This article is provided by Sennheiser.

 
Have you ever sung a solo while having no idea what you sound like? Have you ever had a vocalist that couldn’t find pitch?

Whether you’re singing or mixing a singer, there is nothing more frustrating than fighting a muddy mix, or dealing with the “more me” syndrome.

The best scenario for a singer is to have their own mix, stereo, and “in ear.” Most professional singers nowadays are using this approach. However, most churches that I have been involved with have much smaller budgets!

Many times singers will have to share a monitor mix because of budget reasons. It is not the best scenario, but one you will have to deal with sooner or later.

Working With One Monitor: The Basics
So we have only one monitor. Make sure the floor wedge is facing the singer’s head, not their knees or the ceiling.

Note the horn orientation. If singers are out of the coverage pattern, they will lose all intelligibility. Many floor monitors have a pole mount so the speaker is more versatile, and can be used as a “Main.”

This type of horn will have a narrower horizontal pattern when it is placed on its side as a floor wedge. Typically, 2-3 people can use this monitor at most. With the horn oriented correctly (widest pattern from left to right), 3-4 people can use this type. If you have more than 4 singers, you are going to need another monitor.

Determining Mic Levels
I have had worship leaders tell me as a monitor engineer to set all mics at the same level. Now back in the day, we had quartets that would huddle around one mic and they would blend themselves. But most of the vocalists in churches today are not professional, but may rather sing only on the weekends, know little about mic techniques, and sing at very different levels.

Back during the 1930s, “The Fletcher Munson Curves” were released. Also known as the “Munson Bell Curves,” these were made by asking individuals to judge when pure tones of different frequencies were the same loudness.

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