Today's Lesson

Your stage monitor setup is going to be dependent on the number of players on the stage and the number of monitors you have to accommodate them. Ideally, each member should have either a dedicated floor monitor or in-ear monitor pieces. 

If more than one player is referencing from the same monitor, you could end up in a situation, where the members aren’t getting what they need individually to get a proper reference and in turn keep asking for things to be turned up, including the monitor itself, until you have an unhealthy monitor level on stage. This often leads to feedback issues and stage monitor bleed out in the audience areas that can conflict with the main PA speakers. 

You’ll want to distribute stage monitors on stage based on the players and their needs. A simple example might be 3 monitors up front to support the lead singer, guitar, and bassist, with two more in the back for the drummer and keyboardist. Of course any number of these players could alternatively run on in-ears, which would help cut down on stage noise as well. This is just an example of course. For the best results, you’ll need the appropriate amount of monitors for you specific ensemble. 

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