Lesson Description
Monitor Mixing 101
10m 35s
Learn the ins and outs of setting up a monitor mix and conducting a successful sound check.
Video Transcript
Monitor Mixing 101
10m 35s
00:15
In this video we are going to offer a few best practices when it comes to mixing monitors.
00:21
Monitors can be loudspeakers placed on the floor of the stage facing the musicians,
00:26
or ear pieces that the musicians wear called in-ear monitors.
00:31
Monitors allow the musicians to reference themselves in relation to the other band members as they play together.
00:38
Dialing in monitors is absolutely critical to the performance of each musician and the band as a whole.
00:45
Poor monitoring can affect the band adversely and ultimately be a distraction to the worship time.
00:52
For example, if singers can’t hear themselves, they may sing with poor pitch.
00:57
If the drummer can’t hear enough of the rhythm guitar or bass guitar,
01:01
he/she may not be playing in good time together; and the list goes on.
01:04
The important thing to note about dialing in monitors,
01:08
is that every musician will have their own preferences to help them achieving their best performance.
01:15
Many worship bands will use a combination of floor monitors and in-ear monitors.
01:21
Let’s talk about floor monitors.
01:23
Floor monitors create additional sounds on the stage.
01:28
This can be a problem in smaller spaces
01:30
when the stage volume and reflected energy off the stage back and side walls is louder than the house loudspeakers.
01:37
When this happens, the audience will hear a lot of volume but with very little clarity or intelligibility.
01:44
A common misconception is that having fewer loudspeakers on stage will minimize the stage volume.
01:51
But in this case, that just isn't true.
01:54
When multiple musicians are referencing to the same floor monitor,
01:59
no one is receiving exactly what they need for a solid performance.
02:03
So each musician will ask to have themselves turned up in the monitor which skews the mix for the other musicians sharing it.
02:12
Each musician will continue to request more of what they need in the single monitor they all share
02:18
until the monitor volume becomes uncomfortably loud
02:22
but with no reference clarity for any of the musicians.
02:26
Whenever possible, each musician should have their own floor monitor with their own monitor mix.
02:33
This way each musician can reference only what THEY need in THEIR monitor which will significantly lower the overall stage volume.
02:41
This is easily accomplished on a TouchMix-30 Pro offering 14 auxiliary sends
02:47
which one can use to feed individual monitor mixes.
02:51
With this in mind, here is a step by step process for setting monitors mixes for your worship band.
02:58
In our worship band, we have 3 musicians using floor monitors and 3 using in-ear-monitors.
03:05
All six musicians will have their own mix.
03:08
Make sure each musician is in their position on stage.
03:12
First, we need to set the pre amp level for each instrument.
03:16
For this step all faders in the mains and monitors should be down and the channel should be muted as described in the Gain staging videos.
03:26
Next, ask the musician or singer to play or sing at their loudest volume.
03:31
You may need to let them know that they won’t hear anything from the system for a few seconds.
03:36
Let’s start with acoustic guitar.
03:38
In this scenario, the worship leader is playing the acoustic guitar.
03:42
While the guitar is playing turn the trim knob up until the meter is bouncing at or is around unity.
03:50
Note: the trim knob is not a volume button.
03:54
Once you unmute the channel you won’t touch this knob again.
03:58
The only time you will come back to the trim knob after the band is playing,
04:03
is if an instrument or voice is clipping the pre amp
04:06
in which case you would back it off just enough so that the meter is not in the red.
04:12
Now unmute the channel. Bring the guitar fader up in the house PA.
04:18
While the guitar continues to play you can make EQ and dynamic adjustments to the house PA.
04:25
This is the perfect place to use our instrument presets for all our instruments so that our EQs are 80% or more in place.
04:34
If you don’t know what to do with channel parameters yet, just stay with the instrument preset.
04:40
It already sounds great. We’ll talk more about the front of house mix in the next video.
04:46
Now, for this mix, we’ll dedicate aux 2 for the worship leader.
04:51
Select aux 2 on the left. Now, we are adjusting the worship leader’s floor monitor.
04:57
The faders have changed color indicating that we are no longer on the main mix bus but on aux 2 instead.
05:06
While the guitar player continues to play bring the fader up in the worship leaders monitor.
05:12
Have the guitar player nod his head when the volume is adequate.
05:17
Now we need to add acoustic guitar to the other musicians’ monitors.
05:21
Even though we have 3 players referencing from floor monitors and 3 from in-ear-monitors, the workflow will be the same.
05:30
When adjusting monitors, the musicians will use the following hand signals:
05:35
Pointer fingers in the air indicates they want more of something.
05:40
Thumbs down indicate they want less. The stop sign means it’s perfect. Stop making adjustments.
05:47
There are times when a musician may not want any of a certain instrument in their monitors.
05:52
In that case the musician will just keep their hands down.
05:57
While the guitar is playing, select the keyboard wedge on aux 1.
06:01
Turn up the acoustic guitar until they give you the stop sign.
06:06
Now, select the background singers’ wedge, or whomever you decide to adjust next.
06:11
Turn up the acoustic guitar in their wedge until they give you the stop sign.
06:16
Follow this procedure for every instrument channel until everyone has a comfortable starting reference for their monitor.
06:23
Now have the band play a song so you can dial in a suitable house mix.
06:28
This will allow the musician to get a feel for their reference with the house mix in place.
06:35
Now it’s time to take individual requests from the musicians in order to fine tune their monitors.
06:41
Ask each one what they need more or less of and make the necessary adjustment.
06:46
I have found that if the sound person uses the iPad for this step,
06:50
goes on stage with the band and listens to what’s happening on stage,
06:55
there is a stronger connection that is developed between the musicians and the sound person.
07:01
It’s like the sound person is conveying to the musicians, “I care about your monitor reference
07:06
and I want you to be as comfortable as possible so you can play and sing to your full potential.”
07:12
In this scenario, the sound person will be making the adjustments for all the monitor mixes.
07:17
But the QSC TouchMix-30 Pro allows the musician to have remote control of their own monitor mix
07:23
using their smartphones or tablets.
07:26
This is perfect for musicians using in-ear monitors.
07:30
This is not recommended for musicians using floor monitors
07:33
as the potential to drive the loudspeaker into feedback is quite high and could be disastrous.
07:40
Please refer to the video “The Promis LAN-TouchMix Remote Control” for a refresher on how to do this.
07:48
If the band that you’re mixing plays regularly, save this scene as a new scene on your mixer
07:53
so that their monitor settings will be saved for future use.
07:56
You will ALWAYS begin your monitor sound check by setting the trims first with the channel muted.
08:02
That’s important. After verifying that everyone’s trims are in place you can unmute the channels,
08:09
and just jump to fine tuning by asking each one if they have additional requests.
08:15
When it comes to monitor mixing, there is a psychological component involved between the sound person and the musician.
08:22
A good monitor reference allows the musician to play with confidence and ease.
08:27
And there are a few unspoken rules that will help establish a feeling of confidence for everyone even before you start spinning dials.
08:36
Number 1. Instrument inputs and microphones should be set up and ready to go, BEFORE the band arrives.
08:44
Trying to set up a stage at the same time musicians are setting up can create clutter and chaos.
08:50
Number 2. Have background music running when the band arrives.
08:55
That lets them know that you’re ready and waiting on them, and not the other way around.
09:01
Number 3. Sound check the vocal mics in their monitors and leave them unmuted.
09:06
In most cases, the first thing a vocalist does when they arrive is walk up to their mic say “CHECK.”
09:13
When they hear that their monitor is hot, it sends them an implied message
09:17
that you’re ready for them and that you’re dedicated to
09:20
making sure their monitors will be dialed in to their specifications.
09:25
Number 4. Personally greet each band member as they arrive.
09:30
This establishes a connection between the musician and sound person that is absolutely essential for a smooth sound check.
09:38
Number 5. Take the initiative to lead the band through the sound check.
09:43
This ensures that sound check is done in a timely manner
09:46
and it takes pressure off the musicians to try and make it happen themselves.
09:52
Number 6. Make sure you know the names of each person.
09:56
It’s ok if you have to ask them to remind you of their name.
10:00
As you’re leading the band through sound check using their name adds a personal touch which sets everyone at ease.
10:07
When you get their names add them to the channel strips on the title
10:12
in their input and monitor channels on your mixer,
10:15
because there are times you will inevitably forget someone’s name
10:19
and having it right there in your mixer scene is super helpful.
10:24
So there you have it; Monitor Mixing 101.
10:27
When you're ready, move on to the next video.
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Monitor Mixing 101
10m 35s