Soundcheck

Troubleshooting

Monitor problems

Fix it in the monitor bus, not the mains

Someone on stage can't hear right, or a wedge is ringing. Monitor fixes happen in the monitor bus, not the main mix — so nothing you do here should change what the room hears.

"I can't hear enough of myself"

Turn up their channel in their mix — not the whole mix, and not the mains.

  1. Grab that performer's monitor bus (use Sends on Fader — press the bus's SELECT, and the faders become that mix).
  2. Bring their channel up in it.
  3. Done. You changed one channel in one mix; the room and everyone else's mix are untouched.

The instinct to turn up the whole wedge just makes it louder and closer to feedback. Turn up the one thing they're missing. How sends work →

"I can't hear the [instrument/vocal]"

Same move — bring that source up in their bus. If it's completely absent:

A wedge is ringing / feeding back

  1. Pull the offending mic down in that wedge. Because monitor sends are pre-fader, this does not change the house — you're only touching what the wedge sends back at the mic.
  2. It's usually the vocal mic pointed at its own wedge. Lower that mic in that mix.
  3. Persistent? Turn the whole wedge down a little, and get the stage quieter overall. More on feedback →

In-ear specifics

Nothing in a mix at all

Dead monitor: