It’s a moment with which many of us are already familiar. The screech of a microphone run amok dissects the music and briefly short-circuits the ears of an entire crowd. It’s FEEDBACK. Sometimes it sneaks upon you, ambushing your performance right when the beat is about to drop.

Fear not, however, A-T is here to aid your fight against the enemy to good performing. In this, our first installation, we’ll teach you some simple techniques to keep the feedback beast at bay.

Why is this happening?

We’re familiar with what it is, but it’s important to know why it is. Feedback happens when your speaker is amplifying the sound your mic is receiving and then “feeding it back” into the mic. This occurs over and over until the sound spirals out of control. It hurts our heads, but, more importantly, it derails our songs, so let’s start…

Beating Feedback 

1. Use the right microphone.

Using a mic and not understanding its pickup characteristics can lead to problems. While an omnidirectional microphone can be a great choice, it can be tricky to use in a feedback prone situation. Try a cardioid mic instead; it’s unidirectional, meaning it picks up sound from one direction. Simply aim it away from the sound stream of your speaker system, and you have helped exterminate your pesky feedback problem, just by using the right microphone.

 2. Get cozy with your sound source.

It’s beneficial to keep your microphones close to the sound source. The closer you are to your source, the higher the sound pressure level (SPL) in your microphone becomes. Higher SPL strong-arms your gain, keeping feedback at bay. Remember, if the SPL (or anything for that matter) is higher in your microphone, it’s higher when it leaves your speaker too, and feedback doesn’t have a chance to get a word in. The proximity tends to elevate the low-end, or bass frequencies, too, so you can nail those Barry White notes if you’re so inclined.

3. Stand behind your sound!

 As much as you can, keep the microphone behind the speaker. If the speaker is emitting sound away from you, and your microphone is angled towards you, the sound has no bridge to connect back to the microphone and start shrieking again. It’s as simple as that.

Shuffle a few things around, use the right pro mic, and your feedback cloud should lift. Keep those speakers from feeding your mic, and you won’t get any screaming, unless, of course, you’re actually screaming into the microphone.

Make the music you love without feedback bringing you down.

What are you doing to prevent feedback onstage? Share your stories, horror and success alike, on our Facebook and Twitter pages. Keep checking the blog for more tips from A-T!