Why Knowing Words is Important: Words of the Day: Wedges
/I remember running my first show. Terrifying night. The house lights were flickering, the PA crackled, the band was a nervous wreck that had never played in front of a group of strangers... It was a much more stressful time than a Tuesday night should ever be. My only saving grace was the venue allowed the band a chance to warm up before doors opened, so I had time to do a soundcheck.
As the sole sound guy I had two jobs: make sure the audience could hear the band, and make sure the performers could hear themselves. Since there was no audience at the time I decided to use my precious 20 minutes alone with the band, sans bassist, to make sure they could hear each other.
Everyone was a little unsure of what to do, but thanks to my interactions with other musicians and a solid year or so of setting up at school events it was hardly my first time witnessing a live show come together. I walked through building up a monitor mix for the performers as best I could and had the band play together. Five minutes before the show the bassist shows up and I make an educated guess where to mix him in. I get the band together, wish them luck and go over some hand signals for setting the volume of the wedges once the show begins.
The show went about as well as you’d expect a band full of teenagers too broke to hire a sound guy would go. By the end of it everyone looked like they were starting to have fun, except the singer. He looked uncomfortable from the first note til the last one. After the show we all met up for a quick talk and review. I commented about the fact that the singer was the only guy who didn’t want his wedge adjusted after the show started.
“Yeah man, the wedges were just fine,” he said through chattering teeth.
“But dude, I couldn’t hear anyone. Turn that thing up next time!” The singer smartly raised his hand and pointed at his wedge.
If Mr. Frontman had known what the word “wedge” meant, the show would’ve gone a whole lot better for everyone involved. There’s lots of important words used on stage and in studio that everyone involved needs to be familiar with in order to make the best use of time. I’ll be posting a list of these regularly in no particular order.
Wedge
I’d be remiss not to start with the main topic of my little story. Wedges, monitor wedges, or monitors refer to small speakers placed on stage facing the performers. They play a mix personalized to suit the needs of whoever stands in front of them, rather than the audience. For example, a bassist may need to hear the drums much more clearly than what the song arrangement calls for, or a backup singer needs to clearly hear his or her voice, despite being a relatively quiet part of the overall piece. In-ear monitors use the same principle, but play directly through earbuds performers wear.
Why it matters:
Crowds are loud! People are going to be cheering, clapping, interacting, eating, fighting, and they’ll do this all while facing you, the performer. Avoid having your keyboardist getting drowned out by pumping a little of his sound directly at you.
Drummers often play to a click track to keep time, they hear that through their monitor mix.
Gauge your performance by hearing what the mic hears instead of what you hear in your head.
What to look out for:
Wedges are speakers, don’t point your mic at them!
Know that what comes out of your wedge isn’t necessarily what comes out of someone else’s wedge. Don’t be too surprised if you move over to jam with someone and suddenly can’t hear yourself.
- It’s a good idea to make sure you know who’s controlling the monitor in case you need to make an adjustment on the fly. Establishing some nonverbal communication before the curtain rises is a good idea as well.
Have your own idea for a word of the day? Let me hear it! Toss in any fun stories you’ve got on the subject while you’re at it.