Singers with earphones

[dosxuk]

Re bib. Can you (or someone else) give me an idea how this works in practice. How might the mix differ, performer to performer - I would have thought that they would all need to hear the final product, to know it is right. Clearly, I know nothing about the subject, but am just curious. Thanks.

 

No, in most cases none of the band will hear a mix of everything.

 

My starting point for montiors goes as such:

Drummer - kick, snare, toms, bass, lead vox, (drum vox)

Bassist - kick, snare, bass, bass vox, little bit of lead vox

Guitar - snare, guitar, own vox, little bit of lead vox

Lead - lots of own vox, backing vox, kick, snare

 

Everyone always alters from those settings, and the balance between them is always different, but it acts as a starting point to refine. Almost always if people are on in ears, there will also be a pair of microphones pointing at the audience which are fed to those earphones so that the artists can hear the audience and a bit of the natural stage sound.

 

Even where bands are using traditional monitor speakers, the stage sound is normally completely different to what the audience is hearing.

 

Contrary to what other posters have said, I've never met a performer using IEMs because of timing. The snare drum almost always fills the stage sufficiently anyway to keep people in time. The primary reasons are always volume and flexibility (if you move a couple of feet on stage with traditional monitor speakers the sound can change dramatically - with them in your ears it stays the same whether your in the middle, upside down above the drum kit or crowd surfing five rows back).

[Eater Sundae]

No, in most cases none of the band will hear a mix of everything.

 

My starting point for montiors goes as such:

Drummer - kick, snare, toms, bass, lead vox, (drum vox)

Bassist - kick, snare, bass, bass vox, little bit of lead vox

Guitar - snare, guitar, own vox, little bit of lead vox

Lead - lots of own vox, backing vox, kick, snare

 

Everyone always alters from those settings, and the balance between them is always different, but it acts as a starting point to refine. Almost always if people are on in ears, there will also be a pair of microphones pointing at the audience which are fed to those earphones so that the artists can hear the audience and a bit of the natural stage sound.

 

Even where bands are using traditional monitor speakers, the stage sound is normally completely different to what the audience is hearing.

 

Contrary to what other posters have said, I've never met a performer using IEMs because of timing. The snare drum almost always fills the stage sufficiently anyway to keep people in time. The primary reasons are always volume and flexibility (if you move a couple of feet on stage with traditional monitor speakers the sound can change dramatically - with them in your ears it stays the same whether your in the middle, upside down above the drum kit or crowd surfing five rows back).

 

Thanks, that makes lots of sense

[Ghozer]

No, in most cases none of the band will hear a mix of everything.

 

My starting point for montiors goes as such:

Drummer - kick, snare, toms, bass, lead vox, (drum vox)

Bassist - kick, snare, bass, bass vox, little bit of lead vox

Guitar - snare, guitar, own vox, little bit of lead vox

Lead - lots of own vox, backing vox, kick, snare

 

Everyone always alters from those settings, and the balance between them is always different, but it acts as a starting point to refine. Almost always if people are on in ears, there will also be a pair of microphones pointing at the audience which are fed to those earphones so that the artists can hear the audience and a bit of the natural stage sound.

 

Even where bands are using traditional monitor speakers, the stage sound is normally completely different to what the audience is hearing.

 

Contrary to what other posters have said, I've never met a performer using IEMs because of timing. The snare drum almost always fills the stage sufficiently anyway to keep people in time. The primary reasons are always volume and flexibility (if you move a couple of feet on stage with traditional monitor speakers the sound can change dramatically - with them in your ears it stays the same whether your in the middle, upside down above the drum kit or crowd surfing five rows back).

 

Whew, saved me typing it out.... xD

 

I generally have a slightly different starting point for monitors, but i'll often ask them what they wanna hear (if it's IEMs) or do a balance to please everyone if it's front monitors...

[alternageek]

No, in most cases none of the band will hear a mix of everything.

 

My starting point for montiors goes as such:

Drummer - kick, snare, toms, bass, lead vox, (drum vox)

Bassist - kick, snare, bass, bass vox, little bit of lead vox

Guitar - snare, guitar, own vox, little bit of lead vox

Lead - lots of own vox, backing vox, kick, snare

 

Everyone always alters from those settings, and the balance between them is always different, but it acts as a starting point to refine. Almost always if people are on in ears, there will also be a pair of microphones pointing at the audience which are fed to those earphones so that the artists can hear the audience and a bit of the natural stage sound.

 

Even where bands are using traditional monitor speakers, the stage sound is normally completely different to what the audience is hearing.

 

Contrary to what other posters have said, I've never met a performer using IEMs because of timing. The snare drum almost always fills the stage sufficiently anyway to keep people in time. The primary reasons are always volume and flexibility (if you move a couple of feet on stage with traditional monitor speakers the sound can change dramatically - with them in your ears it stays the same whether your in the middle, upside down above the drum kit or crowd surfing five rows back).

 

You explained it better than I ever could have..

I only know about IEMs thanks to listening to fan show recordings and people used to be able to get into the bands frequencies and eavesdrop.

[dosxuk]

No, in most cases none of the band will hear a mix of everything.

 

And in typical fashion, my drummer (on in ears) today opted for a mix of everything...

 

It wasn't what you'd get out the audience speakers (far too much drums), but it did have a mix of the whole band.

 

On the other hand, the bassist only wanted kick drum and snare drum, *really* loud.

[Rampent]

My ideal mix would have my voice much louder than everything else because it helps reassure me I'm singing in tune - if I can't hear myself I get very very edgy. Our violinists want to mainly hear their own violin, for the same reason, and the guitar so it's easier to keep in time. Some singers don't want to hear any harmony vocals because it puts them off ... and so on.

 

Having said that, when we're using our own PA we only use one monitor mix so it's largely a compromise.

 

:hihi::hihi:

[Moosey]

Quote:

 

Originally Posted by dosxuk

 

No, in most cases none of the band will hear a mix of everything.

 

And in typical fashion, my drummer (on in ears) today opted for a mix of everything...

 

It wasn't what you'd get out the audience speakers (far too much drums), but it did have a mix of the whole band.

 

On the other hand, the bassist only wanted kick drum and snare drum, *really* loud.

 

Musicians are odd like that. So are drummers. :-)

 

I like kick, vocal, guitar and my bass in my own. Snare usually cuts through anyway.

 

 

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[Lockjaw]

 

Contrary to what other posters have said, I've never met a performer using IEMs because of timing. The snare drum almost always fills the stage sufficiently anyway to keep people in time. The primary reasons are always volume and flexibility (if you move a couple of feet on stage with traditional monitor speakers the sound can change dramatically - with them in your ears it stays the same whether your in the middle, upside down above the drum kit or crowd surfing five rows back).

 

Do all bands have a drum kit?

[xdbx]

Contrary to what other posters have said, I've never met a performer using IEMs because of timing. The snare drum almost always fills the stage sufficiently anyway to keep people in time.

 

Now you have!

Unless you have an electronic drum kit like us (Drummer uses a buttkicker for feedback)

All the guys I know have a general mix with their instruments/vocals louder (its all to do with psychoacoustics) and a click track.

[dosxuk]

Do all bands have a drum kit?

 

Quite obviously not

 

Now you have!

 

I missed the word "primarily" (or even "solely") out of that sentence.

 

And I'm sure that, if you had to, you'd also be able to perform with traditional floor monitors and still keep in time. I don't doubt that the IEMs are better (I'm sure they are), but I will stick to my statement that I've not met any musician who has bought IEMs because otherwise they can't keep time with the rest of the band.