Re: [Harp-L] In ear monitors with harp

["Tim Moyer" <wmharps@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

blyburn wrote:
> Does anyone have experince with in-ear monitors?  We have been 
> looking at the Shure PSM200 system.  How does the system compare 
> to floor wedges?  Do you have to mic your harp amp to hear it or 
> do you take out 1 ear bud?

I've worked with a band that used in-ears, both with them and with 
floor wedges in combination.  They definitely have their good points 
and bad.  On the plus side, if you've got a dedicated monitor mixer 
and a snake to connect to the main board, you can set up in a matter 
of minutes, and sound check is simply a matter of balancing the 
house sound.  Probably the biggest benefit is that everyone can 
personalize their mix without interfering with anyone else, and your 
mix stays the same no matter where you go on the stage.  

On the minus side, they tend to disconnect you from the house sound, 
in that you can't hear much that's not coming through the monitors.  
They cut down on the amount of interaction that goes on on-stage, 
because you can't slide up next to someone and say something in 
their ear.  Or ever yell someone down from across the stage.  The 
band I played with used a stage mic to call tunes and communicate on 
stage, but that's definitely limiting (for example, the drummer 
can't walk down to the stage mic).  It's tough for guests (of which 
I have been one from time to time) to interact on stage if they 
don't have ears, they're left trying to flag someone down to get the 
next called tune, or key, or whatever might be shared through the 
stage mic.  

Generally, you need to mic everything so it plays into the mix, or 
you won't be able to hear it well.  I have played in situations 
where we ran in-ears and also had to do our own house sound, and 
generally that means that someone on stage ends up with one ear and 
one open so they can hear the house.  

Just like anything else, it can be an advantage or a liability, 
depending on how well you work with it.  

-tim