Bass Player: “Can you turn the bass up in the monitor?” Vocalist: “The piano is too loud in the mix.” Congregation Member: “It’s hard to understand the words.”

Keyboard Player: “The guitar player is always turning up and then I can’t hear myself.”
Pastor: “Can you try and keep the volume down, some members of the congregation are complaining.”

Some of these comments may strike a little too close to home. However, as we mix for worship, they are all things that will have to be dealt with sooner or later. As advances in technology continue, it is obvious that the worship service is not and should not be isolated from these improvements.

What is it?
The concept of in-ear monitoring is actually quite simple. Introduce a high-quality signal to the musician’s ear, a signal that allows the user to clearly hear the mix at any chosen volume. Originally only used by top touring professionals because of the costs involved, in-ear monitoring has been around since the mid 1980’s.

The benefits to the musician and engineer were immediately apparent; better sound, improved stereo imaging, less vocal strain, portability, increased gain before feedback and lowered on-stage volume. Fortunately, it didn’t take long for music equipment manufacturers to see that this technology opened up a new category of equipment and that applications for this technology, at every level of performance, would be beneficial.

Accordingly, many manufacturers have introduced products to meet the growing demand for this product.

The benefits of in-ear monitoring are twofold. First, the artist can have any mix he/she desires at any volume. This also gives the engineer better isolation because loud stage monitors bleed into adjacent microphones which affects and colors the overall mix.

So what’s wrong with wedges?
Theoretically, nothing is wrong with wedges (floor monitors and hot spots). They work kind of like a front-of-house (FOH) sound system, just turned around and facing the band.

If the band was just listening and singing along like the congregation, no problem, but that’s not the case. The band has to hear itself and each person in the band has a slightly different version of what they would like to hear.

Here are some typical problems. By using wedges you’ve just reduced your possible acoustic gain before feedback. You’ve introduced a new sound source on stage, one that has to be louder than the other amps on stage. Additionally, you’ve added some “not so good” low frequency drivers for those seated in the first few rows.

So lets fix these problems. Typically, the EQ (equalization) for the monitor system is used to adjust those frequencies that are causing feedback in the monitors so that gain can be increased.

However, with every adjustment made to the EQ for feedback control, the fidelity of the sound the musician hears from the monitor may be compromised. Also remember that low frequency sound is omni-directional and even with tight reins on the volume of the monitors, the monitor speakers are still adding unwanted low frequency information to the FOH sound.

How can in-ear monitors help?
All the drawbacks associated with traditional monitoring systems can be addressed by going to ear monitors. In-ear monitors provide the same level of clarity and volume control that headphones provide. The potential for feedback between the microphones and the floor monitors is eliminated.

If all the musicians on stage are using in-ear monitors, the musicians can hear the monitor signal at any volume they choose without affecting the person next to them. Even if some musicians still choose to use floor monitors, those on “ears” (short for in-ear monitors) can still run the volume at the level they choose without affecting their neighbor.

With in-ear monitors, the mix that the musicians are listening to can be a full, high quality stereo mix (depending on number of mixes required and available sends) or just those instruments and voices the musicians onstage need to hear. The ability to be able to monitor in stereo can be very beneficial.

When running in mono, as you add more instruments it becomes increasingly more difficult to pick out a specific instrument in the mix, particularly when the instruments are in the same frequency range (two acoustic guitars or two voices for example). However, if one is panned slightly left and the other slightly right the musician’s ability to focus on their own instrument is greatly improved.

If you have the ability to run multiple monitor signals and group the vocalists, backline instruments and soloists with their own mixes, the monitor signal for each group of performers can be exactly what they need. No less important is the elimination of floor monitors as the first step in a reduction in volume that can be really beneficial to front of house sound.

The use of in-ear monitors can lead to the remote placement of amplifiers, the use of amp modelers or plugging directly into the board. A good band will mix itself. All that is required is for the band members to be able to hear themselves clearly. Remember, the key word for the engineer was “isolation.” Going to in ear monitors is one of the first steps to give the engineer in a live sound situation this level of control.

Here’s the catch
So this all sounds great, but you’re thinking, “I’ve never heard of anything that gives you all the benefits that in ear-monitoring can give you without some kind of a catch.”

Some musicians you work with will grab this technology and run with it, because, quite honestly, in some cases they may have never heard such an awesome monitor mix. Other musicians may take longer to adapt because it is a different way to hear the music, their voice, or instrument. It will take longer and require more work from you to make these musicians happy with the technology.

How can you help?
Take it slow as you transition to this type of technology. Don’t try to go from one Sunday with floor monitors to the next Sunday with eight stereo wireless mixes. Start with the drummer; get him or her a good clear mix. Check out the different types of equipment that can be used to get the monitor signal to the drummer.

The equipment that is used can be as simple as a headphone distribution amp (like the ones used in a recording studio) or dedicated wireless transmitters and receivers. The type of earpiece has to be considered. No matter how good a given piece of hardware, the sound will only be as good as the earpiece.

Drummers with acoustic kits will need an earpiece that is occluding (this means that the earpiece reduces ambient sound) as opposed to non-occluding (has no or very little hearing protection). This reduction of ambient sound is very important for two reasons.

First, the earpiece lowers the volume of the drums so the drummer doesn’t have to run the volume of the earpiece at an extremely high level just to overcome the acoustic kit. And second, the mix in the earpieces will allow the drummer to hear where the drums sit in relationship to the other instruments and voices in the mix.