Re: [Harp-L] Live Monitors



Wow.. a lot of ground to cover here.  First is monitor placement.

Wedge floor monitors are designed to be pointed at the back of the
microphone, so it's sound gets the max attenuation from the cardoid pattern
of a typical vocal mic.  So, your floor monitors should be directly in front
of the mic stand, pointed at the back of the mc and right at the performer's
face.  Floor monitors have a quite narrow sound field to help avoid feedback
in other mics.  Your speakers may be positioned incorrectly and may not be
suitable for use as monitors by design.

My gig rig consists of playing through a small tube amp, which is usually
sitting on the floor behind me and off to the side.  It is closely mic'ed
with a SM58 into the board, with a small amount sent to the monitor mix.  I
can usually hear the amp behind me, so that reduces the need for high levels
of harp in the monitors.

If you are playing harp directly into the vocal mic, that presents trickier
problems.  The best course is to experiment with monitor level, EQ, and
placement, but it will always be a tight-rope act, with trade-offs between
level and feedback.  And when you move to a different venue, all your
setting go out the window and you have to start all over again.

When it comes to amplified harp and feedback, no solution works all the
time.  Some nights I have to wander all over the stage looking for a safe
spot.  Other nights – even at the same venue – feedback is nowhere to be
found at all.  Some players like feedback elimination devices, but I have
not had good luck with those.

Start with you monitors and go from there.  Good luck.

-Spec20




On 8/8/07, peterw@xxxxxxxxxxxx <peterw@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
> I've run my own open mic since January, where I play harp and I'm also the
> sound man.  It's been my first experience playing harp live.  I've had
> great difficulty hearing myself when playing with other musicians, and
> difficulty hearing background music when using jam tracks.  I set-up some
> floor monitors using some old home speakers I had, but had constant
> feedback problems.  I added an equalizer to deal with the feedback, but
> couldn't lick the problem.
>
> Now I'm trying a ART HeadTap device that takes a monitor feed and converts
> it to a headphone jack so you can list with in-ear headphones while
> playing.  I don't know if others have tried this, but the monitored sound
> does not sound right.  I think because the in-ear plugs work like ear
> plugs, and if you listen to yourself playing harp while using earplugs it
> is a totally different sound.  Yes, I realize you're getting a feed from
> the monitor but you still hear yourself playing in addition to the monitor
> feed.  I tried taking one in-ear plug out of one ear, and that was better,
> but not great.
>
> I can't seem to find a monitoring solution that works well.  Any
> suggestions?
>
> Junior
>
>




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