The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #124279   Message #2745122
Posted By: Brian Swinton
13-Oct-09 - 02:14 PM
Thread Name: Tech: Sorting out monitors!
Subject: RE: Tech: Sorting out monitors!
Having used all kinds of monitors over the years I've found increasingly that less is more and whenever I can I place muscicians to hear each other on stage and rely on their skill to hear and interpret the front of house spill back to them. In most small venues monitor mixes rapidly overcome the front of house balance and are really unnecessary. I have on occasion set up complex monitor mixes for bands then gradually "lost" them, ultimately turning off the monitors completely. 99 times out of a hundred the performance has actually improved as the monitor mix disappeared. Obviously this can't always work but for small venues and semi pro bands buying their own gear its a cost effective approach that avoids building barriers between performers and audience. The Bose personal PA is another very neat way round the problem that I wish I could afford but I'd rather spend my cash on a Weber mandolin than a bunch of electronics.

Sorry for going on a bit but I feel quite strongly about the growth of mega big systems in our kind of music.