Hi all, currently, I use these simple MusicSafe Pro Earplugs during band rehearsals, but I will probably have to switch to some kind of headphone based monitoring solution soon. (We don’t have a PA, so, to hear the singer I’ll need something else.) Obviously, I should get something that let’s me hear the singer and protects my ears at the same time. What would you recommend? Over-ear or in-ear monitors? And do you have specific suggestions?
Oh, and to give you some info on what kind of music we play. Currently, it’s:
Placebo, Every you, every me
Tom Petty and the heartbreakers, Into the great wide open
The Stooges, I wanna be your dog
The White Stripes, Seven nation army
Soundgarden, Fell on black days
So, mostly rockish kind of stuff, no Jazz, but also no Death Metal either.
This could get expensive but there are relative affordable solution. I don’t have the setup myself, my keyboard player has the setup, it’s pretty fancy. Check out these, you’d need one for each player and the mixer to connect to the main mixer I think.
Our band opt to go with mono mix to each IEM, there’s no point listening in stereo as you need to hear what’s going. As the matter of fact the front of the house engineer also mix in mono on a bigger venue as well so audience on extreme side can hear the entire mix.
I wouldnt recommend “shooter” style ear protection for music. The problem you will encounter in active electronic hearing protection is the decibel threshold. When the percussive blast happens, signal is cut to protect hearing. You will run the risk of losing signal mid jam and wont come back on until the levels return to “safe” range. Depending on the drummer, that may be never haha!
There are passive styles that i can recommend though. A company called decibullz make an option that you mold yourself to your ear and they’re pretty good if you dont need in ear monitors. The cut all noise by 30ish decibels. They even have a high fidelity version geared to musicians. They’re like $40 which isnt bad for something custom taylored to your ear. Since its molded for/by you, the protection will be better than ear buds made to “fit” everyone. I have a set i use for everything from sporting clay, to concerts.
Here’s an article with testing and results. I personally use the Eargasms (#3), but I might try the Westones too, as I could use a backup pair, and they’re cheaper.
Not necessarily true. I’ve mentioned previously, someone I know is a a pro guitarist. When playing large events, he has a stereo set up, but a mono mix is pushed down the centre line of the venue so that both left and right get a sense of stereo.
How do you deal with acoustic drums in such a set up? Assuming a relatively small venue, do you just leave them as they are, but make sure all member of the band (inc drummer) have IEM?
You two just said exactly the same thing, FWIW. I know you think you didn’t but you did
I would almost just say there’s little point in monitoring in stereo live unless you are the guy running the boards. The goal with live monitoring isn’t so much to get the most beautiful representation of the overall picture - it’s to be able to hear yourself at all.
Not discounting the words of any pros here, but this is just my own experience from a long time ago. I was not using IEM’s.
