Behind The Mixer

Learn Church Audio Artistry | Church Sound

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How to Win the Stage Volume Battle

Win the battle with planning and preparation.
Photo provided by somadjinn

You can provide the right house volume as well as the right stage volume.  It doesn’t have to be a battle of the wills between yourself and the musicians.  The key is following three steps during your sound check and looking at three areas when it comes to monitor issues.

The Ideal Situation

The ideal situation for house and monitor levels is one in which the congregation hears only what’s coming from the house speakers AND the musicians hear the optimal volume levels and mixes from their monitors for playing in time and in key.  This can usually happen regardless of the monitoring system used on the stage.  Yes, in-ear systems can make your job easier in this regard but they aren’t always the right choice for the band and they aren’t always necessary.

You goal shouldn’t be in achieving the ideal situation every time, thought it’s great when it does happen.  Your goal should be in achieving the most realistic situation.

The Realistic Situation

The realistic situation for house and monitor levels is one in which the musicians hear the volume levels and monitor mixes which give them the ability to play in time / sing on pitch while limiting the amount of stage volume bleed to the first couple of rows in the sanctuary AND the majority of the congregation hears only the house mix.

Creating the Realistic Situation

This situation is one in which you must work to achieve.  It will not fall into place with a little bit of luck.  Your work starts with the sound check and the way in which you start the sound check.

Without detailing the full process for the sound check, let’s look at the first three key steps you need to take when the band walks on stage.

  1. Set the channel gains.  The gain structure is always important for ensuring you receive the best signal strength for mixing.  It also gives you the best level for setting monitors as you don’t want to alter the channel gain after setting monitor volumes as it will affect the monitor mix.
  2. Volume balancing.  After the channel gains are set, have the band play a song.  They don’t get monitors at this point.  Spend this time balancing the volumes, such as placing the lead guitar louder than the drums and the lead singer louder than all the other channels.  Once you’ve done this, you can hear the sound of the band as the congregation should hear it.
  3. Set Monitors.  Now it’s time to bring in the monitors.  The monitors should be set so each person hears what they need to play in time and sing in the right key.  Some would say, “Give them something to pitch to.”  They already hear a bit of the house mix so you are adding extra to give them what they need.  During this time, listen to the house mix.  If it starts sounding different such as a muddy sound or an instrument or vocal is suddenly louder, then a monitor mix has affected the house mix.  Once all the monitors are set, walk the third row of pews/chairs from the stage and determine if the monitors are bleeding out too much.

Dealing with Stage Level Problems

Stage volume level problems can occur for a variety of reasons.  They are based around three issues; guitar/bass amplifiers, acoustic drum kits, and monitor volumes.

Focusing on monitor volumes, when their volumes get so high that they bleed too far out into the house, then you should look at this three-part solution.

  1. Location.  Each person using a monitor should be as close to the monitor as possible.  Where the problem usually occurs is when they set their volume level when they are close to the monitor but then when they start singing/playing, they take a few steps back and then say they can’t hear themselves.  They need to stay as close as possible to that monitor.  I’ve used gaff tape to mark the spot in which they stand.
  2. Direction.  Each person needs to stands on-axis to the monitor.  For example, if they are standing to the side of the monitor, outside of the speaker projection area, they will only hear a fraction of the volume as compared to if they stood directly in front of it.  As an added note, if they have a music stand between themselves and the monitor, then that music stand is blocking the monitor and of course they’ll need excessive volume.  You can move the monitor a bit to the side of the music stand.
  3. Monitor Mix.  The “I need more me in the monitor” issue should first consider the possibility they have too much of something else in the monitor.  Cut individual volumes to the monitor before you boost them.

The Take Away

You can’t always have the ideal situation but you can have the most realistic situation.  Balancing out the house volume level against the stage level is about giving the musicians what they need while giving a priority to what the congregation hears.  It’s about creating a situation so the congregation can fully engage in worship.

Make sure you run your sound check in the proper order; set gain levels, volume balance, and then set monitors.  When it comes to excessive stage volume from the monitors, look to the areas of location, direction, and monitor mix.  Throughout all your work, instill into the musicians the idea you are working to present the best sound to the congregation.

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Comments

  1. One of the things I do is ask vocalists to tell me what they *can* hear when they want something turned up. By doing this, I can dial back the louder parts of the mix a bit while slightly boosting what they want … it makes the difficult-to-hear part come out better in the mix without raising the overall volume level(or at least without raising it enough to affect the house).

    We have found this to be a good way to meet the needs of the vocalists without making the stage so loud that it compromises the sound quality in the house.

    Reply

  3. Chris, in your experience does sharing one monitor wedge between two (or more) musicians compare, stage-volume wise, to everybody getting their own wedge?

    I have eight wedges (on four mixes) to distribute between 10 or 11 musicians on stage and find myself constantly wishing for more aux buses and wedges. I would think that more mixes and wedges would allow everyone to be close to a monitor and properly on-axis, thereby reducing stage volume. However, my worship pastor (and the integrator we’re getting quotes from on a new PA) don’t seem convinced by my reasoning.

    Reply

    • Jeff, it really depends a lot on your situation. If you can get the musicians close enough, then you should be fine. For example, you should be able to get two or three backing singers to share a monitor. Your situation seems to be asking for both adding individual mixes and monitors. I suggest taking a piece of graph paper and plotting out your stage. Then draw in the musicians. Then ask yourself if you could re-arrange the musicians on the stage so four mixes give them the four mixes they need. If you can, great. If you can’t, and if you see you’d have problems with the distance from the monitors and monitor volume, then consider going with a PA that gives you more of what you need. Elite Core has a nice affordable personal mixing system (http://elitecoreaudio.com/personal-mixing) if you want to consider that route.

      What mixing console is the integrator considering?

      In your situation, I’d take one service and try to make it the best monitor setup and volume scenario as possible. I mean try with all your might and use every trick you know. Then judge the results. If it doesn’t work, and the monitor volume is washing out a lot into the house mix, then yes, more is likely better. There are a lot of things that come to mind and when it comes right down to it, I’m not in your room. If the quality of sound from your current setup is detrimental to the service, then by all means, do what you need to do to push for more.

      Reply

      • Thanks for the suggestions.

        The current arrangement works well in terms of sight lines, spacing, and mic bleed so I’m probably not going to fundamentally change it. Singers do tend to wander backwards from their monitors and then ask to be turned up so I will pay more attention to their positioning–maybe get out the gaff tape and mark a couple of triangles for them to stand.

        Console suggestions from the integrator… Yamaha LS9, A&H GLD, Soundcraft Si Compact. Old board was 32 mic-level inputs (and occasionally full) so the Compact seems barely big enough. The budget we currently have available for a new console (rest The budget may not even allow an LS9 (GLD looks waay out of reach) so there’s a good chance we’ll go analog. No specific suggestions for analog boards so far, but most likely Soundcraft or A&H since they carry those.

        The rest of the PA is probably a couple of years away from replacement but we will be seriously looking at IEM at that time. Easy to budget for IEM when comparing to buying a whole new set of wedges and amps… much harder when the comparative option is simply running the equipment we have.

        I wouldn’t call the monitor wash detrimental to the service but it definitely has to be taken into account when mixing FOH. There are other, smaller, teams in the rotation who seem to get by with far less stage volume so I’m optimistic that we can manage with wedges, at least in the short term.

        Reply

  5. “The monitors should be set so each person hears what they need to play in time and sing in the right key.”

    Maybe it’s because I’m a worship leader that also has run sound in the past (and maybe it’s because I’m overly sensitive!) but this, and comments like it, don’t sit right with me. As a worship band, our job isn’t just to play quality music for the congregation to worship to. it’s also to lead those people in worship….by being the example and worshipping ourselves. So for me, having a quality sound on the stage is very important as well.

    If it’s a choice between the two, then it obvious we choose the congregation. What they hear is the most important thing. But I want to give myself and my team the best possible mix I can as well, so we can be free to really lead the congregation in worship. Obviously, each church will have different ways to go about doing that. So do what works in your individual situations!

    OK…I’ll get off my soapbox now! LOL

    Reply

    • Brian, as a person who was once on a worship team (guitarist), believe me when I say I totally get the whole musicians-side of audio production and monitor needs. When I wrote this, I was targeting the many people who email me because they have a hard time balancing the stage volume and the house volume. Many times, it’s because their whole process is out of whack.

      When it comes to your job as a worship team, it’s definitely more than just to play quality music. It is, indeed to lead. From the point of view of a congregation member and musician, I totally agree with you. From the point of view of a sound guy, I know you need certain things from your monitors in order to play AND to lead. :)

      Reply

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