Unwritten Rules of Mixing Monitors Part 2

Continuing the discussion from Friday, here is part 2 of a cool thread I ran across recently on one of the discussion forums about the unwritten rules for mixing monitors that they don’t teach you at Full Sail.  This is all the kinds of things I think many of us take for granted but will take a growing engineer up several levels by mastering.  Credit goes to everyone who contributed to the thread!

1. This is mostly personal preference, but I like having my cue wedge on the ground just like the performers have it. Some people put them up high on cases, but I think I should be hearing it exactly like the performer does, so mine goes on the ground.
2. Keep your eyes open: sometimes you can ‘see’ where feedback comes from and fix it easier than trying to guess where it is coming from…
3. For festivals I sharpie and board tape “You’re sound guy’s name is __________________” on the monitors.
4. For tours I sharpie and board tape “You’re playing in ________________” on the monitors.
5. Get the band to work on the best stage balance they can before you add wedges, this can save a lot of grief and makes the job a whole lot easier. I know of at least one band (and have heard of others) who taken to moving back-line offstage (usually to the wings) to keep levels sensible.
6. Listen to what the artist asks for in their mix, then give them what they need. If you get a good working balance, with good musicians you shouldn’t have to push faders around much as they will be able to make adjustments themselves in their own dynamics. This has the added benefit of the artists being able to communicate better, musically, and should lead to a much better vibe on stage, hopefully leading to a great gig. They feel good, they are happy with the monitors because they were able to play well, you get the credit, win, win , win!
7. Amateur vocalist that have problems staying on the mic and pulling away, lowering their level in the monitors can help get them the on top of mic better in an effort to hear themselves. From time to time I’ll get vocalists that will back off the mic when the monitors are hot, then complain they can’t hear themselves. Then the vicious circle of upping the gain, hacking the EQ, them backing off the mic more may ensue. Dropping their level all the time may not help, but it often can when they are afraid hot monitors whilst on on top of the mic.
8. I also put “Mix # _____” on the tape, for the artist to see. It helps them in sound checks feel more involved and communication is good.
9. I think a lot of the discussion in this thread is saying “get the band on your side early into the game by serving them with a pro attitude.”  If there’s ever a situation where they’re just not happy in the check, I always go out on the deck and listen next to them, rather than just sit on my butt and use the listen wedge. This is usually a good thing to do for both tech shooting and gaining trust with the band. “Can do” is always the best approach.
10. When troubleshooting a problem such as no sound from a channel or mix, don’t turn it up before isolating the problem. When you do find the problem you could end up with horrible feedback until you can get to the trim or mix level.