Make a better monitor mix!
Check the list before the gig!

Monitor mixing in a live situation can be a stressful occupation and usually involves a lot of different mixes as each artist requires a special mix of their own. In a way, it’s more complicated than running FOH(front of house) where you only have one mix to deal with.

Monitor mixers have to deal with various mixes, and are some times crammed into the smalles spaces beside the stage. Nonetheless they are an invaluable part of making the band sound good because if the band can't hear themselves they definitely won't sound good.

So next time you find yourselves at the side of the stage, running 10 different mixes with 5 different bands, keep these simple things in mind and you can make your job so much easier.

1. Give enough time for sound-check

By just making sure you have enough time to cater to each artist’s special need you make your job exponentially easier. Going into a gig that you are sure everybody is happy from the get-go is much easier than constantly being on the look-out.

2. Mark everything on the mixer 

Bring your favorite gaffer tape and make sure you know what every knob does. Turning up the guitar in the drummers monitors instead of the bassists is a sign of amateurish work and will easily piss of a group.

3. Mark every cable and every microphone.

If you are working in a concert that has a lot of different acts with different instruments you can save yourself a lot of hassle by also marking all the microphones. That way, you know which microphones to move when the rock band with the three vocalists is succeeded by the choir act that only needed the stage condensers.

4. If mixing from FOH, make sure the auxes are pre-fader. 

If you are mixing the monitors from the FOH posiiton as well, make sure you have the aux knobs set to pre-fader. That way, if you think the singers needs a little less level, you don’t take his signal out of his own monitor by reducing his volume in the PA.

5. Introduce yourself and get to know the acts.

Running sound, in a way is a service industry and you should treat your artists as customers. Making sure they know your name and can call on you when they need something is a great plus. It creates a good atmosphere when you have a made a friendly connection, especially if the acts are young or inexperienced.

Happy monitoring

I hope these tips help when you find yourselves servicing artists by the side of the stage. Being a monitor mixer is an important job and sometimes the one that gets you closer to the band than any other.

If you're done with your monitor mix, get some more live sound tips!

For another article on monitor mixing, check out my article on Audiotuts

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