How to Tune PA Monitors
Set up your monitor system with graphic equalizers., Set up a microphone., Clear the stage., Gain your mic., Find the feedback on your graphic equalizer., Listen., Repeat the process for each monitor mix.
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Set up your monitor system with graphic equalizers.
Make sure that, for each monitor mix, you have a graphic equalizer patched between the mixer and your monitor power amps.
Make sure that, for each monitor mix, a cable goes from the auxiliary send on the mixer to the input of the graphic EQ, and from the output of the EQ to the input of the monitor power amps. -
Step 2: Set up a microphone.
Set up a mic in front of your first monitor.
It is recommended to use a vocal mic on a stand, and at mouth height., This is going to be loud, but not in the pleasant way.
Make sure that nobody is on the stage while you do this.
If somebody must remain on the stage for any reason, make sure he or she is wearing ear protection., Send your mic to the monitor that it is in front of (using an auxiliary send).
Turn it up until it starts to feed back, and then back it off so that the mic level is just below the threshold of feedback., Starting at the low frequencies, slowly turn each band up, one at a time.
If a particular frequency does not cause feedback when boosted, leave it at zero (neither boosting nor attenuating).
If a particular frequency does cause feedback when boosted, pull that frequency down.
The higher you have to boost a frequency before it feeds back, the less you need to attenuate it.
The less you have to boost a frequency to make it feed back, the more attenuation you want for that frequency band. , Once you have gone through each band on your graphic EQ and are confident that you have some headroom before feedback, you will need to hear what the monitors sound like.
Speak into the vocal mic.
Make sure that, in pulling out all the feedback frequencies, that you haven't rendered the stage sound overly muddy or lacking in definition.
If the sound is muddy or lacking definition, you can either attenuate more frequencies so that the non-feedback frequencies are not overpowering the rest, or you can add back some of the frequencies that you have attenuated in previous steps.
The art of mixing monitors is finding the balance between definition and not feeding back.
At this point in the process, you may optionally play some music through the monitors and adjust it similarly to how you would when tuning the main front-of-house PA. , You can copy the settings from your first mix to each other mix.
There may be slight differences in the sound of each mix due to room acoustics, but your first mix gives you a good starting point. -
Step 3: Clear the stage.
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Step 4: Gain your mic.
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Step 5: Find the feedback on your graphic equalizer.
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Step 6: Listen.
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Step 7: Repeat the process for each monitor mix.
Detailed Guide
Make sure that, for each monitor mix, you have a graphic equalizer patched between the mixer and your monitor power amps.
Make sure that, for each monitor mix, a cable goes from the auxiliary send on the mixer to the input of the graphic EQ, and from the output of the EQ to the input of the monitor power amps.
Set up a mic in front of your first monitor.
It is recommended to use a vocal mic on a stand, and at mouth height., This is going to be loud, but not in the pleasant way.
Make sure that nobody is on the stage while you do this.
If somebody must remain on the stage for any reason, make sure he or she is wearing ear protection., Send your mic to the monitor that it is in front of (using an auxiliary send).
Turn it up until it starts to feed back, and then back it off so that the mic level is just below the threshold of feedback., Starting at the low frequencies, slowly turn each band up, one at a time.
If a particular frequency does not cause feedback when boosted, leave it at zero (neither boosting nor attenuating).
If a particular frequency does cause feedback when boosted, pull that frequency down.
The higher you have to boost a frequency before it feeds back, the less you need to attenuate it.
The less you have to boost a frequency to make it feed back, the more attenuation you want for that frequency band. , Once you have gone through each band on your graphic EQ and are confident that you have some headroom before feedback, you will need to hear what the monitors sound like.
Speak into the vocal mic.
Make sure that, in pulling out all the feedback frequencies, that you haven't rendered the stage sound overly muddy or lacking in definition.
If the sound is muddy or lacking definition, you can either attenuate more frequencies so that the non-feedback frequencies are not overpowering the rest, or you can add back some of the frequencies that you have attenuated in previous steps.
The art of mixing monitors is finding the balance between definition and not feeding back.
At this point in the process, you may optionally play some music through the monitors and adjust it similarly to how you would when tuning the main front-of-house PA. , You can copy the settings from your first mix to each other mix.
There may be slight differences in the sound of each mix due to room acoustics, but your first mix gives you a good starting point.
About the Author
Martha Roberts
Enthusiastic about teaching DIY projects techniques through clear, step-by-step guides.
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