5. What they hear in the monitor
Without going into detail on monitor mixes, I’ll hit a few highlights as it would relate to our vocalist.
First, they need to hear voices for harmonizing and a rhythm instrument or two for timing. They DON’T need every sound in their mix.
Second, they need to hear all of these in the right relationship to each other. Think volume.
Only now can the question be answered…
“Regarding floor monitors, vocalists should be very close to their floor monitor. I wanted to ask what the reasoning is behind this?”
Bringing this all together and remembering we are scoping it around feedback…
Feedback, in the case of monitors, is produced when a sound is looped between the microphone and the monitor to the point where the volume looping between the two begins to significantly increase. So why do we want our vocalist up close to their monitor?
The biggest point that I can make is that when you properly set the gain for that vocalist’s microphone, they keep it up to their lips, and you have ONLY enough volume coming out of the monitor, then feedback won’t be a problem.
Where feedback does come into play is usually when:
—The microphone is too hot and picks up more monitor than necessary. This goes back to setting the proper channel gain.
—The monitor is too loud and the microphone is looping the sound. Going back to our stage volume discussion, we don’t want to negatively impact the house volume or produce too much volume from one monitor that it affects others on the stage.
This all leads back to the original article and the three ways to easily prevent feedback:
—Place microphones in the right relationships to monitors. Close enough the singer hears the volume they need when they are standing on-axis to the monitor speaker cone.
—Teach musicians to use the proper vocal microphone technique. The moment a vocalist drops the microphone from their mouth to their chest or their stomach, a significantly greater amount of gain is required which can produce feedback and will pick up more sounds on the stage. And dropping the microphone to their side will certainly throw everything into a loop because of the close proximity from the monitor the microphone. They need to keep the microphone up to their mouth or step away if they drop it to their side.
—Use the proper gain setting technique. The channel gain setting is foundational for all your work. It gives you the amount of channel signal you need and is the best aid in preventing feedback. A channel that’s too hot will cause just as many problems as a channel that’s not loud enough.
The Take Away
You have to keep several areas in check when producing live audio. These areas include stage volume, feedback, and monitor usage. To Ryan’s question, the farther away the vocalist from the monitor, the more monitor volume and thus stage volume.
But when you place the vocalist in the right relationship with the monitor and they use proper the microphone technique, then they hear everything they need, you get the right sound signal you need, and the congregation hears the sound coming from the house loudspeakers, not from the stage.
*Tip: If you’re having problems with feedback when the monitors are set and the musicians are properly using the microphones, check the type of polar pattern of the microphone. You’re likely using an omnidirectional microphone wherein a cardioid microphone would be better suited for your situation.
Ready to learn and laugh? Chris Huff writes about the world of church audio at Behind The Mixer. He covers everything from audio fundamentals to dealing with musicians. He can even tell you the signs the sound guy is having a mental breakdown.