It buzzes. It distorts. It howls. Welcome to the down-side of audio production. For all the wonderful ways you can manipulate sound, there are quite a few ways sound can be a royal pain. The good news is it doesn't have to ruin your day. Audio problems can be prevented through proactive means, ... Read More
Last week, a sound tech emailed asking for help with an audio problem; their monitor volume was dropping. From the musician's point of view, they would hear their monitor volume just fine and then all of a sudden, it would drop for no reason. The solution to this problem was definitely beyond the ... Read More
Monday's post on feedback prevention prompted a good question from Ryan, a reader. He said, "...there was one phrase that jumped out at me. Specifically, 'Regarding floor monitors, vocalists should be very close to their floor monitor.' I wanted to ask what the reasoning is behind this? I ... Read More
You might be suffering from all three of these audio feedback problem areas. I've been emailing a sound tech overseas who has had feedback problems. In my initial email, I said it could be caused by one of a few things. As it turned out, he had all three conditions that were causing feedback. ... Read More
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 ... Read More
Evaluating your monitor settings is a crucial step during the sound check and during the church service. Consider these three signs your monitor mix is bad or had gone bad. 1. A musician isn't playing in time or looks lost. This will happen if you didn't get the right monitor mix during the ... Read More
I couldn't believe what I was hearing. The vocalist pulled me aside during the sound check and said, "I think our vocals suck, what do you think?" She was not making a judgment on my mix, she was talking about herself and the other vocalists. The worship team for this particular morning was not ... Read More
"I've always set the monitor levels first, with the mains off, that's how ____ taught me to do it," they said to me. As those words escaped the sound tech's lips, I could tell they had been trained by a musician. A musician wants to hear the right sounds in the monitor. They want to hear ... Read More
