Churches that use personal monitor mixing (PMM) solutions on Sunday morning have different motivations. There is certainly a cost savings with a personal monitor mixing setup vs. purchasing a large-scale console to mix monitors. Time and space are another significant factor. If your church is portable then space is limited. By having a PMM product you are making the trailer pack smaller, and this also shortens setup time—which means you are get through your day more efficiently.
Perhaps the most common factor, though, is personal. Many houses of worship simply do not have another capable audio engineer that can be trusted to mix monitors. Regardless of the reasons, personal monitor mixing is a common tool and it's here to stay. Five to 10 years ago there were only standalone PMM tools on the market. With the industry accepting the technology, you now have large-scale audio consoles that offer PMM solutions incorporated within the console.
Set it & Forget it?
The danger is that the audio engineer adopts a "set it and forget it" mentality by which they completely disengage from monitors altogether. This is a grave mistake. The audio engineer still has control of many factors that will affect how the PMM is used and how it sounds.
Furthermore, musicians will still struggle with the sound on their personal monitor mix. They need to be properly trained on how the PMM works. If the audio engineer retreats from assisting the musician with the PMM, then Sunday morning will suffer. The band needs to understand technology and some basic mixing principles. Most PMM solutions are taking audio from [the] FOH console and, because of that, the choices the FOH engineer makes affect the monitoring.
PMM is not a panacea for all that ails audio engineers or the performing musicians on stage, and yet, it can be a godsend.
At the very least many PMM products require the preamp of the FOH console to set the gain for each channel on the PMM. The proper gain must be applied; audio cannot be distorted. Many consoles allow you to choose the processing pick-off point at which channel audio is sent to the PMM. Common choices are: 1. Straight off the mic pre. No HP filters, EQ, compression. 2. Post HP filter. 3. Post EQ. 4. Post EQ and compression. Each one of these choices is important to consider. The way you compress a vocal for FOH could be too much compression for the vocalist in their mix. If you don't HP a hi-hat or snare channel, the drummer could end up with too much low-end information that makes the drum sound muddled. Sometimes the players trust and want your EQ choices because they clean up the sound in a desirable way. It is a good idea to start with using Post HP because it will force the musicians to hear their source as it is—and hopefully fix any problems on their end before the audio engineer gets involved. That being said, be ready to adapt and make the right choices for each source and situation.
Practical Considerations
Once you have your pick-off points, then [you] have to decide which instruments will come down which channels of the PMM. This can be a difficult decision to make and will be based on the needs of your band. Creating the proper blend of sources down these channels forces you to address phase relationships. For instance, some stereo patches on keyboards may sound great as a stereo image but they will not work as well once summed into a mono single.
Likewise, poorly placed drum microphones that are summed to one channel will sound out of phase. It is absolutely necessary for the FOH engineer to have the same PMM at their position so they can hear what the musicians are hearing. This is a lifesaver when questions arise and a player is saying: "Something doesn't sound right!"
It's not uncommon for bands to communicate that something is wrong with their mix, but [they] have no way [of] describing the specifics. In fact, this is a common problem with PMM. A good FOH engineer has developed the techniques and knowledge of the tools to create a desirable sound that is pleasing to the audience. The same is true for an experienced monitor mixer. Before the musicians make a single request, a good monitor engineer has made EQ, panning, and phase-related decisions to create a pleasing sounding mix to the band. Part of the struggle is that the musician does not have the Monitor Engineer to reference when things are not sounding right.
Vocals, A Whole New Ballgame
I have found that vocalists struggle the most here. One reason is that the vocalist has been hearing their “instrument” in their head for their entire life. This is why many people don't like the sound of their own voice when they hear it on a recording for the first time. A guitar player hears the sound of their guitar amp and this gives the player a reference point for how it should sound amplified through a PA or in their IEM mix. However, a singer doesn't have such a reference point. It is also impossible for anyone else to hear what the singer is hearing. The sound of your voice resonates through your head when you talk or sing; this effects how a singer hears their voice with IEM. When they first beginning wearing IEM and mixing themselves, vocalists can be really lost. "Can you just listen to my mix and fix it?"—this is the question I hear from vocalists more than any other players.
One factor for vocalists is that they use a pitch reference. This is completely personal and so it requires a conversation with your vocalists. For some, hearing every element of the band is desired, but for others, things like drums or electric guitars are distracting. I've worked with several vocalists who predominately listen to click, bass and keyboards. This is simply because those vocalists find it easy to pitch and keep time off of those instruments. The tone and range of a vocalist can affect what they want in their mix, as well. Any instrument that resides in the same frequency range as the singer’s voice can compete. EQ and level adjustments are required for the right balance.
End Analysis
Once you begin talking to an artist about their mix, then you will begin to wade the cloudy waters that is the language of audio. I've found that each church, or band, has its own dialect. While this is always a hurdle to overcome, it's a necessity. Terms have to be established and identified. Descriptives like "harsh," "woofy," or "drowned out" are used. You have to get to the point where you know what your performers are trying to communicate. Some of this just comes with time and experience. I find it helpful to create a feedback loop. Repeat what the artist is saying, but use your own descriptives. "When you say it’s too harsh, does that mean you'd like me to EQ out some of the high end?"
Personal Monitor Mixing is not a license for the audio engineer to disengage. On the contrary, it requires its own particular approach to how you work with the band to achieve the right sound for their monitors. There has to be care and attention to the band when using PMM, and you need to create an open line of communication with your band. It's the only way that a team can execute Sunday morning with solidarity and excellence.
