featured article by david kennedy
Stage Monitor Systems for Contemporary Worship
Written for Church Production Magazine
by David Kennedy

Is your stage volume too loud for the congregation? Does it seem like you have too little control over the house sound? Do the people on stage complain that they can't hear themselves or each other? Are you constantly battling feedback?

Choosing the type of Stage Monitor System
Wedges, headphones or IEMs, which is right for your church?  Dale Alexander, Principal Consultant of Creative Technologies, replies "that is not a simple question to answer, as there are many factors concerning this issue. How big is your room, what is your worship style, how many musicians and singers do you have? What is the skill level of the tech crew, are your musicians pros or amateurs and what is your BUDGET? 

Another item to consider is where will the monitor mixes originate? Are they all to be mixed from the FOH or do you have a dedicated monitor mixer? Will the musicians have an opportunity to customize their individual monitor mix?"

Monitors interact with the Room 
Dale continues, "What are the acoustic characteristics of the worship center, what are the acoustic characteristics of the platform/stage, how large/small is your platform/stage. Let's explore some of the factors and see what works best in a given situation. If you have a small to medium size room, you will probably have a problem with monitor and instrument amplifier bleed in the FOH mix. 

If you have a choir that sings with a rhythm section and/or orchestra you may have a problem with the monitors and instrument amps bleeding into the choir mics. This is a perfect situation for a personal monitor system using 'phones or IEMs. With this system type all of the wedges and guitar amps can be removed. This will clear up the FOH mix and make the choir mics. more effective.

Tom Young now with Jaffe Holden Acoustics; explains "Monitor systems can create spill into the FOH listening area simply due to reflection. Box-shaped platforms w/hard, untreated wall surfaces are prime reflectors but careful aiming of wedges can help keep the upper frequency reflections from reaching the FOH seating areas."

Floor-Wedge Loudspeaker monitors
The criteria for selecting a stage monitor include: coverage angle, maximum SPL/volume, vocal clarity, bass response, size, fidelity and price; some of these features are mutually exclusive.

Ted Leamy formerly of Electrotech (a major tour sound company) and now with JBL suggested, "It is very difficult to evaluate a monitor system as you would a stand alone speaker. The clarity of the mid-range frequencies is all-important when the monitor is placed in the stage environment. One model doesn't fit all!" 

Gerald Tschetter also of JBL said, "Driven by demands for less interference with audience sightlines, monitors are becoming more compact. We build a couple of high-power, custom monitors that are widely used on TV awards shows and events. We've also adapted this approach to lower-cost monitors. These compact monitors may not have the low-freq. output of a big monitor, but that reduces LF spill." 

Paul Folkestad of Guitar Center offers. "There is two distinctly different horn orientations when it comes to stage monitors. Horizontal orientation is better suited for use when several performers must hear one monitor. This is due to the wider dispersion angle of the horn." A third option is the monitors with horns or co-axial drivers providing conical coverage offered by Radian and Tannoy.

Henry Grimmius, Audio Director at Peoples' Church of Fresno, is very fond of their compact stage-monitor systems from EAW. 
The SM200iH offers a 90° conical coverage pattern and reduced distortion; it is the lowest profile of any hi-SPL EAW stage monitor. "EAW's SM200 continues to be the best factory-made wedge I have used/ heard", says Tom Young

Radian has also seized on the demand for compact monitors. Mike Grimm of CSS Audio says, "We purchased 12 Micro-Wedge RMW 1152s. We have used them at every show since then and have never had anything but good response from the acts. They require little adjustment on the 31-band EQ." 

Of course there is a host of stage-monitors available from several manufactures. If you want to make a more informed decision about monitors, a preferred method would be to contact a local and qualified dealer about auditioning some stage-monitors in your church.

Miniature Loudspeaker Monitors
Paul says of the Hotspot and its modern/mini. competitors, "they are the most misunderstood type of monitors on the market today. The small (4-5") driver size, severely limits their usefulness. They are all designed as a vocal monitor and perform only marginally in this capacity, due to their limited frequency response." 

Tom Young suggests, "Mini monitors may be appealing for their visual size but with very few exceptions they do not provide good quality sound and they generally splash sound all over."

I have personally found success using compact monitors such as the Radian RPX-108P-V and Renkus-Heinz TRX81/9 for front-line applications (vocals, guitars etc). These wide coverage, passive monitors are loaded with an 8" LF (low-freq.) woofer and 1" exit HF driver. 

Overhead Monitor Loudspeakers 
Tom continues "Depending on size and layout of choir, acoustics of choir loft, hang points and quality of cluster design.... these can either be wonderfully effective or a complete waste. Note that the same need for very precise loudspeaker coverage applies here as much as it does for a FOH loudspeaker system; wedges don't work. In almost all situations, a simple mix is required to prevent cluttered mixes from leaking the into the choir mics." 

EQ for Monitor Loudspeakers 
Tom also suggests "If budget allows, I recommend DSP parametric EQ (etc) on each wedge mix (with complex measurement) PLUS a 1/3-oct. graphic EQ for later (user) adjustment. At the very least, a monitor wedge system should have a good quality 1/3 oct. EQ. Anything less (15 band, for example) is silly." Be sure to insert the EQ into the console mix buss.

On-Stage Monitor Mixers
Asked if there isn't a better way to do monitors, than a few large wedges with some AUX sends from the FOH board. Young replied, "Mixes that are created from FOH will not necessarily translate into 'good' mixes for stage monitors. Over the past two decades in secular performance we have developed methods for successful stage monitor mixing that include splitting the mic lines, to an on-stage monitor console with a human operator."

Several factories make large monitor consoles. Rocky Giannetta (a sales rep. for Crest) suggests that a more cost-effective solution would be to "allow the band to create its own mix for IEM's using a small monitor mixer that is designed specifically for that purpose, such as the new Crest XRM monitor mixer."

In-Ear Monitor Systems
Mark Frink of Mix Magazine pointed out, "IEMs can lower sound exposure and help conserve hearing because individuals no longer have to compete to hear themselves over others. Besides the obvious advantage of effectively eliminating feedback, IEMs can reduce vocal fatigue." 

Rob Nevalienen, who has mixed IEMs for Stephen Curtis Chapman and Styx, suggests getting your feet wet by bringing your molds to wedge gigs before your band makes the switch. Before you put it in a musician's ears, you should try it yourself and learn the limitations.

"The isolation that IEM's provide is great, but it can be very unnatural. "You have to add 'size' back to the mix with reverb and audience mics, but you also have to squash the dynamic range to keep things from jumping out, especially on vocals and guitars, which you wouldn't normally do with wedges" explains Rob. A unique solution to this is offered by dbx with their IEM processor, "This is one of the first DSPs designed for in-ear monitor applications," said Rob Urry, president of Harman Music Group.

Shure and Sennheiser lead the US pro-IEM market for belt-pack type systems. Samson's EarAmp system was the first of its kind to offer a receiver with true diversity. Rolls, Carvin, Nady, and Jensen make low cost wireless IEM units.

It is widely agreed that hard-wired systems have better sound lower cost and less potential radio problems than wireless. Paul Folkestad concludes, "Biggest IEM problems are: A) High cost of even a single system. B) trouble getting the application right. C) The tendency of performers to use only one earbud. This can result in physical problems for the talent." 

Choosing In-Ear Phones & Molds
"For the vocalists for Willow Creek Community Church, the use of Sensaphonics in-ear monitors has been life changing." Mike Eismann, Audio Production Director. 

"There is an industry misconception that in-ear monitors, like earplugs, are hearing protectors. Unlike earplugs, in-ear monitors are capable of damaging hearing as easily as a floor monitor. They can be used as a tool for hearing preservation if used properly." Says Michael Santucci, Pres. of Sensaphonics. To read about H.E.A.R.'s mission of education for prevention of hearing loss and tinnitus among musicians and music fans, go to www.hearnet.com.

There are two types of transducers used in-ear monitoring; the dynamic driver, most commonly found in ear bud style 'phones, and the balanced armature type found in hearing aids. Each has its pluses and minuses. Most IEMs are the occluding type to reduce ambient sound levels.

The earpieces are available from a wide range of makers. Hi-quality factories include: Future Sonics, Sensaphonics and Westone. They offer several earphones and accessories including "Shakers", important for the rhythm section. "Shakers" (installed on the drum "throne" or on a stage riser) produce the low-frequency impact that the IEM transducers can't.

Ultimate Ears offers some unique, hi-end IEMs. 
Their dual-driver UE-5 Ambient model allows the user to adjust the amount of isolation. Tom Young says that the several hundred dollar EIMs "offer significantly better audio performance that is not justified (in their own minds) by the low-end-of-scale users such as churches". 

Note, that to use the custom ear molds you'll need to get impressions made of your ears through a hearing healthcare professional. 

Monitoring with Headphones
Dale Alexander is a musician and Acoustic/ Sound consultant and says that he does "not want to be completely isolated from the natural acoustic energy in the room and on the platform, therefore I prefer an 'Open-Air' type of headphone. For people that don't want the headband over their head they're several very good walkman style headphones that are OA. " 

Traditional consumer (large-over-the-head) headphones (wireless and wired) are an option when band members are on a rotation (sharing the equipment) and isolation from high sound levels is not needed. Walkman-type earbuds represent the entry-level solution.

I would recommend that if a group can share a mix with 'phones, try a low-cost 'phone amp, as offered by DOD, Furman, Samson, Symetrix, Rane and Rolls. If a small power amp is available, Furman, Rolls, ProCo and Whirlwind manufacture passive-personal control units for 'phones; they connect to a speaker level signal (daisy chain loop-style). 

Musician-controlled monitor matrix
The small monitor matrix systems offered by Furman, and Rolls are useful for small bands and include EQ and an FX loop, but they still require the FOH sound tech. to provide the monitor mixes. Henry says, "no one ever gets frustrated with our Furman [16ch] system." Garth Powell of Furman Sound explains "Though limiting is not included, the Furman HDS/HRM-16 system delivers state-of-the-art performance, featuring Burr Brown components more advanced than many premium mixing consoles". The Intellix units lack a local 'phones output but use a smaller control cable; though more costly, Intellix offers a wider range of configurations.

"More-of-Me" Monitor units 
Shure has a unique entrywithin the In-Ear marketplace in the form of its PSM 200 Personal Monitor System. An adaptor allows users to wear a lav. mic. to control how much stage sound is heard in the IEM. Shure's entry-level PSM 200 system also offers the ability to be upgraded to wireless by adding the P2T TransMixer. This unit serves as both a mixer and a transmitter. The TransMixer includes two inputs that split signals through to the FOH mixer or another P2T. 

The entry-level personal MOM monitor units are the Rolls PM series 'phone amps, selling for less than $90, depending on the model and discounting (with split outputs). An FX loop and limiting are not included, so it must be done outboard and will not protect the direct signal. The personal MOM units can be placed near the performer for easy access. Any number of monitor mixes can be sent from the console to the MOM units, allowing easily expansion.

There are several low-cost multi-channel musician-controlled MOM ("more-of-me") style 'phone/DI matrix units offered by Shure, Oz Audio, Rane, Rolls and Samson. They allow the performers to adjust the level of their voices or instruments (from a DI box) relative to the rest of the mix, without disturbing others. 

Self-powered speakers should not be overlooked. The JBL EON G2 models have basic mixing functionality built in. Thus, a musician can use an EON G2 as both a stage monitor and an instrument amplifier. Paul of Guitar Center says "the 15" EON is great for rhythm use and the 10" model is great for vocals." 

Author's View on Monitoring in Churches
Like most of the readers, I mix sound on the weekends, but in larger churches with a fairly contemporary program.

Although I have designed hundreds of live sound systems for churches, only a few of the very largest churches I have worked with, have an onstage monitor mixer and wireless IEM systems. While such a system may be the ultimate monitor solution it also requires the greatest resources. I suggest that a newcomer to IEM technology do additional study on the topic. Sources include the factories listed below and All Quiet on the Wedgeless Stage by MARK FRINK, Jan. 1-01 issue at www.mixonline.com. 

At the large church for which I run sound, the vocals were using IEM but the rhythm section of the band was still using wedge monitors (as they had poor results with the entry-level IEM earphones). Providing traditional large-consumer headphones and a MOM control unit was a big hit with the band (even without "Shakers"). Doing so really tightened up the house sound.

For larger or more complex applications, combinations of the above products can be used. I recommend to the typical-smaller churches (with limited resources): wire the Stage with 2-4 line-level monitor mixes, from the aux busses of your mixing console. Then acquire cost-effective MOM units control units with 'phones (supplementing with JBL EON monitors).