Keys to mixing Stage monitors, the Do's and Dont's

[BFSound]

Originally Posted by waveterm

Or threaten to kill you.

WT - I was only 17 when it happened to me.....

Ha thanks guys but i have been loading gear and busting my a** for these guys for almost 2 years now and at most they talk some trash, we are family so nothing gets tossed at me or death threats!

[mixedupsteve]

Originally Posted by BFSound

For sure a kick a** board in my opinion i love it! The mic pre does not have a unity or nominal "0" setting just left to right: -20 to -60 mic sensitivity control. Only the master faders and the individual aux pot sends for each channel have a nominal setting which is marked by an arrow.

Here is the manual and on page four it explains the gain exactly.

Im thinking set the master faders and aux sends to the nominal setting and then increasing the gain which would yes be displayed on the VU's then. Then i should be able to make very small adjustment if need be. What do you think?

It shows how to set up the channel gain on Pg 12. Once that's done I would reset the aux send levels back down and rebuild the monitor mix from 0 as others have reccomended.

[BFSound]

Originally Posted by mixedupsteve

It shows how to set up the channel gain on Pg 12. Once that's done I would reset the aux send levels back down and rebuild the monitor mix from 0 as others have reccomended.

Haha i dont think i even read that freakin page Well that explains it all.

Thanks

[unsunghero]

It should be noted that feedback is a "lupe" of a hot frequency(s) so if you use delay in an already high gain structure, your increasing the chances of feedback.Because, in a manner you are compounding those trouble spots wich can build up to +50db/second. try and know your gain structures. its always safe to mix DOWN in a troublsome enviornment.

Originally Posted by Jim vanBergen

Never had a problem getting decent vox FX in their monitors, unless it was out of proportion or the wrong thing. What kind of FX? Use shortened 'verbs, and single or double tap delays. The FX used for monitors should be DIFFERENT devices than what is used for FOH, and tweaked for that mix. Usually an effect will have too much low/low mids when what the singer needs to hear is the mids/high mids for themselves.

I second the note that you need to really understand frequencies, as well as your own equipment- the capabilities of the wedges onstage, exactly how the polar pattern works, how the pattern of the vocal mics work, and how both elements interact. The laws of physics can NOT be broken, you have boundaries to stay within but it can all be done correctly when you approach things right.

Hope this helps!

JvB

[studer58]

My tip to small venue operators...where the house sound and the monitor sound is not necessarily that different in level, and the monitor sound is controlled from the FOH desk (ie there's no monitor engineer)...is to ask the band to play only through the house speakers initially, with instrument amps going at usual level. Tell them that it's going to sound weird for a while but to get used to it...and promise them that you'll gradually wind up the monitor level while they're playing. In this way they acclimatize their ears to the bounce of the FOH from the wall in front of them and back to their ears. You'll often find that they are satisfied with less overall monitor volume than if this procedure had been reversed (ie monitors first, then FOH added in) The band adjusts their hearing to the contribution that the FOH speakers make to the total sound, and monitor becomes a small(er) addition to that. Takes some diplomacy and assurances on your part to convince them to let it happen however.......

[Rolo 46]

Hats off to monitor mixers.
Trebles all round.

Because they do defy The Laws of Physics and Musicians do Know Everything.

A recent brush with amateur musos at a festival has left me grumpy and irritable.
A continual stream of folk divas with a little 'dangerous knowledge' and clapped out 'interfaces' ,mostly Behringer.
A knowledge of microphones that states the SM58 is the finest mic in the world and that a MD 441 looks like a vacum cleaner...
Players of two instruments y corded into one flimsy pre..
Guitarists with y cord with an electric gtr and an acoustic pick up on a Bazoki on the same input to their amp.
The Bazoki howled when the Gtr input was turned up.....
I could go on and on.

Once apon atime there were performers and technicians, each doing their own job to the best of their abilities.
Now there is this strange hybrid performer with musical 'ability' and a shakey internet knowledge of 'sound' (theirs).

As for members of the audience who know how the performer should sound rather than the performer, this is yet another worrying catagory .

Back to recording, the place I love best, where these strange notions have yet to strangle my enthusiasms..

[hbphotoav]

Or, as a friend of mine used to say...

"God, save us from the dilettantes..."

dil·et·tante Noun/ dili-tänt /
1. A person who claims an area of interest, without real commitment or knowledge.

[Boschen]

I feel Rolo46's pain, having worked the local festival circuit for several years. Telluride, Rockygrass, FolksFestival. The last could always be relied on to produce a regular harvest of nightmare stage scenes.

Sometimes though, the pros are just as bad.

I once saw a certain folk diva march across the main stage at Telluride Bluegrass in the middle of a song, lean over the divider to monitor-land, and SCREAM at the engineer, who calmly took the blast without wilting. The cords on the woman's neck stood out like wires, and spittle flew freely. The ME responded by nodding fractionally, then making a small adjustment to the board.

I have no idea what triggered the eruption, but it couldn't have been anything earth-shaking.

I had the pleasure of working with that same diva on the Telluride free stage later that evening.

God bless the ME.


PS-- this thread is a great example of someone posting, then getting a wealth of great input and advice. I like this site because of threads like these.

[philper]

Originally Posted by Boschen

I feel Rolo46's pain, having worked the local festival circuit for several years. Telluride, Rockygrass, FolksFestival. The last could always be relied on to produce a regular harvest of nightmare stage scenes.

Sometimes though, the pros are just as bad.

I once saw a certain folk diva march across the main stage at Telluride Bluegrass in the middle of a song, lean over the divider to monitor-land, and SCREAM at the engineer, who calmly took the blast without wilting. The cords on the woman's neck stood out like wires, and spittle flew freely. The ME responded by nodding fractionally, then making a small adjustment to the board.

I have no idea what triggered the eruption, but it couldn't have been anything earth-shaking.

I had the pleasure of working with that same diva on the Telluride free stage later that evening.

God bless the ME.


PS-- this thread is a great example of someone posting, then getting a wealth of great input and advice. I like this site because of threads like these.

..repeat to yourself: "They are yelling at the PROBLEM they are having, not at YOU (they don't know you)." On a big show I was working on (as an assistant on the recording truck, NOT on the SR system thank God) the ME introduced himself to the band as "The Complaint Department"-which got a laugh and broke the ice. The sound-check went very well and they players seemed very happy with the guy's work.

phil p