I've got a festival coming up at the end of the month for which I have no choice but to use in ear monitoring, which I hate. I play and sing backing vocals, and I like to hear a bit of everything, but it always ends up with too much of one thing or another in the monitor mix, and I often struggle to hear the other guitarist.
We won't have the luxury of a sound check, so I need to tell the monitor mix guy what I need up front and then just run with it. The band has drums, bass, two guitars and vox. I definitely don't want the drum overheads
Any tips on what to specify and what to leave out?
Comments
Sorry, someone will be along shortly with proper advice.
It also makes the engineer's job way easier, because I'm effectively mixing myself rather than blasting it out hoping they're paying attention and know exactly what I want.
If it's a stereo IEM feed ... which it should be, then pan the guitars and the vocals ... this helps you hear the other instruments and vocals clearer without excessive volume.
Although you might not have a soundcheck you should at least have a PFL line check, otherwise the monitor guy won't have a level for the IEM's. So when you get asked for a quick 1,2 don't do it timid ...do it at singing level so the guy running the ears has a chance of getting it right .... the ears are run pre fader so getting a proper level is essential as turning down the gain on your channel on the desk will also take it down your ears.
Gained up guitar in particular, when not mixed well in the IEMs, sounded thin, raspy and sh_t in my IEMs.
Maybe I didn't put in the effort to EQ my IEM mix properly, add reverb etc.
Recently I read about Luke using an Echosex pedal always on just bc it sounds good in his IEM so maybe it's worth having something in the main rig that always adds a subtle sense of space. Similar to the FOH mix comment above.
Anyhow, following..
Ultimately, they protect my hearing and I also dont have to rely on a sound guy for my mix as we control it ourselves via apps on our phone connected to our IEM mixer.
On a very sensible stage with no high SPLs it can be ok to have, for instance, one ear in, one out. This can make for good appreciation of detail and good onstage engagement/communication. There comes a point, however, where in order to overcome stage sound a single IEM (or a badly fitted pair) would have to be turned up to dangerous levels.
I would suggest get a good vocal level, then a little hihat (there will be bleed from other sources so get that first, it might be enough) then guitars. That'll get you started, tweak from there.
Keep it low, don't shout/hammer and let the PA do the lifting.
I would damn demand a sound check. We just did a little pub festival, little stage, full monitor setup, we were last on. (Big) Band before us overran (of course) so we just went on after a line check and no sound check, to be helpful and all. Cue A Feckin nightmare. All I could hear was the bass. No vocals no guitars. A ton of monitor feedback. Took 3 songs to sort it out ish. So we looked like dickheads. Never again.
The problem with asking for front of house mix , depending on the venue, is that mix will be a combination of the Pa and the acoustic sound from the stage. The engineer will balance the two and it may turn out the front of house mix ie what is actual going through the PA, will not necessarily have all the instruments in it. It’s not unusual to turn off snare bass and noisy guitarists in the front of house speakers to get a balance in the room.
Also whilst bowing to @Danny1969 experience, I would say probably 90% of ears users I come across tend to be mono not stereo for whatever reason . This is probably due to musicians realising four people in a band using stereo ears takes up 8 channels of aux sends and that is quite a high channel count for most desks especially when wedges are also required for bands who don’t have ears.