The Blog-Can I hear Me Now

The Blog: Stage Monitor Mixes

Can I Hear Me Now?

I am constantly dealing with how big a factor monitor mixes are in live performance. Obviously everyone on stage needs to hear certain things in order to feel comfortable. The problem is that sometimes the whole monitor thing gets of hand.

The lead singer, who is standing directly in front of the drummer, (who’s playing full on) needs to hear themselves. The guitar player has her or his own amp and is quite happy, and the guitar amp, is very loud on stage. The keyboard, also with their own amp, is also loud on stage.

O.K., so everyone with an amp or a drum kit is content because they can hear themselves.

The singer then pleads with the monitor mixer to put more vocal in their monitor wedge.

Enter that taskmaster of live sound: physics. I don't care how good a sound person you have working with you or how good your gear is. At some point physics will intervene and wreck havoc upon you in the form of that detestable thing that we all know and fear: feedback!

(This is why in ear systems have become so prevalent in mainstream higher budget shows.)

Now, are we completely at the mercy of this law of nature? No! But here's the thing that people so frequently aren’t aware of. The way you all sound out in the house is largely dependent on the monitor mixes. Frequently when I am out in front of house mix position doing a sound check, I'll shut down the main P.A. so I can just hear what's coming off the stage. I'll tell you that more often than not the amount of sound from the stage (monitors, amps, drums, etc.) is enough to really screw up the way the whole mix sounds. Out in the house, all of that sound coming off the stage is not a musical mix. It's just a hodgepodge of what each person wants to hear that has to be louder than every other persons mix on stage.

What I always try to do is talk with everyone on stage and explain the situation. Most of the time everyone agrees that they can certainly live with a little less overall stage volume. A very important thing happens usually after such an agreement has been reached. Everyone starts to listen to each other and the result is a much more interesting and musically satisfying performance. Nervousness and self-consciousness fades away,