Open Forum

Yesterday EdTA published it's "Recommendations for Reopening School Theatre Programs".

One of the things they said under Rehearsals on page 3 is "Sanitize all technical hardware--microphones/headsets, rigging, sound and light boards, lights and rigging before and after each rehearsal per manufacturer instruction. (For microphone care, see: https://www.shure.eu/musiciansdiscover/educational/keeping-your-microphone-clean)"

This paragraph included a link to a Shure page that  

• was not an actual Shure recommendation but a forum post
• had next to no relevance to theatre style microphones
• and was not entirely factual

Bodymocs has always maintained that good body-worn microphone protocol is

• assign a microphone to an actor for the duration - from first tech rehearsal to last performance.
• use A2 techs (as per professional theatre) to fit the microphone to an actor and to remove it after the show - never leave this to the actor - this results in less damaged microphones
• clean and sanitize each microphone after each performance - I know it's a lot more work.  

After some consultation with those in the know and some research we have determined that in order to ensure a 99.97% kill rate it is best to use an 80% concentration of Isopropyl Alcohol, and to spray it on and leave it to dry of it's own accord 

• 99.9% or 91% evaporates too fast to be as effective as we would like. 
• 70% commercially available solutions are probably OK - but the higher alcohol in contact with a surface for more time is better.

Starting August 1st all our rental wireless microphone systems will ship with a small spray bottle of our Sani-Mic 80% solution.

SANITIZING INSTRUCTIONS:

• clean the microphone of all make-up and/or tape residue (baby oil, make-up remover)
  • do not get either of these into the mic opening - cover with a piece of tape if necessary
  • if there is make-up build up in the mic opening, unscrew the grill/capsule covering and use a Q-tip to gently remove it - make sure there is no residue left before replacing the grill
• spray the mic with isopropyl alcohol 80% solution and leave to dry in the open air

Simple, right?

Further instructions are on our rental website at www.bodymics.rentals/cleaning-mics.html

Feel free to contact me with any questions

------------------------------
Rod Reilly
Owner, Bodymics
908-899-1277
Somerset NJ
------------------------------

Rob
Thank you for pointing out your concern about the information shared in the Recommendations guide about microphones. We expect to make periodic updates to the document, so if it's appropriate to update this aspect of the guide we will most certainly do so.

------------------------------
James Palmarini
Director of Educational Policy; Editor-at-Large - Teaching Theatre
Educational Theatre Association
Cincinnati OH
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 07-07-2020 10:02
From: Rod Reilly
Subject: Sanitizing Microphones

Yesterday EdTA published it's "Recommendations for Reopening School Theatre Programs".

One of the things they said under Rehearsals on page 3 is "Sanitize all technical hardware--microphones/headsets, rigging, sound and light boards, lights and rigging before and after each rehearsal per manufacturer instruction. (For microphone care, see: https://www.shure.eu/musiciansdiscover/educational/keeping-your-microphone-clean)"

This paragraph included a link to a Shure page that

• was not an actual Shure recommendation but a forum post
• had next to no relevance to theatre style microphones
• and was not entirely factual

Bodymocs has always maintained that good body-worn microphone protocol is

• assign a microphone to an actor for the duration - from first tech rehearsal to last performance.
• use A2 techs (as per professional theatre) to fit the microphone to an actor and to remove it after the show - never leave this to the actor - this results in less damaged microphones
• clean and sanitize each microphone after each performance - I know it's a lot more work.  

After some consultation with those in the know and some research we have determined that in order to ensure a 99.97% kill rate it is best to use an 80% concentration of Isopropyl Alcohol, and to spray it on and leave it to dry of it's own accord

• 99.9% or 91% evaporates too fast to be as effective as we would like. 
• 70% commercially available solutions are probably OK - but the higher alcohol in contact with a surface for more time is better.

Starting August 1st all our rental wireless microphone systems will ship with a small spray bottle of our Sani-Mic 80% solution.

SANITIZING INSTRUCTIONS:

• clean the microphone of all make-up and/or tape residue (baby oil, make-up remover)
  • do not get either of these into the mic opening - cover with a piece of tape if necessary
  • if there is make-up build up in the mic opening, unscrew the grill/capsule covering and use a Q-tip to gently remove it - make sure there is no residue left before replacing the grill
• spray the mic with isopropyl alcohol 80% solution and leave to dry in the open air

Simple, right?

Further instructions are on our rental website at www.bodymics.rentals/cleaning-mics.html

Feel free to contact me with any questions

------------------------------
Rod Reilly
Owner, Bodymics
908-899-1277
Somerset NJ
------------------------------