More Me!!!!

In our last episode we got the stage mic'd, did a line check to make sure everything was connected and working,  and now we're ready to start making some noise.

 

Now, there are two schools of thought in the audio world as to what you do next...dial in the monitors or start building the house mix.  There are advantages and disadvantages to both.

 

Building the house mix first does get the most important thing out of the way first.  However, you're asking the musicians to perform without monitors.  I've been on the stage end of this arrangement, and I can tell you that it's uncomfortable...especially in a big hall.  And as far as I can tell, the only other advantage to it is that it lets you build the monitor mix on top of what you're hearing in the room.

 

Personally, I prefer to get the monitors out of the way first.  In my book, the advantages are:

• The performers can hear themselves and will play/sing with more confidence
• The house mix can then be built on top of the monitor bleed off of the stage

What happens now depends on how many monitor mixes you have to deal with, and how much is actually mic'd up and going through the PA.  As a bare minimum, you hopefully have 2 monitor mixes...one for the vocalists and one for the drummer (who, since he/she is usually in the back won't be able to hear the PA as well).

 

I like to get the vocalists set first.  And here's a secret I'll let you in on when you're dealing with one monitor mix across several vocalists...there has to be one person louder than everyone else.   Logic would dictate that the lead singer (or whomever is singing the bulk of the songs) would be that person.  But, if one of band members is doing this job then he'll likely make himself the loudest.  It never fails.  Trying to make everyone "even" in the mix will only result in a volume spiral throughout the night.  Someone has to be the king of the mix, so make the decision and get over it.

 

The drummer's mix depends again on how much is actually mic'd up and going through the PA. If you're mic'ing everything, then they usually like a "full" mix...almost what's in the front of house with their kick and snare on top.  Some guys just need vocal cues, and maybe a guitar if they're not close to the amp.  In most rooms the bass is next to the drummer so putting that in the monitor is redundant.

 

If you're in a position where everyone can have their own mix, you don't have to make near the compromises.  And it's not near as expensive as it used to be to have multiple mixes...a lot of consoles now in the $500-$1000 range have 6 or more aux sends.  Just keep in mind that the more stuff you put into a monitor mix, the better quality your monitors have to been.   Putting kick, snare, bass, 2 guitars, and all vocals into a $60 Pyle monitor is just going to leave you disappointed.  The idea is not to displace what you're already hearing on stage, but only add what you can't hear.

 

On the vocal monitors, you're probably going to have to do some kind of EQ on them to suppress the feedback.  We previously discussed the importance of pointing the monitors at the null point on the mic, but that only gets you so far.  To really crank the monitors, you're going to need either a graphic or a parametric equalizer.  Graphic EQs are a little easier to understand and set, but in my book the parametrics are more powerful.  

 

If you're using a graphic EQ, the more bands you have the more "surgical" you can be about your cuts.  First, I usually cut everything below 100Hz and above 12kHz.  Unless you've got drums and bass in the monitors, there's not really any useful information there.

After that, the process is pretty simple...raise the volume of the monitor just until it starts to feed back, and then start pulling down sliders.  After a while, you develop an ear and kind of know what frequencies to grab on the EQ.  Once you find the frequency, just pull it down 4-6dB...don't bottom it out all the way.  Extreme EQ moves introduce other artifacts, and there's just no need to cut anymore than you have to.

 

Up the volume, and repeat.  You may have to bring down the same frequency, or a different one.  

 

So...when are you done?  Once you've touched about a third of the sliders between 100Hz to 12kHz...STOP.  You've reached the point of diminishing returns.  All you're doing after that is just turning everything down.

 

For setting a parametric EQ, I'll up the gain on the mid-high band about 6 dB and then sweep the frequency.  If nothing feeds back, I'll turn everything up and repeat.  Once I find a frequency that feeds back, I'll cut it 6dB.  Then if you have a bandwidth control (also known as "Q") I'll alternate between turning up the monitor and adjusting that until I can get the most volume with the least amount of bandwidth.  I'll repeat for the the low mid and high bands as well.

 

I've been asked about in-ear monitors.  I'll tell you that I think their great personally, and I've been using them in some of my bands since around 2004.  The take some getting used to.  Scratch that...they take a lot of getting used to.  But my hearing was taking too much damage from stage volume so I had to do something.

 

If you decide to go this route, keep in mind that you can't share monitor mixes.  You're also shut off the room, so if you're mixing yourself from the stage you have to have at least one person that's not using them.  Otherwise, you have to have a front of house sound man.   I've built a couple of in-ear systems for bands, and if there's interest I'll cover that in a future article.

 

It's been a long time comin', but next week we're ready to tackle the main mix.  We'll look at mixing from the stage as well as using a sound man.  And we'll touch on some new technology that I'm using now that will give you the best of both worlds.

 

Until next time, keep the meters out of the red!

Ken

Ken Carver has been a musician and performer since the early 70's, and involved with live music production since the mid 70's. He worked for 15 years as a broadcast engineer, building numerous studios and transmitter sites around Texas. He's also worked in Critical Care Communications for the medical industry, R&D for an automated lighting manufacturer, and owned Project Lighting & Sound in the 80's. He currently heads up an R&D Hardware Technician Team at National Instruments in Austin, and still performs on the weekends in the Central Texas area. You can reach Ken at itsjustlogistics@gmail.com