit excessive handling noise will also pick up excess noise from anything that moves on or vibrates on the stage – such as footsteps, the kick drum, dancing, etc.
It’s critical to pick a handheld mic with an excellent design that includes internal shock and minimizes handling noise. Some microphones are practically immune to handling noise.
One thing to consider is that poor handling noise is a common fault of low-quality dynamic microphones. Shure has spent decades advancing our handheld microphones to have an excellent internal shock mount to help minimize handling noise.
Recommended Distances from the Microphone for Vocalists
The most common mistake is holding the microphone too close or too far from the mouth. By improperly holding the mic, your vocalists will sound muffled and distorted or too distant with no vocal sound.
When people tell singers to “eat the microphone,” this does not mean they should literally eat it. “Eating the microphone” means you should keep the mic one or two inches from the mouth. The mic should be held no closer than 2 to 3 inches from their mouth during regular singing to avoid distortion.
Sometimes, your worship vocalists will use more volume to hit higher or louder notes on the chorus of a song versus using lower or softer notes in the verses. When your vocalists get louder, the idea is to move the microphone slightly away from the mouth.
The variance in the distance will be proportionate with the increase in volume – that is, the louder you sing, the more you pull back – but how far is something you’ll need to determine by getting to know the mic. It will probably never be more than 5 or 6 inches. You will have to experiment a little, as the distance is dependent on the singer’s natural power and ability to project.
It can seem to be an unending array of options to choose from when picking the best handheld microphones for your worship team – while being a good steward of your house of Worship budget. We’re here to help by introducing you to three microphones that you will want to have in your audio arsenal. And best of all, these mics are all available as wired or wireless handheld microphones.
Four Best Handheld Microphones for Your Worship Team
BETA 58A
The BETA 58A will ensure your vocalists stand out in modern worship bands that consist of drums and electric guitars. The BETA 58A microphone has been known as the vocalists’ best friend for decades, elevating vocal presence to cut through the other sounds. The brightened midrange and bass roll-off give the lead and background vocals a mighty presence in the mix. The supercardioid pattern works harder to isolate your sound from every other source in the air and allows for high gain before feedback. Beta 58A’s internal pneumatic shockmount minimizes handling noise as well.
KSM9
The choice for the church’s most accomplished vocal performers, the KSM9 is a premium vocal condenser microphone that captures vocal subtlety with extraordinary detail. The KSM9 delivers clear articulation and precise audio production. The KSM9’s advanced suspension shockmount system minimizes handling and stand noise, while a built-in subsonic filter eliminates unwanted low-frequency rumble. If you want studio-quality sound in the most demanding worship environment, the KSM9 is excellent.
SM58
The affordable SM58 is one of the most widely used vocal microphones. Worship leaders worldwide agree that the SM58 is vital to amplifying their ministry. And most importantly, your house of Worship budget will love them. These mics have a typical cardioid pattern and are built like a tank – meaning they can take a variety of abuse and still work beautifully. The SM58 also uses an internal shock mount to reduce handling noise.
BETA 87A
Due to an increased extension in its frequency response, the BETA 87A is excellent for low-pitched voices. The BETA 87A has a super-cardioid pattern. This mic has a noticeably brighter tone, and it helps vocalists stand out and break out of the mix. The Beta 87A microphones capture vocal subtlety with extraordinary detail to deliver clear articulation, functional flexibility, and precise vocal reproduction for live performance. Like all other Shure mics, the Beta 87A is built to withstand just about anything to ensure you can perform worship service after service.
Shure: The Perfect Choice for Your Worship Vocalist Needs
Whether you’re looking to mic your vocalists for worship, the pastor, or the piano, Shure can equip your House of Worship with all sound needs. Contact us today to get started!
Here are a few other resources you might find helpful:
Shure’s Central Hub for Houses of Worship
How to Choose the Best Mic for the Pastor
How to Choose the Right Wireless Microphone System
How to Choose the Best Mics for the Choir at Worship
How to Choose the Best Mics for Brass, Wind, and String Instruments
How to Choose the Best Mics for the Guitar at Worship
