Live Sound University Article Sun, October 12, 2008

Try It, You’ll Like It…Maybe

For a long time I wondered about mixing wedges in stereo. I was sure it would sound good, so recently I took the plunge and set up a pair of loudspeakers to see what it was all about.

Dan says “Back to Mono!”

For about a week I tried different things to see what I could find out. During the afternoons on show days I listened to various instruments and vocal mics. In many ways the sound was better than listening in mono. Particularly when a stereo reverb was applied to a vocal mic, or listening to the grand piano. (We have a seven-foot Steinway with three Barcus Berry Planar Wave pickups to choose from.) I continued to monitor during the shows, using my cue wedges in stereo and setting up a mix with EQ’s for myself with real musicians playing real instruments during the performance.

It was really no surprise that this set up was more pleasing to the ears, but was it actually a better stage-monitoring configuration?

All Things Being Equal

What I learned initially was that the equalizers being used must be set precisely in order to keep things where you place them in the stereo mix. I suggest using a stereo unit that tracks both channels with one adjustment if you must go here. The wedges (including their crossovers and power amplifiers) must be well matched too so that you have very consistent performance from both the left and right loudspeakers. This is essential for controlling the stereo field you are trying to create.

Differences in the frequency response between channels in this type of configuration will cause things to shift location in different ways within the field. For example, if you assigned the high hat to your stereo wedges, with the pan slightly to the left, but the speaker on the left was deficient in reproducing the main frequencies contained in this sound (compared to the right speaker), the apparent location of this source when you listened would not be where the pan pot indicated!

While this in itself may not seem too large a hurdle, consider an instrument that reproduces a wide range of frequencies like an acoustic guitar. While it might sound “spacious” being played as a rhythm instrument by itself, I don’t think you really want the guitar to pan from one side to the other as the player picks a lead break playing up or down a scale of notes. (Or maybe you do?)

The addition of more instruments and more deviations at other frequencies soon presents the listener with an auditory mess. Remember, we are trying to accurately monitor audio on a stage in a live acoustic environment.

Sometimes You Do and Sometimes…

Assuming that you have been successful in setting up and tuning your stereo wedges so that the spectral shift is not an issue, this configuration can present good results in some applications. Many keyboard players gain advantage in being able to hear what their rigs are doing in stereo. Even a guitar player with a true stereo set-up may like to hear exactly what he is sending to FOH. Good players will use the stereo mix as a tool to make them even better. But these examples are different. They are for monitoring a stereo instrument with an appropriate playback system, not trying to place mono instruments in a stereo field.

Yes, it is possible to get a great stereo sound and a great mix going with the right console and some good loudspeakers. Guys do it at FOH all the time, right? But as I mentioned above, we are trying to create an environment on the stage where it is easy for the band to hear what they want to hear. Do you really want to create phantom images of instruments and voices in an area between two loudspeakers to make it easier for the musicians to hear? In most cases I don’t think so.

However…

With that said I would like to add that with the right musicians, under the right circumstances, good results are certainly possible. But it will require a musician who understands what he is listening to, and a willingness to experiment to achieve the desired results. (It won’t be something you just stumble on and it’s right.) As for a one-off with a band you’ve never heard…. I won’t be trying it.

In Your Space… or In Your Face

When all of the experimenting was done, when it was actually show time, I made one simple observation that decided it all for me. Yes, stereo instruments sounded better and effects were wonderful…but you know that sound when you are listening to stereo program on your headphones and then you hit the mono switch? BAM… all of a sudden the image is right in the middle of you head, and oh so balanced between your ears. Well, I observe the same phenomena with two wedges in mono. With the loudspeakers placed properly in front of the musician, a mono mix puts the sound (particularly your own vocal) right in your face! And if the object is for the musician to easily hear what he wants in his mix, especially in a difficult environment… I’m going to mix audio the old fashioned way