I'm wondering if anyone has tried a fly mic on a goose-neck mounted on the Stick's head? I can imagine how to set this up technically but what I'm wondering about in particular is how bad the tapping comes through in the PA system?

I have a lot of experience using a flute with a mic mounted close to the mouth-piece. The voice comes through well in that setup but when playing the flute the flute's mechanics sound like heavy Taiko percussion. Not all a bad thing since you rarely sing and play flute simultaneously, but with a Stick you might be using a lot of voice and STick at the same time and there just can't be fat booming hits behind a voice (that maybe goes into loopers to build chords etc). I did cut out everything under 190 Hz on the flute mic and would do the same for a Stick-mounted vox mic but I just don't know how much of the mid and upper "tapping bounces" comes through by the Stick body and goose-neck holder? I would guess too much though, but in case someone has tried this a report would be highly appreciated.

I would use a headset mic.

I'm not so keen on headset mics because they do not allow you to vary the distance to the mic. With a small "fly" mic you can make some extreme vocal percussion sounds by going very close to the mic but you can also layer "normal voices" by backing off some 30 cm. Using the proximity effect for instant sound design is what you lose out on by a fixed distance headset mic. I'm imagining that a goose-neck on the STick head may provide this. Ordinary mic stands are not a good option either because they are heavy to schlepp around and when when playing out in the streets they instantly remind patrolling policemen of their job description "close down this guy 'cuz he's using amplification and that is against the city rules". (yes, Stockholm city rules are not quite up to date. A trumpet player is allowed to scream like hell through his "acoustic instrument" while a mellow, in fact more acoustic sounding, SG12 on six AA batteries is forbidden.)

it seems like the risk of poking yourself in the face with the mic is pretty high...

Sounds like a good comedy routine

YOU'LL PUT AN EYE OUT!!!

LOL - yes. But even the craziest ideas deserve a proper examination You might have to restrain stage diving and use appropriate goggles for protection...

I once spent 6 months in Las Vegas in a show band fronted by a singing bass player who used a wireless headset mic and as a recording engineer myself I had long conversations with him about how he dealt with the issue of not being able to "work the mic" like you would w/a stationary mic. He told me that after a while he developed techniques that involved gaining more sophisticated control over his vocal dynamics combined with learning ways to subtly redirect his vocal projection by changing the shape of his lips and mouth - almost like a ventriliquist. It worked very well in my view and he told me it took him only a few weeks to evolve these techniques. A good sensitive high end mic helps of course. Another friend of mine - the late great J.J. Cale once mounted a short gooseneck mic mount to the upper bout of his electric guitar but it was an experiment that besides becoming an unintended guitar pickup and looking ridiculous,didn't work out too well logistically. Anyhow I don't think I want to drill holes in my Stick.

Inevitable this image would make an appearance.

Larry Graham has done this also:



Looks like he's in pain and has blinded himself