How In-Ear Monitors are Making Better Musicians
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- Опубликовано: 12 июн 2024
- Building a portable in-ear monitor rig!
Check out my class over on Nebula with the Nebula/Curiosity stream bundle curiositystream.com/adamneely
Sungazer is going on tour in Europe in March, and with PLINI/jakub zytecki in the US in April/May! Go get tickets here:
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Other rig builds that were helpful for us
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Company that does these kinds of builds (and way better than us)
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0:00 Intro
3:37 In-Ears
5:40 Why We Needed an IEM Rig
7:26 IEM Rig Build
14:49 General Thoughts on Building a Rig like this.
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Peace,
Adam
Hey all! Clarifying some things with the sponsor.
Good news, if you sign up now it’s actually cheaper than what I said - the bundle right now is actually $11.59/year. It’s a little unclear from the desktop landing page at curiositystream.com/adamneely, but you DO get both Nebula and CuriosityStream by clicking on the top banner. If you’re having trouble, please email help@curiositystream.com.
However, unfortunately, (and this really bums me out), my class is in fact NOT part of the bundle. Nebula Classes is technically a separate feature, and it costs an additional $1 per month if you signed up for the Nebula/Curiosity Stream bundle. Wires got crossed when the script for this ad was approved, and I was reading from an incorrect ad copy. I’m sorry I misled anyone, unwitting as it was.
The rest of Nebula is awesome! It’s great, lots of quality videos from quality creators, and I think if you signed up for the bundle you’ll like it too.
However, if the reason why you signed up was to get access to my class and can’t afford that extra premium, I totally understand. Please email support if you’d like a refund (or if you’d like to pay that extra for Nebula classes).
Sorry once again y’all, these things happen!
Love your work, been a long time fan! I'm about to subscribe and only see the base Curiosity Stream option and larger bundle with 7 services. Is Curiosity Stream + Nebula still available at a price point somewhere in the middle?
@@_MG_ Seems broken to me. Clicking the link doesn't show the Nebula/Curiosity bundle.
Well, in fact it's 40$ per year :(
Just find a good sound engineer and pay him 6000 dollars, and u don’t need to concern about flights))
@@BlueBenGo After sign up, they send you a Nebula email.
It's kind of janky, but ultimately you end up with paid accounts for both.
As a bad sound engineer, I just want to say thank you for acknowledging all the hard work we don't do.
this deserves to be top comment 😂
Lol
Hahahahahaha you read my mind, as a bad sound engineer too, i appreciate being mentioned in the video
Don't worry, just the term "sound engineer" implies "bad".
@@jorgedavid2568 Would you feel more comfortable if I used the term Audio Mixologist?
1:18 suggested addendum: marching bands do not look at the feet of each other.
Marching bands are so spread out on a football field that they have to swap styles on the fly. The back half of the band watches the conductor, who is typically on a raised platform, makes massive arm movements, and is wearing white gloves to help keep tempo. The front half of the band, hilariously, has to ignore the conductor and instead listen to the drummers behind them to keep tempo.
For this reason, drummers are typically held in the back or off to either side to keep the distance about the same without messing things up. This provides an interesting arrangement when drum highlights force the drummers to the front, as the drummers have no real way to keep tempo other than watching the conductor. Typically highlight/solo instances cause the rest of the band to be silent, so they can focus completely on marching and choreography, while staying in tempo with the drummers who are popping off on a sick highlight section of the music.
Source: took marching band in high school for 4 years
This is correct -another person who competed in marching band for 4 years. In my experience the drum line more so keeps time with themselves while also watching the conductor (or drum major, same thing different word) as like a “fact check” on tempo almost. Using vocal expressions of timing they are able to keep tight timing as an ensemble due to their proximity to each other. Then (if you’re drill writer is remotely competent and keeps the drum line at the back) the rest of the band listens to the drums/watches the drum major. Though in my experience in a fight between a drum major and drum line for tempo, drum line always wins lol
@subhm0 you are correct
lol marching band nerd lol
@@ethanspangler7665 hehe
@@submh0938 what section were you in? Or what instrument specifically?
On season I was low brass, Euphonium. Off season I was bass trombone ☺ I miss playing trombone and baritone, honestly.
As a sound engineer, whenever an act rocks up with their own rack, and just hands me splits, I throw a little internal party, because my day was just made! You mentioned how working with bad engineers can be a massive drag, and I always work super hard to not be in that category, but sometimes you just don't have enough time to make everyone on stage happy. Some acts seem to not realise how much we have to do, so the sentiment definitley works both ways, and it's always a breath of fresh air when an act regards you as part of the team. If an act is organised enough to look after themselves on stage, then I get more time to look after them FOH. It's a win-win for everyone involved. Nice rig, and very tidy to fit into such a small rack! Kudos, and hopefully I'll catch you in London in march
My band has our own sound guy (he is ridiculously good) that is always with us and our own system. Most venues love this. Occasionally we'll go somewhere that we use the house system, and it blows my mind anytime we get attitude from the house sound guy that we're handing him two outs, and all he has to do is set the overall volume. We got the monitors, our guy has the mix, we've got the lights covered...but we get attitude for making the night easy
@@SixPieceSuitsif youre getting shit from the sound guy in that scenario you're either playing tiny community venues or no one emailed ahead of time to explain you have an engineer.
But also this sounds like you don't even have a console, you have a rack console on stage and you expect your engineer to mix on stage? Or he is using an ipad which tells me you're a small time wedding band. That is not the normal way of working so of course you will get shit if an in-house engineers sees you rock up with that kind of set up at a proper venue.
Also, it's just nice to deal with IEMs. They're just way better than onstage monitors for some things. The musicians can control the overall volume, and you don't have to worry about feedback. Some less than professional singers, will keep asking for more vocal in the foldback, effectively indefinitely, and unfortunately, there is a limit to how much you can put in it. At some point, you either need to learn how to sing, or buy IEMs, because then you won't have this problem. Working with IEMs is just quicker than working with stage monitors and solves so many problems.
I feel like if you're going to this effort with it, it's almost worth getting a digital mixer in rack and using a data connection with a stagebox to solve your data send issues, you could massively limit your need for monitor engineers
The room sounds different full vs empty. Plus the energy of performance means levels increase from sound check. A perfect individual mix at sound check can be useless during performance.
@@haldorasgirson9463 if a band is playing different volumes during the show than at sound check, they need to learn how to sound check.
As a sound engineer, I love this. It’s great when bands actually understand the audio side of things and can make the job easier and not harder, so the engineer can focus on making the mains sound good.
Yup. Double duty is a tuff place to be, but a reality most gigs
I will never go back to traditional ear plugs or monitors after touring with IEMs for the past 3 years. It's night and day, I have no hearing fatigue, I have consistent sound every night and everywhere on stage. It's the best investment any serious musician can make. Especially when you get custom molds and as self-contained system with a digital mixer so you can mix yourself, send a split to FOH, and not worry about what the house engineer is doing at all.
Pp0
Ššš
You're telling me you have an ELF in your system?
If the sound engineer does a bad job, it'll still suck for the audience. That's out of your control though.
In a small gig or slightly bigger then that. I kinda didn't need em.
Just one small remark to add - get the band's musicians to install the app for the monitor mixing console on their smartphones, so they can set up the mix in their ears on their own, saving a HUGE lot of time for mixing engineer and the band as a whole.
Yeah but that involves teaching the drummer how to use a phone.
@@JalenRawley 😂😂😂😂
@Chet Gass and the musicians deafen
This sounds extremely useful but I'm not really sure on how to put it into practice: you just check at every show what console the venue/service has, and then download the specific app for it on the spot? Or there's a "universal" app you can have already installed for all (or most) of the occasions?
Thanks to anyone who will help me understand this :)
@@alexandrosgoulas you (the band+mixing guy) bring your own mixing console.
15:18 felt that in my bones lmao. Sound engineering is a really tough job and I have a ton of respect for the people who do it well... but let me tell you, I spent two years gigging with an all-girl band. The amount of patronizing disrespect we got from sound guys was unreal, and it had an outsize impact on our performance, especially in large festival contexts where we had little to no control over mixes and sometimes weren't even really afforded a sound check.
i play in a band with two female frontwomen and it's really frustrating to see so many engineers underestimating them and treating them like shit. it really gives everyone a bad time.
Get in the kitchen then😂
This is the first IEM video ive seen that actually made me want them.
Adam this video rules. Its so hard to describe to people sometimes how sound can just disappear into the ether when you're on stage, and how frustrating it is to play in spaces that sound so drastically different from the spaces you practice in. Thrilled you guys have a setup that works with little to not headache.
Where you're playing has such an effect on every aspect of performance- my favorite place to play is the sidewalk, even unamplified the sound carries in such an awesome way if you pick the right spot
AdamTechTips
I joke but I don't really play any instruments let alone tour worldwide in a band. However as someone who loves videos about technology, engineering, etc, this was still a really really great watch!
(To be honest I think part of the reason I'm subbed to Adam is because of his interest in the limits of human perception in music, and how he relates that interest to his audience via videos that use scientific studies on rhythm, pitch, etc basically scratches the same itch as a Steve Mould video would)
Linus Neely
he has a great methodology too , makes concepts really easy to understand for non musicians
I vote for AdamTechTips! 😄
Came here to say something along those lines. I love learning how people do their awesome jobs!
I recently played IEM for the first time and I was sceptical. But on stage, it felt smooth much better. I play bass and also sing backing vocals and being able to clearly hear our lead singer did miracles for my performance. Never again without IEM!
I think regular people and bedroom musicians underestimate how hard it is to hear yourself and play in a live setting. I remember the first time I tried playing guitar with a live band, only using music earplugs (no monitors) in a small room. It felt like I didn't know how to play the guitar. I couldn't hear myself through the mix at all and it was very disorienting. Being able to monitor yourself is worth it if you're actually in a band and performing.
This whole concept reminds me of what 11-year-old Harper Gruzins experienced when she sang the national anthem at a soccer game. No monitors of any kind meant that she really struggled to sing the song; almost sounded as if she was a complete beginner as a vocalist, not sounding very confident. And because she was so far away from the loudspeakers the audience would've been listening through, it took seconds for the sound of her voice to reach her, making her think she had to sing the song very slowly. It was a bit painful to listen to. Of course, she got seriously ridiculed by the internet after that. But the ridicule was also totally unjustified... it was out of complete ignorance from complete strangers who likely didn't know shit about the physics of sound in a live setting like this. Like come on, it wasn't really her own fault that her singing failed during that event.
But then there's the total paradox: most of her other vocal performances have been pretty much spot-on. But... that's because she had monitors! Even if that meant she was just relying on the front-of-house speakers for the monitors because they were close enough to her at that moment (such as when performing in a rather small venue, say a coffee shop or whatever).
What made me pull the trigger on in ears is when my band mate and I were jamming and I got so frustrated at not being able to hear my guitar over his voice and the backing track no matter how much I turned it up.
As much as I love your more heady and academic content, this very practical real-world gear video felt like a really refreshing change of pace coming from you and I found it to be a very interesting inside look at the day to day challenges of a traveling musician. It made me a lot more sympathetic to the bands I used to work with when I ran sound for a small venue in Minnesota, they could be really really picky about their monitors, and I don't think I fully appreciated why at the time.
And even if I'm not a musician myself, this definitely scratched my gear nerd itch. Now I'd be really interested to hear about your video production setup and workflow since that's more my area of expertise.
Hey I’m from Minnesota!
This is such a valuable video dude, I wish I could convey to you how much it means to me
Patreon is right there
As is the link to his sponsor. Click away and convey how much it means to you
Write a song of undying gratitude and post the link here!
As a FOH sound engineer (who'll be mixing Sungazer on your next Portland OR date!) I fully agree with your approach here - even including the shade thrown at sound engineers. For venues without dedicated monitor eng positions, it can be very frustrating to build foldback mixes for bands that have exacting requirements but who rely on house wedges and stage volume. Self-contained IEM stage boxes completely eliminate a whole category of potential problems. Looking forward to the show - in your advance please send along that input list @6:30 ! 😆
European venue engineer here, another thing to keep in mind is wireless as well. American wireless rigs are not always legal, frequency requirements in EU and US are a little different; you don't want angry radio people coming after you.
Other than that I fully agree, monitor mixes can be difficult to keep tabs on if you don't have a dedicated mons guy. Especially if you as a band like to run dry/wet and compressed/uncompressed channels for certain performers. Vocalists as example tend to like a little verb for their "feeling", the rest of the band might see insane yields in clarity with compressed vocals; but the vocalist needs way less, or no compression on their ears so they can keep dynamics in check etc. Accomodating this yourself is in my opinion a good thing, not even to mention educating musicians on the technical side as well.
Super random (and sorry if I’m being a bother), but how did you get into this line of work? I’m a drummer in PDX and have been wondering how to get a start in sound engineering/what it takes to be involved in that community.
Question of a non-sound-eng musician: Since consistency and control on the sound seems to be the band issue here, why stop with your little selfish personal in-ear mix? What would be the pros and cons iyo of sending a left-right premix to the foh directly out of the box? I suppose you could still have control on the overall frequency response and volume with eqs and gains to adapt to the room-pa system (?).
It could prevent "misinterpretation" of the overall style by a mix eng that doesn't came prepared and never listen to the band sets (let face it, it appends all the time) it could even allow for creative mixing tricks with automations and such, night after night.
I guess it'd kindof ruining the whole FOH mixer job purpose, so don't take it personal ;-) , it's just out of curiosity: do you think it would be practical, even if not suitable?
@@ginabean9434 because you simply don’t hear balances the same way in IEs or in any kind of stage environment as in the room. Constant adjustment of levels and tonal balance is always needed.
@@ginabean9434 Sound engie here; As soon as you have Instruments that give off sound into the room you are playing in, you have to consider the effect of these instruments natural sound in that *particular* place on the FOH mix. You can't completely Isolate your Band from the room and then hand off a clean mix - like a studio production would be - to the sound engineer. Instead you would have to designate someone from your Band to stop playing and go listen and try mix to the room while one band member is missing.
And that's only one of many changing factors. The next problem will be the change in acoustics&sound when the audience arrives, the temperature changes, and you and your band will play at a different intensity from the soundchecks because the kick of performing in front of an audience comes in. And as soon as you are on stage, you can't react to this anymore + you don't know what the FOH sounds like because you are on stage performing.
Not to say you can't do it all, lots of small bands mix themselves - sometimes to a respectable level, and it might be the better choice if you already know ahead you'll be playing in a place with an absolutely terrible sound engineer, but the best way to go is to know HOW to communicate the wishes on how your Band should sound to the engineer, and find a solution hand in hand.
Because it's a hand in hand thing after all. If the band works against the sound engineer the outcome will be bad, if the sound engineer works against the band it will be bad.
And if you are this particular that automations are important for you: hire a sound engineer to come with you that knows your music perfectly well.
This is actually one of the best videos you've done in a long time, for me, even though I'll never be a touring musician. It was such an interesting window into another world, and its succinctness and clarity were amazing. I hope the people who ARE touring see this and take your recommendations to heart; it's always such a shame to hear that talented musicians are losing their hearing to shoddy set-up.
I've never really thought about all that would need to go into touring as a band on the tech side of things. Interesting to see a small piece of that.
Re the standard xlr’s not fitting in the rack case - no need for loads of expensive right angle cables, all you need are a couple of recessed adapter brackets to move the unit backwards and you’ll have plenty of room to leave standard straight xlr’s plugged in
We thought about that, but then we ran into the issue of not enough clearance in the back of the rack. This thing needed to be very shallow to fly, and because of that there were a lot of unusual challenges
@@AdamNeely We use the right angle xlrs similar to the ones you show here blocking the sockets below. However, some designs you can open, twist to 45 degree, and close again. Gets the wires out of the way of ports above or below. A fairly cheap option that people might not realise.
@@richardwelbourne955 That was almost an option - the right angle xlrs we got can twist - but even still, they were too bulky. We had to twist the lo-profile xlrs too in order to make them work.
There were a lot of details I left out of the video for time because honestly, talking about xlr profiles is one of the most boring things, haha.
Too bad you built your rack last year. Midas recently released the DN4618-o which would remove the need for the splitter boxes and a pile of XLR cables and give you 16 split outs in one rack space for $350.
"We wanna give you the power to ruin your OWN life" too real, man
I remember moving from stage monitors to iems and losing the feeling of a loud concert. Took some time to adjust to the lower energy level with my iems being so much quieter but it's SO much better
The difference between quality IEMs and regular stage monitors is HUGE. I'm in a couple of dance hall bands, and the difference between setup/soundcheck times is staggering. We have 4 road cases (all my guitar stuff, Tony's guitar and keyboard stuff, Sarah's keyboard stuff, and mixing console/in-ear receivers), which is way less crap to schlep around than all that plus 6 stage monitors. Add to the fact that we have zero stage noise (drummer uses an electronic kit, bassist uses a SansAmp, and Tony and I use Axe FXIIIs direct into the console), our soundchecks are just making sure everything works and then fine-tuning the sound (our soundman saves each venue we play as a preset on the mixer). We can set up in under an hour.
And since we're not touring or anything, we don't need to invest in bulletproof cases and stuff. We're in about $6000 total for the console and PSM300s for all 6 members of our band. All things considered, it's been an amazing investment since our performances have gotten SO much better now that we can hear each other exactly as we want to hear us and we're not competing for volume.
And you can't beat the feeling of playing a shredding guitar solo in the middle of the dance floor and (never worry about missing your cues because you can't actually hear the band or yourself).
I really like IEMs for small bands, but i dont think they will ever replace true monitors. I love the sound of my d&b m2’s, and they have been my favorite monitors I have ever owned. Although they are great, you can’t beat IEMs. I don’t want to like IEMs, but it is so hard not to, when they are so small and quick to set compared to my m2’s. A typical monitor setup for a band would be around 12-ish monitors, and that takes up alot of space, and they definitely take longer. Im jealous of how fast IEMs are to setup, and I think they are really good when you have your subs set up in a cardioid pattern too.
@@sndcetrl Some of the physicality of stage monitors, in terms of actual sound waves you can feel, kind of get lost too, I think. Maybe it's time for rumble packs and little air blowers XD
@@OW79 put a subwoofer under the drummers chair so it shakes his ass
@@sndcetrl I think there's definitely still room for traditional monitors, and I think they can work well in conjunction with IEMs. Not everyone is going to favour IEMs, and the sound is different from something like an m2 (those rock) is going to be felt in a different way to the IEMs, I think you can get interesting results listening to both.
You can get the best of both worlds, but it does require patching both. But you can feel the sound of a monitor, but have the headroom for vocals in your IEMs
I'm almost speechless after watching this video... You were able to translate a current "pain in the 4$$' i'm facing with my band. I cannot hear myself, and this is frustrating since this affects directly my playing. A few months ago I bought an EarPlug to protect myself and it was frustrating - basically throwing money on the can. I'm gonna focus next year to save this problem with low-budget equipment. Thanks a lot for this! I hope you have a great 2023! Cheers from Brazil!
I played for years in a band struggling to hear myself, constantly battling with stage noise and balancing the volumes, especially bad on untreated stages where the low end would vibrate and get amplified through the stage and the high end would just be bouncing around like crazy.. Switched to in-ears in 2011, it's just instant overnight improvement. Then you get into dialling in your mix and creating a virtual room/stage within the monitor mix and you have literally the best sound you ever played with in your life, every night.
There's two low budget options. You can get a simple wireless tx/rx kit that takes XLR into the TX and has a battery reciever, like he uses, and instead of the rack, just give it to the engineer at the start and ask for your monitors through it. An XLR splitter may be necessary at some venues.
Then there's the ghetto option, where you sort your own wireless TX using bluetooth or a car radio setup, and then put whatever phones you want on it. This one usually has latency issues though.
I know this comment is two months old but what my band has done is get a 4 way headphone amp from behringer, 35$, and each of us a wired belt clip monitor pack, 59$. Get TRS cables to connect it all together and you have a 4 way in ear monitor system for under 200 bucks. Granted, it's wired and you can't get each person their own custom mix, but it still makes a world of difference and you can get everything you need easily off of sweetwater.
I was able to convince my band to invest in a cheaper simpler IEM system and we used them for the first time last practice. Words don't do justice to the world of difference it makes. So excited for our upcoming gig
Wow. This rig, while expensive and a challenge to compile, had to be a godsend when you were out on tour. Any tools that save time and eliminate frustrations while on tour are definitely worth their weight in gold. Thank you for sharing your experience and knowledge.
As a FOH engineer, AND a musician, this is pure gold! I would be super stoked if a band showed up with this, and when I play I always make sure I have a way to use IEM.
IEM has solved a lot of our problems. Stage volume is down, hearing is better, and there’s so much more room to move. I’ll never go back to floor wedges.
I just purchased my first iem setup a few weeks ago. This was due since most of my band switched to iems and i noticed a an emptiness on stage since the engineer stopped caring about mixing the band through the onstage monitors. This video reassures my investment in iem.
Hot tip for cables that tangle. Wrap them around something. Like a piece of cardboard or whatever
Please continue to make more suggestive tutorial videos like this. For me, this is probably the most useful video you have ever put out. Delving into music history, philosophy, mathematics, and whatever other intellectual complexities are cool, but more tangible and practical videoes like this are top tier.
wow this is so helpful!!! I have been researching in-ears for my band but we thought it was cost prohibitive. Now we will be able to hear ourselves, even if it is in the hands of front of house engineers
The band I engineer for I've been telling them ever since I started to work for them that they need to invest in to a system. it is a night and day difference. I'm also trying to get them to go with a klang fabrik as well.
@@roll9898 7000 bucks without the actual in ear monitors (and receivers), I'd argue that IS cost prohibitive.
@@tarcp6224 there are options for a lot cheaper rig; 24input mixer may not be necessary, a 16in xair is almost 1000€ cheaper for exemple, same thing for the rest of the gear
@@tarcp6224we built ours for Glass Pony much cheaper than that. At least half. It’s VERY doable.
@@Gumbo72203 Yes, it's definitely very doable, what I don't understand is the recommendation of a 7000 eur piece of gear to do it.
Very interesting. As a live sound engineer (with experience both at foh and monitors), I can tell you that it's an incredible relief when the band has the capability of mixing their own IEMs purely for the fact that it saves precious time during changeovers at music festivals. Between all of the movement and chaos that happens in those moments, it's tough giving everybody a personalized mix - not to mention taxing when you've got 4 or 6 bands per day. If you sat back at the foh console and turned down the master fader, you would be shocked at how loud the stage volume can be; and that stage sound mixes with the house sound, changing the tonality in often irreconcilable ways. The most difficult instruments to deal with can be the drums, guitar amps, and bass amps (since we have no control of their stage volume or tone, and they are always competing with each other for loudness. In general, all of the other instruments are boosted to match the loudness of the drums, and I suspect that close proximity to loud drumming masks the sound of the other performers on stage. Of course, a pre-rigged IEM solution is the most practical because none of the stages I work have built-in drum cages (and I know how much drummers hate drum shields), and none of the musicians' amplifiers are housed in isolation cabs.
It leads me to wonder how past acoustic bands dealt with stage volume and communication. I know that traditional jazz and bebop bands don't really have an issue with this. We're just living in the era of loud music I guess.
Anyway, neat video.
This video is a holy grail for anyone wanting to build a similar setup. Thanks Adam!🙏
It sounds even worst that the raw camera audio on stage since our ears don't have built-in compressor! Also, as a sound engineer, I'm SO happy to FINALLY see a real informative video about in-ear monitors. Every gear video about it seems to say that you need a 2K 32 channel wireless mixer with an iPad to do this and end up with a 10+ rack unit case that in itself is worth in the hundreds of dollars new (if not close or over to a grand if molded). And the end of the day the goal is not to have the *best* IEM system, but rather *some* IEM system that *works*.
Having to deal with such a complex mixing system and using your own effects separate from the FOH also detracts from your job as a musician and make you hear things the audience receive in a completely different way, so there is a balance to strike between comfort and fear of losing control. Cheers and happy new year everyone!!
Our ears do have built in compression! Very loud sounds have a less perceived dynamic range
Actually your ears do have a built in compressor! It's why you can hear more dynamics at lower listening volumes.
@@123string4 Obviously our ears perceive louder sound as having less dynamics. Although, the purpose of a compressor is actually to make louder sound perceived as having *more* dynamics by making the quieter part of a loud sound louder and vice-versa. So while I get what you mean, it's not 100% correct because our ears doesn't make quieter parts of loud sounds louder and don't "compress" sound past a certain threshold to perceive it louder without busting them. I get the concept, but it's a big simplification of what compression actually is. And we do have a threshold of SPL past which this "compression" cannot happen anymore, which is the threshold of pain, and we can't adjust it. What we can do, however, is use our eyes to "zone in" a sound, for instance listening to a TV in a busy room.
Awesome information. It's supremely important for modern musicians to understand how to deal with a modern stage. I'll note that when stage volumes get out of hand in the range of 110+ decibels, this really creates problems, not just for hearing health, but just being able to have functioning ears. Ear drums start to distort, making it literally impossible to hear accurately. Noice-cancelling in-ear monitors helps with this some, but on really loud stages, the sound actually can get to your ears through your skull and not just your ear canals. There's good reason why many helicopter pilots wear helmets and not just headphones. If using in-ear monitors allows you to get rid of on-stage monitoring and get that volume under control, that's a huge, huge win.
You are 100% correct, Andrew! I have found that as I age my tolerance for absurd volume levels is shrinking. Above a certain level (about 90 dB), my sense of pitch disappears. I have to avoid singing and must play guitar though the braille method with visual cues.The days of 100 watt Marshall stacks cranked up in dance clubs are over. Unfortunately, musicians are going with no amps at all and going to complex in-ear setups. I build amps and am convinced that you can't satisfactorily play guitar without an amp as it is up to 50% of your sound and feel! Being honest, one rarely needs an amp with over 25 watts (tube, like a Deluxe Reverb) and maybe a 100 watt bass amp. Drummers need not bash or risk being subjected to public ridicule and plexiglas shields that they purchase and transport. I've played many dinner music jazz gigs with great players and pop dance music gigs over the years and can see how some level of restraint can still have major musical impact. I haven't gotten to in-ears yet successfully as we never have sufficient time to dial them in and generally don't have a front of house engineer except for me or the keyboard player. Bone conduction monitor headphones with a general feed might be a good compromise!
It's nice to see content like this on the channel honestly, and quite refreshing. I think most musicians are ultimately interested in how they improve their performance (using that term incredibly loosely) and this is just one additional way to get to the core of self-perception on the stage. I like that this includes not only the "How I Feel About This", but also the "How I Arrived At This".
Very insightful. Thanks a bunch.
As an audiophile, I gotta say, IEMs are magical. The ability to get lost in the music is just so profoundly part do what the modern audiophile IEM is, and I think it’s great that this professional concept is being brought to hobbyists.
As an audiologist this is so interesting to watch, thank you so much 😍🙌 I have a masters degree of craftsmanship in audiology and hearing aid and have done a fair share of custom in ear monitoring systems but my job usually ends with handing over the physical product to the sound designer, so seeing what happens after that point is just *chef's kiss* 😘👌
For playing bass - IEMs and a little riser with a throne shaker mounted under it works really well if you're not moving venues very often, or if space isn't an issue. It definitely changes the "feel" of things.
Whats a throne shaker?
@@russmbiz You can buy transducers that attach to drum thrones so if you're playing electric kits or at low volumes you can feel what you're playing. If you take that and put it on the floor it's like having a subwoofer, or in this context a cabinet, right next to you without the noise.
BackBeat is a really good addition to playing with iem as well. No matter how small a stage, I always feel like I have an 8x10 rig blasting behind me!
You don’t need “butt kickers” or platforms if you have proper iem’s, the biggest mistake a lot of bassists make when they 1st go down the iem route is they get an iem with dual drivers..which is fine for vocalists but there’s minimal low-end, for bass you need at least triple or quad drivers..an iem with quads has serious low end punch and an overall better audio spread..it’s like the difference between running two tops vs a full range pa
The next step is custom fit IEMs, they take the experience to an even higher level. Especially as a bass player.
11:25 definitely recommend learning to solder! It's a great skill for cable building, as well as unexpected needs for quick repairs on electric/electronic instruments.
As a live sound engineer it always makes my job much easier when a band/band members use IEMs. Thank you for making this video.
As a qualified audio engineer, you did an amazing job explaining basic sound concepts/physics in a way which everyday musicians and viewers can understand. Love it bro!
As a stagehand I appreciate the intricacies of how this all works!
This is helpful! I also use the 24R. Love the details of getting it ready to travel in the rack.
I agree with the title of this video wholeheartedly, especially for bassists; physics alone is a massive factor because of how long it takes soundwaves to form, and depending on the rig you use, the speakers the sound is coming out of, the venue you're in and a multitude of other factors you'll likely find it more difficult to hear yourself, and for most gigging bassists its almost always a case of having to settle, rather than being completely happy with how your instrument is represented. If you're using 15" speakers, unless you're something like 12ft in front of your cab, you're gonna be outta luck hearing anything you play! It's why I loved using my Hartke 4.5XL cabs because of the immediacy of the 10" speakers they were loaded with.
And immediacy is why I like using a full IEM set up, and have done since we switched around 8 years ago. I now model two separate bass rigs panned hard left and right in a Helix LT, which are fed by a very accurate model of the pedalboard I used to use.
For the IEM setup I use KZ As10s (so good I bought three pairs, and the guys in my band use them too, ruclips.net/video/w3Zh3Gl9HIk/видео.html) with memory foam tips which swell to completely seal your ear canal (www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B06XF4LY8G/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1) plugged into a little Behringer Powerplay P1 (ruclips.net/video/FOon2wEZss8/видео.html) mounted to my mic stand via a mic bracket, being fed a stereo aux mix from our Presonus RM32AI, and my monitor mix is controlled from a Kindle Fire secured to my mic stand (www.amazon.co.uk/Neewer-Adjustable-Connecting-Microphone-Compatible/dp/B07D5TSC7C/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1YFGA6UA1U3AL&keywords=Neewer+6-11+inches+Adjustable+Music+Mic+Microphone+Stand+Tablet+Mount&qid=1672418609&s=electronics&sprefix=neewer+6-11+inches+adjustable+music+mic+microphone+stand+tablet+mount%2Celectronics%2C111&sr=1-1).
For anyone looking to put a little IEM rig together, this is an extremely good monitoring solution on a budget. I also have a t-bone wireless unit for gigs where the stage is a bit bigger, or trailing XLR cables is a little impractical.
I personally feel that since we switched to an IEM rig my playing has improved in all aspects; accuracy and consistency of note velocity, and timing. Because its like listening to a DI in a studio, there's no straining to hear the note through an often wooly bottom end and a thundering backline because your amp is coupled to a hollow stage or the band are louder than you are. You hear the note you're playing immediately.
You still get the _feeling_ of the bass from the PA if your band is using subs, which John Entwistle couldn't do without, and you can balance yourself perfectly with the drummer. And, because the IEMs seal in your ear you still get all the low end you need to hear, without the volume of a live band so you never leave a venue with your ears ringing.
As gig rigs go, its perfect. I turn up with bass, pedals, and bag with IEM setup and power cables, which all fit in the boot of my car easy. For anybody thinking of switching to IEMs, I can say from my own years of experience using them and depping with other bands during that period where I've had to use my cabs and bass rig, IEMs win hands down on all counts.
Thanks for sharing! Think I'm gonna try and buy a pair of those IEMs 😃 Looks almost too cheap to be true
@@AndreasOxholm Andreas, I honestly swear by them. I'm a bassist too, and I want/need to _hear_ the articulation of the note I'm playing, but also have enough low end in the IEMs to get that bounce in the tone and into my playing. The AS10s are perfect for that. Directly before those I tried the ZS10s and the ES4s, and I found that both were overly voiced for a really sub low end, which is fine if you're listening to albums on an iPod and you want that. But I much preferred the relatively flat response of the AS10s for live performance. And they're very easily driven by both my Behringer Powerplay and my wireless pack.
Get yourself some foam tips to seal them in your ears, and I think you'll dig them.
it took me ages to find back to this comment but I just had to - I HAVE BOUGHT THREE PAIRS OF THE AS10s 😂 They are soooo good! I owe you so much for helping me find them 😃🙌🏻 now IEM is luxury 🤘🏻 thanks so much!
@@AndreasOxholm Not at all, I'm glad I was able to help you find IEMs that work for you.😉👍
We've switched to just using a Behringer X-Air and a few xlr split boxes for vocals and bass (which don't have two audio outputs). Now I'm thinking about splitting all remaining channels as well, especially the drums. 😅
Btw, a great thing about the X-Air is that everybody in the band can adjust their own monitor mix on the smartphone/tablet.
One crucial thing is to use all of this stuff on a regular basis during rehearsals, so that you don't have to think about how to set up your monitoring when playing live.
As an audio engineer, in-ear monitors work absolute wonders, especially if the band knows at least a little about audio. The gigs I’ve had take place in a musical theatre that has a lot of echo because it’s mainly for theatrical performances, so wedges can be risky sometimes. The issue is COMPLETELY gone with in-ear monitors, and they can be tailored so precisely to each member.
If Sungazer ever came to my town, I would feel absolutely blessed to engineer for them
Yeah, our church always uses in-ears to hear ourselves and for talkback. It’s really nice!
When using in-ear I usually bring my own little mixer with me and have my bass signal extra. So I can ensure that at least my signal is always there if something goes wrong with the rest. Having a room mic is a great idea. I'll suggest that next time.
So what other signals do you mix into your own, separate IEM? Isn't it a case of a compleate IEM-syst as Adam descibes, or just your own instrument to not use a loud and bulky instrument amp/loudspeaker?
@@mikaelolsson5333 I see drummers mixing a metronome or the thru signal from a DI'ed drumpad into their wired IEMs/hardware mixer setup frequently. If the band uses tracks and the drummer is responsible for launching them back at the kit, they will sometimes get a thru signal from the tracks DI and mix it down into their ears themselves. A wired mix just has so many fewer things that can go wrong, and gives the drummer tactile control of that mix. Even if my mix to the drummer's board fails, they can still hear the backing tracks, a metronome, and their electronic percussion. It's a great failsafe.
In-ears are totally game changing. Been using them for about 8 years now, and there’s no way I could ever go back. The audience mic was the key to converting me. Completely solves the weird disconnected feeling many people claim as the reason they hate in-ears.
Marching 110 member here! Thanks for the plug at 1:18 :) (we do not use in ear monitors)
Our stage this weekend is 107dB with drums and amps and wedges. IEMs are saving me
If you end up looking for more power-conditioning solutions, there's a lot of crossover between rackmount computer servers and rackmount audio. Companies like Tripp-Lite, APC, and Eaton make various 1U UPS solutions in every input voltage and plug configuration you can think of. Just depends on how much output power you need. As long as you're not driving amps with it, though, it's probably a lower power draw than servers.
It’s definitely less power draw than servers! The keyword you want to look for is “homelab”. There’s a group of guys who like to have servers at home for practicing their skills in a lab environment. They’re always looking for good gear at low prices, and it’s often business gear that’s been decommissioned.
How's a UPS going to go with airline weight budget and also hazardous cargo? Lead acid batteries weigh a lot and also need to be carried the correct way up even if sealed. There are strict IATA and airline limits on lithium cells on aircraft both carry on and checked. Most ground staff don't understand their company policy. I travelled with lithium packs in the checked luggage and was told differing things from different staff from the same airline. It was only resolved by bringing up their company website and going through each battery one by one and proving they all complied. Try doing that internationally in a foreign language. Not for me. That could work if you were touring in a van. That said I haven't bought in to the whole power conditioning sales pitch. I know Angus Young uses it but he doesn't have to lug it around like I would.
@@vk3fbab That's certainly a fair point. I can see the hazmat problems being a real issue with air travel. The point is more that rackmount server power solutions are pretty abundant, and even if you don't need UPS, the various 1U power cabling and voltage options are worth investigating. At the very least, having a single IEC C20 input and using different input cables depending on input voltage may be a better solution than a consumer surge protector. And locking C13/C14 cables might be a cleaner solution than the non-locking NEMA 5-15 plugs I'm seeing here. Obviously Adam's solution works, which is the bottom line.
@@jorymil For mains power I've been using Neutrik Powercon instead of IEC. It fits in their panels and locks in great. Allowed me to have all input and output on one panel. Mains power, 1/4 inch, XLR and Midi using Ethercon.
I was thinking during the whole video: "Perfect, I'm going to do this too" then I realised that I have only 3 gigs coming with my band and all of them are going to cost me money anyways... I guess this is the problem, to have a nice sound on stage you need all this shit, but to get all this shit, you need to have a good sound on stage so that you get good gigs that make all this shit worth it. Just like Insta marketing and all that
Definitely something you can build to. My band started with an old mixer and floor wedges. I just bought the Midas MR18 (same as the Behringer xr18) and it has 6 separate aux outs (which works because we're a 6 piece band). the one mixer gives us our in ears as well as mixing for FOH and allowing me to go out and mix. Currently, we're doing wired in ears with the Behringer P2 ($50) and xlr cables. Can always upgrade to wireless later!
Make as many connections as possible, it’s surprising how often other’s unwanted gear can fall in your lap for cheap or free!
And if you learn how to repair gear (less common with everything going digital) you can stretch your budget even further.
Those Fishman passive hardwired packs are about $50
@Conor M did you see the video, professor? Coz the main point is that a pair of in ear headphones ain't gonna solve no problem
The next step in performance technology is for the audience to also wear in ear monitors so we can hear the music without blasting our ears.
They can already do it with rented UHF receivers... (wireless monitors), buy the receivers, and just charge 10 bucks more in each ticket, and in aprox 4 shows, you will return the invesment.
that's been tried for decades. It's called a silent disco. Sure that's not really a "concert" as such, but the concept can be just as easily applied to concerts.
I have a whole youtube channel dedicated to in ear monitors, their little speakers and which ones are best for the money. I've spent 15+ years in the audio industry and IEM's are a lifesaver. They're also super affordable through chi-fi or Chinese audiophile companies.
So which iem is The best under 70$ for you? There are sooo many...
Love this. Super straight to the point, well edited, concise video which explains IEM systems really well for a musician's viewpoint. Cheers :)
Thank you so much for this video Adam. I was considering quitting playing music live altogether due to some recent personal hardships that became too overwhelming to deal with emotionally, but for whatever odd reason, this particular video has brought back some semblance of a "spark" for me to return to playing live for artists I produce for. Thank you thank you thank you.
I absolutely LOVE these practical gear videos. This is the most important stuff about running a show and a tour. It's really helpful to have some return on experience and how budget and compromise can affect the reality of showrunning. Thanks a lot for that
This really shows the struggle of trying to solve all these problems at once. On a much smaller scale though, I've been using a cheap Thomann T.Bone wireless IEM system with my Etymotic earphones, for any little pub gig with my cover bands over the last 10 years. It's true though that you can feel disconnected from the band and the room if not setup properly, but it's so nice to hear my singing with enough detail to know what I'm doing!
Absolutely brilliant run down. Informative and wonderful as always Adam!
Luv your channel brother. The in ears was really great info when i was running sound for a band they went all in ears, f it made my mix sound so much better. Keep up the great work.
This explanation is golden. Thanks Adam 🙂And happy new year, for you, your family and the band.
I've been looking for an affordable in-ear system for forever. thx so much.
Which do you plan to get?
Very thankful for this. I'm big into binging iem rig content; been threatening to make one for years
Thanks for the sharing the improvements on your rig vis a vis the other IEM videos.
There is SOOOO much information in this video. Whooosh. I'm going to rewatch this so many times. Thank you Adam
Thanks, Adam! This video is so timely as I'm getting into a working band for the first time in 20 years and would love to build out a budget in ear setup. Great starting point here.
Bass.
IEMs are badass, I had not used them until this year and I was definitely missing out.
omg thank you for calling out the SE215's. There is absolutely NO REASON for ANYONE to buy them in this day and age! Doesnt matter if you're an amature musician, professional musician, casual listener, podcast listener, youtube watcher, movie watcher, gamer. So much better stuff exists for so much less!
Yeah 1 time using them 4 years ago and I swore I’d never “in ears” again … I still have them but … yeah after watch it this though…. And after watching one of my fav local acts really using them at every show and having great results i know there is a benefit to them. I’ll eventually make the switch.
I’ve had the shure for like a year. They were replaced once on warranty.
Yeah. Can’t believe they used to be $160. I have a pair and regardless of build quality (I find them ok there), they sound like garbage. You can get excellent sounding in-ears nowadays for $20 and up.
@@400_billion_suns Which one would you recommend?
@@gamechecktvbauloewe For $20, the 7Hz Salnotes Zero are *very* good. Excellent sound quality, sturdy, removable cable, and I find them very comfortable.
I use them with SpinFit CP145 Large eartips, as I have pretty large ear canals. Getting a good seal is critical with any IEM. The Zeros include a decent selection of different sized eartips, but my big ears always need something slightly bigger to seal. :)
Thank you for sharing this. Some musicians would keep it for themselves to their advantage. I appreciate the transparency of your sharing :)
Great editing too!
This is so cool! I find it fascinating how these setups work
Thank you! Btw, it's totally ok to talk about gear, it's very helpful!
I absolutely love your music theory videos...and will never need to know a shred of anything of the sound engineering tips and techniques for live mixing that you presented here...BUT I seriously found this to be one of the most truly interesting and completely fascinating videos that you have done!
Fucking love this channel! Lovely rig. Honestly for $6,000 and you can travel, with that dealing with heavy handed treatment, and still deliver. ACE.
Lateral q: is there a graceful way to be the only one wearing IEM in a setting where you know no one else ever will? Like, setting up your own room mic even for rehearsals to get a fuller mix of a big band and not just the sound of the trombone behind you?
This is precisely what Allen ME1 does with its "local mic" feature, it works really well. Allows you to basically blend in all the room crap, but at least you control the amount of it. In other cases, a random mic pointing somewhere will also do the trick, tried that once, works okay enough.
I ran a full IEM rig for a three piece I was in... Behringer XR18, splitter for the kick mic, brought our own separate snare mic, e609 on the guitar and bass cabs, and little Rolls pm50s on our pedalboards for the bass player/lead singer and myself. The pm50s allows a mic in and thru and a TRS in. No wireless, we just ran a TRS cable with our instrument cable. We were already a tight 3 piece, but we were super tight and the bass player was already a great singer, but I'm not. Being able to hear myself and him so clearly made me sing so much better. Setup was simple and required no soundcheck on our end and absolutely nothing from FOH.
Then, I just filled in on bass for a band that doesnt run in ears, so I just ran my little pm50 on my pedalboard with just my vocal mic and I split my bass signal off of a pedal directly to the TRS in on the pm50. So I had bass and my vocal in my ears, and just relied on the stage volume for the rest of the band.
Hearing yourself clearly definitely improved my performance. Hearing the whole band improves it even more. Worst case scenario, you just have expensive earplugs that double as a self monitoring system.
I'm not a musician or anything, but I love tech and learning about things. I'm so glad you did this video because it was very informative and really interesting to me to understand the complexity of how live music is (or can be) produced. I hope you make more videos like this.
The quality of this video is nuts, thanks a lot!
I am slowly getting into music theory and sound engineering stuff and I want to say that your videos are so well made and interesting to view! Thanks a lot!
This is the best gear tutorial I’ve found thank you
As a quasi-pro, old school sound engineer who strives to be a _good_ SE in providing affordable or donated PA support for my many pro and fellow semi-pro musician friends, this was incredibly educational. The thorough, concise look into your gear setup and considered options was especially well done and helpful. It's inspired thoughts on how to update my old school tools and add In Ear & Personal Monitoring to my PA package. Lots of people Rock, but you JAZZ! 🙂
this is SO high quality, unbelievable
thank you!
Thank you @AdamNeely ! This video helped me build my own IEM rig :D
I'm a bit surprised that the Behringer P-16 wasn't mentioned. Everyone does their own mix, without having to waive down the engineer.
It's the simplest and most convenient system I've ever used!
Even for non-pro musicians I think this is a pretty awesome video. It makes me appreciate a lot more about musicians performing on stage. Now I know there're lot more efforts put into making a good live!
I think it is apparent with their mountain of gear, countless cables snaking everywhere, and all the rehearsals. And then their struggles with the sound engineers, if you get to witness those.
Excellent video Adam. Appreciate the details, pros and cons, and the constraints you had to work with.
I had virtually no clue what was said once the technical part started, but found it profoundly interesting since you gave us your thought process. Super nice.
For comparison, to get 100ms round-trip delay from _light_, you'd have to be 15,000 km or 10,000 miles apart, nearly halfway around the Earth (half the circumference).
I need to put something like this together. If for no other reason but hearing protection
Absolutely great video. The whole gear/tech side of music is honestly really daunting. Thank you so much for breaking me into that world a bit more, you really are one of the best educators on this platform. Would love to see more stuff like this :)
Very daunting. As a performer who would like to tour in the future, I dread the thought of having to deal with all of this 😂
One of my favorite Adam Neely videos! One of my favorite gear videos ever!!! Thank you Adam for making content that is actually legit and insightful! Keep it up bro
Thank you for this Adam. Forget about electricity through fusion. Audio recording/amplifying technology innovations are what I'm actually looking forward to see these coming years.
Ooooooo! I love my IEM’s great vid Adam🤘
This was a really cool video. I enjoyed seeing how you overcame your issues with your own solutions.
I find it satisfying learning these things as I'm also new to this field of work as an events crew, seeing things I'm familiar to and also learning how it works. Really feels educational.
I haven't played live in decades but I think it's wonderful since it allows the musician to hear the tone the way he or she wants it to be and then less the sound engineer do whatever they feel like for the audience. So I would still miss some of the physical thump if there was no actual stage volume.
Just to counter your snub of the se215s I’ve been using the same pair for 8 - 9 years now, doing at least 50 gigs a year and they have yet to fail me. A few friends have complained about the seal, but they fit my ears perfectly.
I also use SE215. Have had great fortune with them so far. They’ve even been through a washer/dryer cycle TWICE and they are still rock solid. To each their own. I’m happy with the SE215.
Totally agree, SE215s are great. I use them not only for IEMS live, but for my daily headphones with BT. I love them.
I wish we had your luck lol. We ended up buying around 10 this year. One pair even malfunctioned after one show, and we don’t go THAT hard on stage >.>
@@ENOXband ouch, that sucks. What did you end up using in place of 215?
@@ynotw57 so far, more 215s 😂
We want to upgrade in the next year, we are looking into westone or 64 audio
This vid partly explains why your live shows sound so tight. TFS in so much depth.
The ‘average’ audience member (okay, no such ppl exist) is clueless about 99.9% of all of this complexity. (But one or a few snafus can blow up the whole mix-and fixing it all in real time? Good luck!) Surviving and thriving amidst so much tech? Champions!
I've been thinking abour going with IEM for ages and this video finally gave me the confidence to try it out! Thanks Adam!!