It’s been said that the monitor system onstage often has more power than the FOH system. This is because of the number of separate monitors for all of the musicians, and the need to have the power to cut through the onstage instruments and maintain a clean intelligible sound at all times.
There is often a huge rack of amps, compressor/limiters and 31-band graphic EQs associated with all of the various monitor feeds for onstage. When you add the sidefills and drum monitors, there is just a lot of power required. The monitor console also has to have the ability to handle all of the inputs, EQ, and signal routing capability in addition to individual sends to each monitor feed.
The ability to route the right mic to the right monitor with the right mix takes a lot of hard work, and the mixer has to always be on his toes. Trying to keep the intelligibility up and the feedback down is also a real challenge. Making sure that no monitor gets too loud is also a concern. When the monitors are just right on stage, the musicians are much more comfortable as they play.
The larger the stage, the more important the monitor mixer becomes. Often times the monitor is the only connection a musician has with the rest of the band just because of the sheer size and layout of the stage. We’ll take a close look at the equipment and the approach used for this crucial system.