Slaying the Monitor Dragon

This weekend, one of our sound guys had the privilege (bad luck) of running the audio for the Christmas choir.  He did a fantastic job in spite of battling the dreaded

Monitor Dragon.
 

The Monitor Dragon is the beast that rears its ugly head when the people on stage need a monitor volume so loud that it affects the sound the congregation hears.  This is a beast that we have tamed by using IEM's and educating the worship teams in proper monitor usage.  The choir usage though, that's when the dragon came out of the cave. 

The choir was made up of ~20 people standing on three risers.  Two monitors were place in the front, one covering the right side and one covering the left side with a slight overlap.  The monitors were pointing at their heads. 

Our choir had people from a variety of ages.  A variety of ages means a variety of hearing abilities.  Some needed more volume and others were extremely sensitive to loud noises.  Ah, it was a great day not to be running sound.

Jeff played the CD backing tracks for the choir during rehearsal and gave them the best level possible...for everyone involved.  The congregation as well as the choir needs a good mix.  Jeff gave as much monitor volume to the choir as possible until it affected the sound the congregation would hear.  Then he backed it off.  Jeff slayed the dragon.