Which mic, Rode NT1 or SM58 is best to use for cultural dance performance on a stage? I saw two Shure SM58 and two Rode NT1s in front of the stage. Would it help if we hung the SM58 on top of the dancers? Please advise.
ASKED BY · Funsak Dorji · DHARAMSHALA · 14 OCT 2026 · ▶ 00:48:45
Clarify whether for broadcast or reinforcement; overhead mics cause feedback if levels too high; boundary mics (for tap/clogging) or directional Sennheiser shotgun mics hung overhead are better solutions than omnidirectional NT1.
Depends on capture goal (feet movement, singing, etc.); SM58 only effective if held or at mouth; hanging overhead yields nothing; suggests shotgun or supercardioid mics for dance performance instead.
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48:45Next question is from Funsak Dorji in Dharamshala. Greetings, panelists. Which mic, Rode NT1 or SM58 is best to use for cultural dance performance on a stage? I saw two Shure SM58 and two Rode NT1s in front of the stage. Would it help if we hung the SM58 on top of the dancers? Please advise. What's your thoughts, Mickey? Mickey's grabbing gear. This is the farthest Mickey has ever had to move.
49:10That was like eight feet. He moved out of frame to grab gear. Yeah, I was about to. to, I forgot I have an NT1 there. I was going to pull both a 58 and an NT1. Um, it really depends, uh, uh, Funsuk on what you are trying to capture here. Um, you mentioned dancers. So like, are you trying to capture, um, you know, feet movement on, are these tap
49:35dancers, you want to capture that sort of sound, um, are they, are they, these cultural dancers are perhaps also singing. If you need to capture their voice somehow, I would only use a 58 if they actually either walk up to the microphone or hold the microphone and put that 58 right to their mouths. Apart from that, you won't really get much from a 58.
50:00You won't get anything from it if you hang 58s above the stage. if you're just trying to get like a like some some sort of Atmos or FX or NAT sound you might be able to get away with an NT1 but that's not really the right tool for the job I'd probably go with shotgun mics perhaps or super cardioids but I wouldn't consider the NT1 for that that's my first
50:33option. Courtney? Yeah, like he says, it depends on what. And also, he didn't mention whether this is for like broadcasters is for sound reinforcement. Will there be open speakers? If so, it's not going to do you any good because to get a signal hung overhead, you're going to have to crank them up to a level where they'll be feeding back. So that's going to be a problem if there's
50:57sound reinforcement going on. Perhaps boundary microphones might be a solution if they're cloggers or tap dancers so you can get those foot sounds uh put them at the base of the stage they're unobtrusive easy to put in and uh you know like the crowns uh that's a possible solution uh but yeah i would go with the more directional uh sennheiser's shotgun microphones uh hung overhead
51:21and out in front uh for singers and to capture the everything else and it depends like i said on whether or not you have to deal with sound reinforcement, you know, speakers or not. So the last thing I want to say, next thing I want to say is that if you want to help, if you want to get involved, if you want to help put on this show,
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