Some mixing desks have the possibility of making sends pre-dynamics - which means you'll get the signal before any dynamics processing like gate/compressor - and also most likely before eq. I really prefer having especially the drum sends being pre-dynamics, so I don't hear any gates. If you're managing your own mix, see if this is an option - or ask your sound egineer if the desk has this feature. I'm a sound egineer by living and a drummer secondly. When doing in-ear mixes I find that what people prefers varies vildly - it's a really subjective thing. Somewhat of topic, be aware that if you place your ride cymbal extremely close to a tom - maybe even overlapping - the sound egineer will most likely gate the tom mic quite hard, to get rid of all the bleed-through/wash from the cymbal (the only other option is to lower the tom in the front-of-house mix). If you have the option, try to listen to each individual mic on you kit - this can be an educational experience, regarding what we think the mics hear - and what they actually pick up. Thanks for an informative and enjoyable channel to Stephen.
Great information on getting a mix 👍 Since getting a IEM system I’m playing much better. I also sing while drumming, and used to blow out my voice every so often mainly because I couldn’t hear myself and was pushing too hard to compensate for this. For my IEM setup I use my own mixer, taking two XLR Y (splitting) cables to take a line from my kick drum and my vocals, then I take speaker emulated line out signals from both the guitarists amps and mix accordingly. Because I’m mixing and adjusting all the levels myself from behind the kit I don’t have to rely on the mix from front of house, meaning it’s easy for the sound guy and easy and consistent for me. I also have plenty of channels left to add an XLR feed from the bass, a click, tracks and a FOH feed if I want to. I mix my vocals and kick as the loudest elements and blend everything else underneath with guitars panned to reflect stage position. It’s working great for me! I’m using a Behringer RX1202FX mixer and Shure SE215s.
My biggest issue with the in ears was the plexiglass isolation and the removal of the floor monitors. As a drummer, the biggest adjustment was no stage feel from the monitors; the low end kick and bass. I had a “butt kicker “ attached to the throne to feel the low end frequencies, they help bridge the gap but were unreliable and when they failed I lost the feel of the drums and bass guitar. I get that the clean stage is better for the vocal mix but the whole process took away the stage ambiance I so felt and needed for playing live drums. Does anyone else feel the same as I do? Plus going back and forth with the sound engineer when trying to get your in ear mix right is difficult because the rehearsals are always rushed.
In this video we're talking about in ear monitors, but so many of these monitor mixing tips apply to ANY monitoring situation with a band. I've got my good friend Andy Swanson back from Alclair In Ear Monitors to talk about how to get a good monitor mix. Dealing with in ear monitors was not something I had to do when I first started learning the drums. It's just been recently that the technology has become affordable enough to be used in many common settings like drumming in church or at a basic club gig. The big question is...how the FLIP do we get a good mix? Where do we even start? What does a good mix sound like? These few tips will get you started on the good foot. Here's some more videos on in ear monitors: In Ear Monitor Setup Under $80: ua-cam.com/video/naOdWxZlgCQ/v-deo.html Best In Ear Monitors | 3 Tips You NEED To Know: ua-cam.com/video/PXTDE1-A2EE/v-deo.html The TRUTH About In Ear Monitor Drivers: ua-cam.com/video/KsfuFquA75g/v-deo.html Isolation Headphones Under $20: ua-cam.com/video/deNaTmnYyVY/v-deo.html How To Run Backing Tracks From A Phone: ua-cam.com/video/xAlswDWVF90/v-deo.html Leave a comment below and let me know your in ear monitor mix thoughts, questions, or comments!
How do you pan effectively when drums are far right in corner bass is left to me and rhythm/keys is far left as well as lead straight in front of me as well as singers
i do it the other way around. Kick and Snare 100% Mono (Snareverb mostly 60%-80% Width) Pitch Reference i use Guitars (I`m a metal guy... so thats pretty obvious) theyr 100% panned out against them (100% stereo width) and all the other stuff is completely mono and just down the middle and very quiet, so that kick, snare and klick reeeally stand out
They mentioned in a previous video how the uncovered ear will overcompensate for the covered ear. At which point, you could increase the volume for your perceived loss of sound. The end result being ear damage.
I'm sorry, but if you know your chops and everyone is practiced and are skilled players a little bit of sway in BPM makes music better. I know when a band is using a click because it sounds robotic and not natural.
I kind of agree with all of you. It comes down to the kind of music you‘re making. Imagine a band like Nightwish or Pendulum racing against their backing tracks without a click. 😅 If you play soul, blues or even hard rock I‘d also not use a click. Whatever works!
Alot of musicians can’t play with a clock. I’m a md and I use a clock for every song because it builds discipline and helps with your overall internal metronome.
Thank you for spending the time to discuss this.
My greatest takeaway was handling a stereo mix with panning, and a mono mix with EQ.
Some mixing desks have the possibility of making sends pre-dynamics - which means you'll get the signal before any dynamics processing like gate/compressor - and also most likely before eq. I really prefer having especially the drum sends being pre-dynamics, so I don't hear any gates. If you're managing your own mix, see if this is an option - or ask your sound egineer if the desk has this feature. I'm a sound egineer by living and a drummer secondly. When doing in-ear mixes I find that what people prefers varies vildly - it's a really subjective thing.
Somewhat of topic, be aware that if you place your ride cymbal extremely close to a tom - maybe even overlapping - the sound egineer will most likely gate the tom mic quite hard, to get rid of all the bleed-through/wash from the cymbal (the only other option is to lower the tom in the front-of-house mix). If you have the option, try to listen to each individual mic on you kit - this can be an educational experience, regarding what we think the mics hear - and what they actually pick up.
Thanks for an informative and enjoyable channel to Stephen.
Great information on getting a mix 👍
Since getting a IEM system I’m playing much better. I also sing while drumming, and used to blow out my voice every so often mainly because I couldn’t hear myself and was pushing too hard to compensate for this.
For my IEM setup I use my own mixer, taking two XLR Y (splitting) cables to take a line from my kick drum and my vocals, then I take speaker emulated line out signals from both the guitarists amps and mix accordingly. Because I’m mixing and adjusting all the levels myself from behind the kit I don’t have to rely on the mix from front of house, meaning it’s easy for the sound guy and easy and consistent for me. I also have plenty of channels left to add an XLR feed from the bass, a click, tracks and a FOH feed if I want to. I mix my vocals and kick as the loudest elements and blend everything else underneath with guitars panned to reflect stage position.
It’s working great for me!
I’m using a Behringer RX1202FX mixer and Shure SE215s.
My biggest issue with the in ears was the plexiglass isolation and the removal of the floor monitors. As a drummer, the biggest adjustment was no stage feel from the monitors; the low end kick and bass. I had a “butt kicker “ attached to the throne to feel the low end frequencies, they help bridge the gap but were unreliable and when they failed I lost the feel of the drums and bass guitar.
I get that the clean stage is better for the vocal mix but the whole process took away the stage ambiance I so felt and needed for playing live drums. Does anyone else feel the same as I do?
Plus going back and forth with the sound engineer when trying to get your in ear mix right is difficult because the rehearsals are always rushed.
Keep em coming!! Years behind and your my go to guy!!
I just did a test run in our new sanctuary with our Aviom 16II's. I could do an hour seminar on this.
In this video we're talking about in ear monitors, but so many of these monitor mixing tips apply to ANY monitoring situation with a band. I've got my good friend Andy Swanson back from Alclair In Ear Monitors to talk about how to get a good monitor mix. Dealing with in ear monitors was not something I had to do when I first started learning the drums. It's just been recently that the technology has become affordable enough to be used in many common settings like drumming in church or at a basic club gig.
The big question is...how the FLIP do we get a good mix? Where do we even start? What does a good mix sound like?
These few tips will get you started on the good foot.
Here's some more videos on in ear monitors:
In Ear Monitor Setup Under $80:
ua-cam.com/video/naOdWxZlgCQ/v-deo.html
Best In Ear Monitors | 3 Tips You NEED To Know:
ua-cam.com/video/PXTDE1-A2EE/v-deo.html
The TRUTH About In Ear Monitor Drivers:
ua-cam.com/video/KsfuFquA75g/v-deo.html
Isolation Headphones Under $20:
ua-cam.com/video/deNaTmnYyVY/v-deo.html
How To Run Backing Tracks From A Phone:
ua-cam.com/video/xAlswDWVF90/v-deo.html
Leave a comment below and let me know your in ear monitor mix thoughts, questions, or comments!
Great video Steven thx
Very interesting!! Keep up the great work!! Any covers coming up??
#1 best IEM to date?????
How do you pan effectively when drums are far right in corner bass is left to me and rhythm/keys is far left as well as lead straight in front of me as well as singers
great!!!..rip mike kennedy
Great Video. You mentioned the Pad Player. Do you just leave them off in your mixes? or do you have them on at 10-17db lower than everything else?
This has nothing to do with in ears but he looks like Tobias Funke lol
Hahahaha!!! Love that show
Andy resembles Jason McGerr too
sir doSINGERS Hear compression on voc in his iem and if so is it a bit dialed back compared to the foh comp on voc??????
i do it the other way around. Kick and Snare 100% Mono (Snareverb mostly 60%-80% Width) Pitch Reference i use Guitars (I`m a metal guy... so thats pretty obvious) theyr 100% panned out against them (100% stereo width) and all the other stuff is completely mono and just down the middle and very quiet, so that kick, snare and klick reeeally stand out
Wait, why is one ear on one ear off a no no?
They mentioned in a previous video how the uncovered ear will overcompensate for the covered ear. At which point, you could increase the volume for your perceived loss of sound. The end result being ear damage.
Dean Zimmer dean nailed it
I'm sorry, but if you know your chops and everyone is practiced and are skilled players a little bit of sway in BPM makes music better. I know when a band is using a click because it sounds robotic and not natural.
Your music should sound like you are playing with a metronome other wise you are out of time 🤯
I agree with you whole heartedly. I think the click is more about playing with a track. I would never turn on a click if there weren't a track.
I kind of agree with all of you. It comes down to the kind of music you‘re making. Imagine a band like Nightwish or Pendulum racing against their backing tracks without a click. 😅 If you play soul, blues or even hard rock I‘d also not use a click. Whatever works!
Alot of musicians can’t play with a clock. I’m a md and I use a clock for every song because it builds discipline and helps with your overall internal metronome.
Kick + 10 db... everything else 0
James Burgess lol