It is very common to see the use of in-ear monitors in many houses of worship today. That said, I still want to have floor wedges on my stage when I am mixing, in-ears or not. I don’t think I am so old school that I need to have floor monitors in my mix. I just believe that wedges provide a different way for the band to hear the mix and interact with each other. I am a fan of traditional floor monitors, but not to the exclusion of in-ear monitors. This month’s installment of Sound Sanctuary is not floor wedges versus in-ears. If anything, I want to celebrate floor monitors and the joys of mixing with these speakers.
A Look Back
Let’s go back in time a few years. The first stage monitors were used on September 13, 1961 during a Judy Garland show at the San Francisco Civic Auditorium. The sound company was Harry McCune Sound. Bob Cavin, then an engineer for McCune, designed the first monitor mixer expressly created for foldback duties. He also designed the first stage monitor loudspeaker that had two different listening angles, for performers standing at the loudspeaker and for performers further away.
From the 1960s through the 1980s, most monitors used an external power amplifier. During the 80s, I had an elaborate bi-amped monitor system that used four wedges, two power amps, one crossover and an EQ. It was bulky but very loud. Beginning in the 90s, more and more churches, schools, clubs and sound companies began using self-powered wedges.
Monitoring Today
Today, all the floor monitors in my sound company’s arsenal are self-powered. It’s simple to add a self-powered wedge to a system. All I need is a send from the mixing board or another powered monitor and I can insert one of my monitors into the mix. Usually when I mix at a house of worship, the monitor system is in place and set up on the board. However, I will always have at least one self-powered monitor in my truck. I never know when I may need a spare floor wedge, and I definitely look like a well-prepared pro if I have one in my back pocket.
Floor monitors not only let various musicians hear themselves, they also serve to connect the players. Let me give you a few examples. I mix at a church that has a full rock worship band but also very strict decibel limits. To lower the dBs, I first I put the guitar player’s amp in a closet near the stage and miked it. Then I run the bass and keyboards directly (via direct boxes) into the mixing board. Lastly, the drums were sequestered in a Plexiglas cage. This worked great to lower the decibels in the church, but made it almost impossible for the players to hear each other.
Not to mention that the four singers could not hear the music well enough to stay on pitch. Now I had five monitors available (and one in the truck), but only three aux sends from the board, or three monitor mixes. Starting with my singers, I made certain that they could hear themselves through two of the wedges. Along with the vocals, I added some keyboards and a little guitar to their mix to help keep the group on pitch and feel the band.
That was my mix 1 — the signal sent through aux send 1. Next, I had my guitar player. He had a single wedge in front of him. I gave him enough of his own guitar so he could hear and feel what he was playing. (Remember, his amp is in the closet). I also added some vocals and bass to give him a real sense that he was playing in the band. I should mention that everyone on the stage could hear the drums. Plexiglas only lowers the decibels of the drums. So my guitar player used the aux 2 mix. That left two monitors and one mix. I used them on the bass and drummer. I added enough bass and guitar for the drummer and bass player to feel it. Of course, they needed a little keyboard and enough vocals to follow the song and connect with the band. It all worked beautifully, and I stayed within the church’s 95 dB limit.
That is just one example of using floor monitors to connect the band and improve their performance. Even if you are mixing a solo acoustic guitar player/singer, the better they can hear their instrument and voice through the monitor, the better they will perform.
When using any monitor system, you can potentially run into feedback problems. There are a few ways to eliminate feedback. One is to keep your monitor volume low. This works, but pretty much defeats the purpose of having wedges. Second is to put a good EQ
(I prefer a 31-band graphic) between your aux sends and monitors. Lastly, be aware of your microphone placement in relationship to your floor wedges.
Whether you use an onboard graphic built into your digital console or an outboard EQ, this is the best way to control that pesky feedback. Some EQs will lead you toward the offending frequencies, but I suggest you use your ears. Generally, feedback happens in the 1k to 2k Hz area.
If your hear feedback, reduce these frequencies (using your EQ) and check to hear you’ve eliminated the problem. Use your ears to identify any other nasty frequencies and reduce them enough to give your band a nice mix.
Realistically speaking, I could spend an entire article on EQ for wedges and mains. I don’t have enough time to cover it here; perhaps it’s a good topic for the future. In the meantime, have a safe and joyous holiday season.
