In article ,
Iain Churches wrote:
Odd. The very first time I saw personal mics clipped to violins was not on
TV, but the James Last band in a live performance. In the 1970s.

Both plexi and BluTack (or equivalent) were in
use in British TV well before that.

How do 'Plexi' and 'BluTack' relate in your mind? ;-)
But I can't answer for all of TV. Just my experience.
You might do well to stick to yours too.


I can remember
Phil Seaman (the finest British jazz drummer of
that era and a larger than life character with a
penchant for outrageous japes) commenting on
the poor sound from "sticky violins" in TV light
music broadcasts.

As opposed to not hearing them at all, you mean? ;-)

He gave a hilarious impression of an unsuspecting
player bowing frantically as the putty melted under
the set lights, and the mic slid into his/her lap.
He once took a rope ladder to a TV show with the
intent to scale the perspex wall around his drums while
the end credits were rolling :-) This would have
been about 1966.

Yes. He was a known heroin addict prone to weird behaviour and outbursts.
No real surprise you're quoting him. ;-)
But he wasn't (for obvious reasons) one of the session players common on
BBC TV orchestras.

Do you have a string section in your big band?

No, But saxophones double on woodwinds, and
flutes in particular, are just as vulnerable to leakage
as strings are. So the set up still needs great care.

Point missed again. Ah well.



In your 'theatre group'?

It's a theatre musical group.
Yes, we have strings quite often.

Playing against a heavy rock backing? Obviously totally boxed off with
studio screens. After all, nobody would want to see them.

--
*No husband has ever been shot while doing the dishes *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.