Making Live performers wear headphones

m_gant · 5th December 2009

I am doing a gig where there will be about 6-10 different acoustic performances. Various setups for each changeover, but all acoustic and vocals.

I will be grabbing DI lines from guitars, etc... but really want to also grab some strings with my collection of small condensors.

How do you deal with floor monitor bleed when doing gigs like this? I was thinking about asking everyone to use headphones

M4-10 · 5th December 2009

Put the DIs in the monitors (only) and the mics in the FOH (only).

If you ask people to wear headphone/in-ears be prepared to be told "no".

Jarp2600 · 6th December 2009

Hire some AVIOM personal monitoring system. Works great from my experience!

fifthcircle · 6th December 2009

If performers are used to hearing a floor wedge, they aren't going to be happy with ears. Believe me, I've tried enough times. Sometimes the orchestra may deal with it, but bands don't like it unless they have to.

Also, most musicians don't understand mixing. Some of the biggest monitor issues I've had have been with Avioms because the players don't "get" it.

As said before, use the DI's in the monitors. Keep the levels as low as you can get away with and hope the musicians don't pitch too much of a fit. In a festival situation, things can be rough. If you have sound check time, use a digital console and save all settings in the memory.

--Ben

valleysound · 6th December 2009

It's all about monitor placement and mic choice.

m_gant · 7th December 2009

Quote:

It's all about monitor placement and mic choice

Exactly!

I have ruled out headphones.

I was going to grab DI's from everyone and also throw up a small condensor on each acoustic instrument too. I know these may pick up too much bleed from monitors, maybe I should use dynamic 57's instead?

I am using 58's for all vocals, so no real problem there.

Any suggestions to tame the monitor bleed? I will be using standard floor wedges fed from aux.

fifthcircle · 7th December 2009

As it has been said, it is all about mic and monitor placement. Don't put monitors so that they are aiming in to mics. Remember your null points on mics. In some cases, use more directional mics (ie hypercardiod mics) but make sure the performers stay on mic.

I use condensers with monitors regularly and it isn't (or shouldn't) be a problem. Just don't be stupid- use common sense when it comes to setting them up.

--Ben

**Remoteness** · 21st December 2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by valleysound

It's all about monitor placement and mic choice.

...add the right mic positioning and you got my "virtual gobo" technique in a nutshell.

5th December 2009	#1
m_gant Gear addict Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: New Jersey Posts: 380 Thread Starter	Making Live performers wear headphones I am doing a gig where there will be about 6-10 different acoustic performances. Various setups for each changeover, but all acoustic and vocals. I will be grabbing DI lines from guitars, etc... but really want to also grab some strings with my collection of small condensors. How do you deal with floor monitor bleed when doing gigs like this? I was thinking about asking everyone to use headphones

6th December 2009	#4
fifthcircle Lives for gear Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 3,300	If performers are used to hearing a floor wedge, they aren't going to be happy with ears. Believe me, I've tried enough times. Sometimes the orchestra may deal with it, but bands don't like it unless they have to. Also, most musicians don't understand mixing. Some of the biggest monitor issues I've had have been with Avioms because the players don't "get" it. As said before, use the DI's in the monitors. Keep the levels as low as you can get away with and hope the musicians don't pitch too much of a fit. In a festival situation, things can be rough. If you have sound check time, use a digital console and save all settings in the memory. --Ben __________________ Benjamin Maas Fifth Circle Audio Long Beach, CA http://www.fifthcircle.com

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5th December 2009	#2
M4-10 Gear addict Join Date: Jul 2009 Posts: 440 2 Reviews written	Put the DIs in the monitors (only) and the mics in the FOH (only). If you ask people to wear headphone/in-ears be prepared to be told "no".

6th December 2009	#3
Jarp2600 Gear nut Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Apeldoorn, NL Posts: 135	Hire some AVIOM personal monitoring system. Works great from my experience!

6th December 2009	#5
valleysound Gear maniac Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Hills of Vermont Posts: 171	It's all about monitor placement and mic choice.

7th December 2009	#7
fifthcircle Lives for gear Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 3,300	As it has been said, it is all about mic and monitor placement. Don't put monitors so that they are aiming in to mics. Remember your null points on mics. In some cases, use more directional mics (ie hypercardiod mics) but make sure the performers stay on mic. I use condensers with monitors regularly and it isn't (or shouldn't) be a problem. Just don't be stupid- use common sense when it comes to setting them up. --Ben