[Harp-L] Inner ear monitor

[Rick Davis]

At a show I attended a couple of months ago the opening band used floor
monitors and the headliner used in-ear monitors.  The first band was
awesome, with a well presented show that flowed, and a good rapport with
the audience.

The headliner band with the in-ear monitors played well enough, but there
were at least 10 times during their hour-long show when one or another of
them spoke over the FOH PA system to ask the sound tech to give them more
of this or less of that.  it was annoying and distracting for the
audience.  It seemed amateurish.  Didn't they get this all worked out in
sound check?

I'm still skeptical about in-ear monitors, especially for a typical weekend
bar gig.  I know it's easy to carried away with the technology (I'm like
that) but not if it causes hiccups in your set.

-Rick Davis



On Sun, Aug 28, 2016 at 2:21 PM, Greg Heumann <greg at xxxxx> wrote:

> In-ear monitors can be awesome BUT - they only work if you have a very
> good sound guy actively managing the monitor mix. Once you put ANY sort of
> ear plug in your ear, you will hear yourself extremely loud relative to the
> rest of the band. Just try plugging one ear while you’re playing...  That
> means you will have trouble keeping time and managing your volume relative
> to the whole band. In short - in-ear monitors are for pros with pro sound
> guys supporting them. For anyone else - they are a very expensive
> experiment that you’ll find very hard to manage.
>
> Learning to hear yourself on stage is a SKILL. You have to understand how
> your gear affects it, how a monitor mix (which can be very troublesome from
> a feedback perspective) interacts - etc. And ultimately there are times
> when you have to play KNOWING you’re playing the right stuff when you can’t
> hear yourself. That is sub-optimal and certainly scary for newer players -
> but as you become better and better at playing intentionally instead of
> reactively, the easier it becomes.
>
>
> /Greg
>
> http://blowsmeaway.com
> http://facebook.com/blowsmeawayproductions
>
> "You’re going to like the way you sound. I guarantee it."
>
> When responding to this email, please include the copy of our previous
> conversations.
>
> > Message: 8
> > Date: Sun, 28 Aug 2016 13:00:33 -0700
> > From: ian osborn <davidianosborn at xxxxx>
> > To: Harp L <harp-l at xxxxx>
> > Subject: [Harp-L] Inner ear monitor
> > Message-ID:
> >       <CAG9GgrM0y=J52O8Ha-PfJOqq3HqNY5kWG_4hEyx3korm+t-
> 0XQ at xxxxx>
> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8
> >
> > Anyone use the inner ear monitor?! How do they like it?? I find unless
> the
> > sound guy is awesome I have problems hearing myself out of the
> > monitor/main/PA
> >
> > Ian
>