A number of different mixes fed to wedges located near each band member.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\nNow, here’s the problem. Imagine you are standing in the middle of the stage. Every sound around you is getting picked up by virtually each of the microphones on stage. The singer’s microphone is capturing the cymbals, the guitar amps, the big band brass section. Your drum overheads are picking the guitarist\u2019s amps, the keyboards that are coming out too loud on every wedge, and even the bassist\u2019s amp!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And if that wasn\u2019t enough, now every microphone on stage will also be picking up everything being blasted by the side fills, the drum fill, the singer\u2019s wedges, the keyboardist’s wedge, and so on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
See the problem? Not good!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During a typical gig, as the musician’s ears become fatigued and TTS (Temporary Threshold Shift) creeps in, every single musician is going to ask for the vocals to be louder. As a result, someone will then ask for the guitar to be louder, then the kick, then the snare, then the keyboards, then the vocals again…ooof!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now, I’m not going to cover techniques to properly manage monitor mixes as a monitor mixing engineer, as that’s totally off-topic. But I\u2019ll let you know that some of the most interesting techniques involve a level of placebo effect tricks that can be used.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hey I just met you and this is crazy, but here\u2019s another solution for the problem: use IEMs maybe?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\nLet us give each member of the band a set of in-ears. Now everyone can have their custom mix and we can:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n- Get rid of everyone’s wedges<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Reduce the size of the side fills<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Reduce the size of the drum fill, perhaps even changing it to sub\/low end only.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
The end result: your stage is now much much quieter. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
We can even move the guitar and bass amps off the stage and put a microphone on them. It\u2019s not uncommon to place them under or behind the stage as this will reduce the amount of noise and spill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Your ears will thank you, your FOH and monitor engineer will have an easier time mixing the show, and the audience will have a better sound experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some of you might be saying, “So what – I don’t play for 5000-person crowds. Who cares?<\/em>” Others might be saying that the venue you play at doesn’t pay much and you are on a budget. And then there’s the quiet guy in the back – yeah, you, the one in the red shirt – who says \u201cI just play for fun in my basement.” Well, keep reading. <\/p>\n\n\n