Nashville-based Blackhawk Audio supplied a Digico SD9 to mix monitors for the B stage on TobyMac's recent Hits Deep Tour.
Mixing monitors is not for the faint of heart. It is a demanding and selfless job. My personal philosophy for mixing monitors is that the monitor engineer needs to provide a mix that allows the performer to be the best they can be. This means that 90% of the time, I'm not mixing the monitors the way I want to hear it. The reason why I approach things this way is simple: Variables. IEM monitor type and brand, their position on stage, the instrument that is being played, the hearing health of the performer --- all of these variables create a very difficult equation for the monitor engineer to solve. When you add into that equation the various vocabulary of sound it gets even tougher. "It sounds too tubby", "Can you make sound clearer?" or "I just can make out any definition in my mix". These are examples of the curve balls lobbed at the monitor engineer everyday. How do we make sense of it?
The author shown here mixing monitors for Darlene Zschech.
Well for starters we can talk about some generalities with different players and instruments. Drummers generally want to hear a lot of click, a lot of their drums and a lot of bass. If you can get them a happy balance of those three elements, I find that the rest falls into place quickly. Bass players are similar, though most bass players I've worked with will want the click mixed just under the drums so that they are hearing the drummer for feel, not the click. Guitar players typically need a fuller band mix, they need the low-end support of the drums and bass, but they are also going to want to hear other guitar players and keyboards because they play off of those instruments. Keyboard players tend to want a lot of their keys, click, and vocals (easy on the guitars and drums). Vocals can be challenging because if they have never played an instrument they often don't know how to communicate what they want, but they most defiantly need time and pitch references. Instruments like loud guitars can get in the way of what they need to hear.
Ok so those generalities are things that I've learned with the players I've worked with over the years. I imagine that you have an understanding of the players you work with as well. Here's the thing though, if you are just starting to mix monitors, or you are working with a band you need to throw all those generalities out the window. Why? Because you are mixing for them not you! I've worked with a drummer that wanted all of his drums panned to the left and the click panned to the right. I've worked with drummers that didn't want any drums in their mix. I've worked with keyboard players that “barely” have their keys in their mix, I've worked with guitar players who only have guitars, click and vocals in their mix. Its much more important to know about their mix verses knowing that they have a "good" mix in your opinion.
Once you have a starting point where each player has the mix they want, things are going to change and when mix changes start coming you need to be confident that when the right situation comes you don't give them what they want. Confused yet? To illustrate let me give you a classical example of the "turn it up war". A "turn it up war" is anytime when a player continues to ask for a little bit more of everything in sequence. "Can I get more kick?" 30 seconds later. "Ok now I can't hear my guitar enough". One minute later. "Now I think I need more bass, I'm not feeling it." You can guess how this will play out. Sometimes when a player needs to hear more of one thing, they actually need less of another source that is conflicting in the same dynamic or frequency range. The only way for you to make decisions about this is by listening to the player's mix and make adjustments accordingly. Is the vocalist asking for more of themselves? The guitars may be too loud. Guitar player wants more? That thick pad from the keyboard player might be covering things up in the same dynamic range. These are just a few examples. Listen and decide for yourself.
Sometimes what a performer thinks is a monitor change is actually their change in tone. I can't tell you how many times I've had a request from a player to make a change and before I have time to reach for the appropriate send, they nod and say "that's great, thanks". This happens for a lot of reasons. Sometimes it is because as they are expecting the change they are playing harder and naturally it gets louder. Sometimes the player maybe adjusting a knob that affects their sound. Sometimes it is because a player is asking for the change when no one else is playing so for the first time they can hear themselves clearly. When this happens it is totally fine. I don't worry about them asking me for the change again later, I simply wait for the next request.
I've been in groups of audio engineers that have experienced this and they talk about their players in a derogatory way saying that they don't know what they are hearing. That is the wrong attitude to have and it doesn't make the band trust their monitor engineer. Sound is not static, what sounds good in sound check can change once service or concert starts. The first verse can be quieter that the second, and you are there to serve the band when those changes happen.
I know monitor guys get ridiculed when it not our fault. A classic "blame the monitor guy" situation happens the first song in the set. During soundcheck everyone is happy, but four bars into the first song everyone is looking at you with lost faces giving you the "What-happened-to-my-mix?" look. Everything was fine in soundcheck, but all that exciting energy of playing makes the drummer play much harder than in the soundcheck. So naturally, the guitar player turns up a bit to be heard. The vocalists are all having to sing harder to get over the louder drums, which blows out the mix of the keyboard player....and so on and so forth. Consistency is key here. Always encourage your players to play like they will come service time and leave yourself a bit of headroom on the preamp for those louder signals, should they happen.
When I am having a difficult time with a particular player and their mix, on of the first things I'll do is go out to the position that they are on stage to try to hear what they are hearing. Things might sound great to you at the monitor console, but once you step out where the background singers are you might notice that the guitar amps are really loud on stage and affecting their mix. Bass and drums are big culprits here too. A bass amp on stage can drown out a player's mix that is standing by and could be the reason that they want zero bass in their mix. Even if there are no major problems I will walk the stage at least once before service to hear what the stage sounds like in combination with players mix. It helps me get inside their head and understand their mix.
Mixing monitors is not just about the mix you hear off the console. It is about so much more. Be in constant consideration of the variables and always be there to serve. Keeping these two things in mind at all times will help you through the challenging times.
