That includes you as the singer, Sue. Ego is a very necessary ingredient to evocative singing, but it can be a downfall. We always have a tendency as singers to believe we must be loudest. Never trust yourself to do sound unless you are no larger than a duo. If you are singing with a band, then good monitors are a must. Always remember that the monitor mix is not the front of the house mix. Monitors are mixed so that you can hear what you need to blend vocals, keep timing right, etc. We spend an inordinate amount of time getting the monitors right for us, and the rule is that once they are set, they can only be changed by the board operator when we tell him to. Never on his own. Conversely, the front of house mix is his and we never tell him what to do with that. He knows what we want to sound like, and it is his job to deliver that to the audience. We consider his "playing" the sound board to be every bit as important as our playing our instruments and pay him a full share. It goes without saying that you must have a sound person that you trust.

Another caution I would give you is that if you are playing with a band, in a small noisy room that you be very careful if trying to sing without some kind of sound reinforcement. There is a tendency to try and sing over the top of the instruments and the room noise. This leads to strained vocal chords and sore throats. I won't do it anymore. If the room has a lot of noise, I insist on at least a monitor speaker and a mic. We have small, easy setups for this. I am seriously considering the Bose system for solo gigs as it seems to solve most of the problems and works in a variety of setups.

all the best,

Mick