Number of Monitor Mixes for orchestra

BobHealey

Active Member
I am a lighting person who for some reason has been spending more time behind a sound board lately than a lighting console, at least during performances. I've been critiqued in that I'm setting a bad precedent for the venue by using too many unique monitor mixes in the pit, so I was wondering what other people thought.

This is an all volunteer community venue. There will always be at least 1 keyboardist and 1 percussionist in the pit. The percussion is kept in an isolation booth. There are then 3 additional musicians which can include any of the following: more keyboards, guitar, bass, trumpet, trombone, sax, flute, clarinet, violin, or cello. It is impossible to use a real piano in this pit due to its location. I've done an acceptable enough job to date that I've generally managed to convince the electronic instrument players to leave their amps at home.

What I normally do is I do 1 unique monitor mix per non-acoustic instrument, a mix for percussion, and an additional mix for the acoustic instruments (reeds, brass, strings other than bass) so that the guitar/keys/bass players don't feel the need to bring in amps set to 11 to hear their own instrument. Is one mix per person excessive at the community level, and should I bring it down to just conductor/keyboard [HASHTAG]#1[/HASHTAG], electric instruments, and everyone else like older, wiser folks have suggested?

Below is a shot of the "pit" the night before the first tech rehearsal, with the conductor in the foreground, drums against back wall, and bass slightly behind and to the left. It is actually a choir loft left over from when the space used to be a Catholic church.

IMG_9762.JPG
 
I would think individual monitor mixes are ideal. The high end monitor systems are in-ear, so you don't have much of a choice.

Your only issue might be if you can't keep up the good work, then when someone else takes over for the next production they will miss the convenience of having a personal mix. But then again, every production is different.

So I say do what you want ... if you have the time to tend to the musician's needs individually, kudos to you!
 
Take a look at Galaxy Hotspot, also Nady has something that might work on the low end (price wise)

EDIT: oops, this was in response to your other thread.
 
You are spoiling the band/orchestra with individual mixes. That said, it works that way in the real world. When i'm so inclined or have the hardware to do it, I'll usually do 3 (for musical theater) electronic instruments get mix (mostly so they can hear the acoustic insturments), MD gets a mix of musicians and vocals, and the percusionist usually gets a mix of Bass Guitar/upright, keyboard and vocals.)

That fact that your facillities and system support custom mixs for your full instrumentation is great. Any steady hand on a audio console shouldn't be scared of more then one monitor mix, it more a time and incooperation with the band to dial in anything more then one generic mix. from a social point of view it's about a sound person being able to tell the mix receipient when, too much, is to much (interfereing with the rest of the sound/audio for the space.) IE somtimes it not a matter of turning their own guitar up, but bringing everything else down.

Even if setting up all the bonus mixes is just a luxury that your current rental equipment allows; Great! Use what you got to the fullest extent you are capable. If it makes the band sound and work even more excellently togther maybe this one-off spoiling of the band can continue and elevate your productions even more :).
 
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As many as I feel I can juggle on a gig. In a rock band, almost everyone gets their own - the only exception is usually when I have a few background vocalists and they can split a feed. In musical theater I try to get everyone on their own individual mix (easier with the prevalence of personal monitor mixers like Avioms nowadays) if I can, or if there are multiple people in a section their section can get one - ie if there are two Reed players, they each share a monitor or a headphone split off the same monitor send, if there are three Reed players I like to give R1 their own and R2 & R3 can share.

For example, my musical theater gig this week features Drums, Keyboard, Trombone, Trumpet, Sax, 3 Violins, Viola, Cello, and Bass. My mons list looked like this:
Drum, Keys, Brass, Sax, Violins, Viola/Cello, Bass
 
I'd argue in a real pit environment no monitors is the best way to go, and what I strive for always.
Realistically the only monitor I have is a small hotspot speaker for the Conductor/MD which only has vocals in it. The rest of the band should only hear themselves in relation to each other and be guided by the Conductor. If individual musicians can't hear themselves naturally then the issue is overall volume and every attempt should be made to reduce excess volume at the source, not introduce additional volume sources.
 
I'd argue in a real pit environment no monitors is the best way to go, and what I strive for always.
Realistically the only monitor I have is a small hotspot speaker for the Conductor/MD which only has vocals in it. The rest of the band should only hear themselves in relation to each other and be guided by the Conductor. If individual musicians can't hear themselves naturally then the issue is overall volume and every attempt should be made to reduce excess volume at the source, not introduce additional volume sources.

Most of the pit sources I deal with are pure electronic instruments that are incapable of making themselves heard without a FOH controlled monitor feed, or a musician controlled amplifier. My goal is to have as few of the second as possible, since when the director yells at me that he can't hear the cast, I can't turn down musician controlled amps.
 
I'd argue in a real pit environment no monitors is the best way to go, and what I strive for always.
Realistically the only monitor I have is a small hotspot speaker for the Conductor/MD which only has vocals in it. The rest of the band should only hear themselves in relation to each other and be guided by the Conductor. If individual musicians can't hear themselves naturally then the issue is overall volume and every attempt should be made to reduce excess volume at the source, not introduce additional volume sources.

Have you ever been in a musical theater pit at the pro level? Every single musician on the broadway, off-broadway, and touring pits I have been in in the last 5 years has had a speaker or aviom per every musician. It lets them play better when they get the sound, and only the sound that they want. Between the digital orchestration that permeates all levels of musical theater and the size of the orchestra in relation to the size of the theater, monitors are definitely needed.
 
Most of the pit sources I deal with are pure electronic instruments that are incapable of making themselves heard without a FOH controlled monitor feed, or a musician controlled amplifier. My goal is to have as few of the second as possible, since when the director yells at me that he can't hear the cast, I can't turn down musician controlled amps.
Wait FOH? Are you also mixing the house and doing monitors from FOH?

If so, than good job! I can understand why people think that having so many mixes is a ton of work, if you are at FOH.

I think though, if keeping the stage volume down helps your mix out front, that keep doing what you are doing.
 
Wait FOH? Are you also mixing the house and doing monitors from FOH?

If so, than good job! I can understand why people think that having so many mixes is a ton of work, if you are at FOH.

I think though, if keeping the stage volume down helps your mix out front, that keep doing what you are doing.

Its community theater. If it makes noise or emits light, its my problem to deal with. A well staffed show has both a lighting and a sound designer/operator.
 

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