7 Ways to Eliminate Microphone Feedback As Fast As Possible

Feedback in your church sound system is the fastest way to get a #soundtechsolo. Today let’s talk about 7 easy steps for how to eliminate microphone feedback, so your church worship team can lead without distractions.

Hey, if you're new here, my name is James and I help church sound techs save the day by eliminating distractions in church audio. If that's you, go ahead and check out my YouTube channel to learn more!

Feedback happens when sound from a speaker is being picked up by the microphone that's feeding it, thus feeding back. There are seven ways to increase gain before feedback, which just means how much you can turn it up before it starts to ring. More gain before feedback = better. Gain means any stage where we turn it up. So that could be the preamp, the fader, the EQ, or the compressor.

The first way to increase gain before feedback is to move the microphone closer to the sound source. Don't hold the microphone down at your belt and don't hold the microphone out to your side. Easy!

The second way is to move the speakers further away from the microphones.

The third way is to point the speakers away from the microphones. Practically, this means putting your speakers out in front of the stage where the microphones are. But wait, what about when you have the musician's monitor wedge and you have to point the speaker back at the microphone?

Well, that brings us to number four, which is to make sure and point the microphone away from the speakers. Most mics in live sound pick up sound from the front and reject sound from the back. This is called the mic's polar pattern. If we position the monitor wedge in the right place for the mic’s polar pattern, we'll get the best gain before feedback in our monitor.

The fifth way to increase gain before feedback is to use a moving coil or dynamic microphone. The heavier diaphragm assembly means there's more inertia to overcome compared to a condenser microphone. Good thing you paid attention in physics class!

The sixth way to increase gain before feedback is through ringing out the mic and speaker combination. That means taking an equalizer and turning down the frequencies that want to feedback first.

The seventh way to increase gain before feedback is to limit the number of open microphones on stage at any given time. You can do this by muting unused channels or putting on a noise gate so that it happens automatically.

So now you know how to get rid of feedback as fast as possible. If you like this blog post, check out my other post on mixing tips HERE. If you want to take your church sound team to the next level, download my FREE guide, How to Lead Your Church Sound Team.

Remember: it’s all about the low end, avoid the sound tech solo, and nobody leaves church humming the kick drum.