Feedback can be very frustrating and sometimes very difficult to isolate and dispose of. It is the inexperince of most live sound audio engineers that causes feedback during a music production. There are many ways to find potential stage monitor feedback problems before they arise if you take the time before the band starts the show. In addition it can be removed all together if you are using in ear monitors.

However if using a wireless in ear monitor system is not an option, it is very important that the audio engineer utilize the use of gain staging, headroom, a graphic equalizer, and the natural acoustic properties of the microphones polar patter to reduce feedback potential. First before the band starts playing it is important to ring out the monitors. This is the process of creating feedback on purpose in order to find the problem frequencies on your graphic equalizer and subtract them from the audio signal.

A wireless ear monitor system completely eliminates the potential for stage monitor feedback due to the fact that you no longer need stage monitors for the band. Stage monitors feedback due to the stage monitor volume getting picked up by the microphones in use on stage. When the sound coming out of the stage monitor is picked up by the microphone and then the microphone output feeds back into the console which is then rerouted back to the stage monitor a feedback loop is created. This is the main cause of stage monitor feedback. A poor understanding of gain staging and microphone placement can mean all lot of feedback trouble all night long.

Using in ear monitors replaces the big stage monitors with a wireless ear monitor that will never get loud enough for a microphone to hear it, thus eliminating stage feedback all together. With the addition of wireless earbud monitors comes the need for personal monitor mixing by the band. This does not mean that all the problems for the monitor engineer are going to be resolved. With the band now mixing their own monitor mixes the audio engineer has to anticipate that most musicians will not know how to mix their in ear monitors properly. This will result in the band complaining about the same things they complained about when the large stage monitors were still sitting on the floor.

So as it goes the sound engineer will probably have to end up mixing the in ear monitors for the band anyway. With the stage monitor feedback potential eliminated it because a pretty easy task. Ensuring that the wireless ear monitor system is not too loud and is equalized properly is really the most difficult part.

Personal monitor mixing for musicians in a live sound setting is very rewarding. A great monitor mix can be the difference between the band playing great or wanting to tackle the live sound engineer!