Performance Hall Docs
The Home of Logan Center Tech Knowledge

Setting Up monitors

26 Aug 2016

The basic idea here is that you’re sending a certain mix of sounds back to the musicians so they can hear themselves better or other instruments that might be too quiet or far away for them to hear otherwise. This mix is, more often than not, different from the house mix that the audience hears. You are sending audio from a channel to an auxiliary output on the Venue (a separate output from the mains), which goes to the patchbay, then to a floorbox or AVP, then to a monitor.

Grab a monitor

  1. First, figure out how many monitors will be needed by talking to the band or band leader. Most musicians will only need one, but sometimes a drummer or lead singer will ask for two.

  2. Bring the monitor to stage and set it downstage of the musician who will be using it. Take a look at the direction the speakers inside are facing and try to point them toward the musician’s face. If you are using a Community M12 stage monitor, the square speaker (behind the grill) should be on the side closest to the musician.

  3. Find a SpeakOn cable with enough length to reach between the monitor and the nearest floorbox.

  4. Connect either end of the cable to the floorbox (or AVP) Speakon output that you intend to use (just pick one, they’re all the same) and remember that number for patching.

  5. Attach the other end of the speakon to the monitor itself. If there are two identical ports on the back of the monitor, one of them will be your input (usually the one on the left) and the other can be used to daisy chain a second monitor to this one. However, if you forget which side is which, it does NOT matter; both ports are completely identical.

  6. IMPORTANT: when plugging in Speakon cable, make sure you push in the end, then twist it clockwise UNTIL IT LOCKS. These cords carry a lot of power, so it’s important that they are correctly fastened. To unlock, simply pull back the grey portion near the end and turn counterclockwise.

Move to the Patchbay

  1. You will be working in the Speakon patchbay in the rack furthest to the right. They are labeled properly, so just think about what you are trying to do and re-check your output # if needed.

  2. The aux sends are split in the patchbay, so Aux #1 now has two outputs. Take a CROSSWIRED speakon cable, plug one end into the correct Venue aux output, and plug the other end into the corresponding floorbox/AVP port.

  3. At this point, you can now head back up to the board. Find an assistant to confirm that each monitor is working. Then adjust the mix for each monitor as necessary.

Up at the Venue

  1. You’ll first need to “set up” an aux in order to send signal from the board to the monitor.

  2. To set up an aux, first “select” the channel on the board that is holding your signal. That signal could be the microphone on stage, talkback mic at FOH, or from the channel holding your ipod.

    • Better yet, use the signal generator found in the Options/Miscellaneous tab and insert it by first turning the OUTPUT VOLUME to -inf dB. Click the volume control to turn it on, selecting the output that you wish to test (using the Select buttons on the Venue desk), and ONLY THEN turning up the volume on the signal Generator.

    • The speakers in the Hall can produce Sound Pressure Levels that can permanently damage someones hearing even at a distance; always ensure that the volume is low before engaging the generator so as to ensure that we don’t deafen each other!

  3. Once you’ve got your signal ready and showing strength, select that channel and look on screen and find the “aux” section of the channel strip (it should be toward the top, just left of center). It will have 16 numbered round knobs. Click on the rotary knob (it will turn green) to turn it on, then adjust the rotary knob to your desired level. Always start low and work your way up.

  4. Now you’ve just sent the channel signal to the aux send, but you still need to send the aux send signal to the stage monitor itself.

  5. To do that, look over to the group of faders designated for sends on the board. It’s the group of 8 faders just left of the master fader. Make sure you have selected the button labeled “Aux 1-8” so that you are in the right fader bank. Then, move the Aux #1 fader up to unity, or another good level.

  6. This is a good time to decide whether you want this aux to be pre- or post-fade. Unless you have a valid reason to select otherwise, choose post-fade. This will give you the control of using the aux fader to boost or cut overall signal to that monitor.

  7. Base your levels and EQ solely on the feedback you get from your assistant on stage or the musician listening to it. From 100’ away, you have no clue what it sounds like. Talk to this person in depth to get a feel for how it sounds and how you could make it sound better.

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