In ear monitor vocal problem

[ec362]

Hi there

Vocalist (and guitarist) using custom IEMs here. Background- I sing in a contemporary church band- on the louder/rockier side of things- and play with drums, backing vocal, keys, my own acoustic rhythm guitar, synth, bass, electric guitar. Have ambient mic but dropped it out of my mix. I've had vocal lessons with a real pro for a year now, and that's helped tonnes with my technique, but he isn't well versed in the niceties of IEMs. He has pinpointed that I really overthink by singing (sometimes I'll think my voice has gone, when really it's a mental not physical thing). My issues-

- First, I find the "closeness" of the IEM a challenge. It's like if I'm just singing by myself without monitor I can get any note. But with IEMs at the mo I'm finding I have a restricted range- it's like it's right in my head so I don't have the freedom for those higher notes if you see what I mean?

- More curiously, I find that after a while of singing through IEMs, which should be helping my vocal stamina, I suddenly begin losing the ability to pitch and also give my voice any power. It's all fine for ages, then suddenly bang, it's as if i stop being able to hear my own voice so well. Sometimes taking an ear out temporarily will trigger it, sometimes just getting back up to sing again after a 20 min break. If I leave if a while, do warm ups etc, it comes back- so I can only imagine it's psychological. But it has left me high and dry during performance a few times now.

So vocalists, any tips appreciated- google just goes on about how great IEMs are for vocal stamina, and I can't find any forums on IEM vocal problems. But also how I can improve my vocal space/stamina in my vocal mix. I usually slam my vocal in pretty dominant in the mix and pan it down middle with my acoustic, and take most other stuff out to help my voice last. I might put a bit of reverb on but usually just go simple. Ambient mics seem to make it worse as I sound too distant (it picks up the FOH).

Thanks

Ed

 

[1001gear]

I have no idea. You could put your ear mix on a ducker so that when you sing it's mostly you singing or vice versa although I don't think that would address anything. Have you referenced to the material to see if any of that is fatiguing?

[ec362]

Thanks for your reply. Sorry- how do you mean the material is fatiguing? Thanks

Ed

[1001gear]

Might be notes or patterns that are wearing out your voice. Try the Backstage or Live Sound forums.

 

Nuther thing just off the top of my head; learn your head resonance spectrum and have the engineer subtract that zone from your feed. You might be able to calibrate that to sound just like you hear yourself.

[ec362]

Thanks that's a good idea, I might look into that

[WRGKMC]

The only in good ear monitor system for live performances is made by Shure. If you're using anything else you'd be better off with a floor monitor system.

 

The key to getting an in ear system sounding good is the mix. For a vocalist its important to have compression, a gate and reverb/echo so the vocal mix sounds like you're singing naturally in a large room.

 

If you're being fed a dry mix you'll be more likely to choke up because of the way the mics natural proximity works. With a Dynamic stage mic, as you get closer to the mic, the bass and presence increases. Using an in ear mic you will be more likely to try and maintain the close bass response and fail to work a mic by backing off it when you sing loud and get up close singing intimately.

 

If you add some echo and reverb this proximity effect is less restrictive, the Trails created by the Reverberation will allow you to work the mic much more effectively and add emotion to the lyrics without having to tightly maintain a fixed volume level like you would on a dry mic.

 

It takes allot of experience to sing with any kind of ear piece and having that reverb/echo is going to free your voice up big time.

Personally, the only time I use headphones is when I'm tracking vocals recording. If I didn't have to use them for that I wouldn't.

 

I've learned to use my voice to get the best sounds from a speaker cab. I know exactly how to produce the proper tones to get the correct amount of bass from a cab and the cabs projection across the room is an extension of my own voice. I sang through PA systems without stage monitors for so long I don't even need them because I'm used to hearing the bass coming from the side of the PA cabs and hearing the PA reflections off the back wall. When I do use stage monitors I only use them enough to hear the words clearly. I have a very strong voice and don't need allot of power on stage. In fact my voice became powerful by having weak monitors.

 

So the key here is getting you mix correct before you pump it to your in ear monitors.

If you're doing your own sound then you have to work that all out in advance tweaking it a little at a time till you get a sound you can work with. Many singers have preferd echo and reverb settings that make them confortable as they sing.

 

If you have a sound man doing sound, he should be wearing the same in ear monitor so he can compare it to what he's hearing from the speaker cabs, and vice versa. many times a sound engineer will adjust the main mix to the speaker up nicely for the audience but when it comes to the stage monitors he does nothing. You're lucky if you get the volumes right, no less having any kinds of effects going.

 

Fixing the issue is relatively easy. Whet I'd do is get myself a sball echo/reverb unit like an Alesis Microverb. Find the settings you feel are best then have the sound man put the effect in the channel insert. This way both the monitor sends and the mains will have the same reverb. This way revibration you hear in your earpiece will be exactly the same as the audience is hearing.

[trevcda]

The only in good ear monitor system for live performances is made by Shure. If you're using anything else you'd be better off with a floor monitor system.

 

The key to getting an in ear system sounding good is the mix. For a vocalist its important to have compression, a gate and reverb/echo so the vocal mix sounds like you're singing naturally in a large room.

 

If you're being fed a dry mix you'll be more likely to choke up because of the way the mics natural proximity works. With a Dynamic stage mic, as you get closer to the mic, the bass and presence increases. Using an in ear mic you will be more likely to try and maintain the close bass response and fail to work a mic by backing off it when you sing loud and get up close singing intimately.

 

If you add some echo and reverb this proximity effect is less restrictive, the Trails created by the Reverberation will allow you to work the mic much more effectively and add emotion to the lyrics without having to tightly maintain a fixed volume level like you would on a dry mic.

 

It takes allot of experience to sing with any kind of ear piece and having that reverb/echo is going to free your voice up big time.

Personally, the only time I use headphones is when I'm tracking vocals recording. If I didn't have to use them for that I wouldn't.

 

I've learned to use my voice to get the best sounds from a speaker cab. I know exactly how to produce the proper tones to get the correct amount of bass from a cab and the cabs projection across the room is an extension of my own voice. I sang through PA systems without stage monitors for so long I don't even need them because I'm used to hearing the bass coming from the side of the PA cabs and hearing the PA reflections off the back wall. When I do use stage monitors I only use them enough to hear the words clearly. I have a very strong voice and don't need allot of power on stage. In fact my voice became powerful by having weak monitors.

 

So the key here is getting you mix correct before you pump it to your in ear monitors.

If you're doing your own sound then you have to work that all out in advance tweaking it a little at a time till you get a sound you can work with. Many singers have preferd echo and reverb settings that make them confortable as they sing.

 

If you have a sound man doing sound, he should be wearing the same in ear monitor so he can compare it to what he's hearing from the speaker cabs, and vice versa. many times a sound engineer will adjust the main mix to the speaker up nicely for the audience but when it comes to the stage monitors he does nothing. You're lucky if you get the volumes right, no less having any kinds of effects going.

 

Fixing the issue is relatively easy. Whet I'd do is get myself a sball echo/reverb unit like an Alesis Microverb. Find the settings you feel are best then have the sound man put the effect in the channel insert. This way both the monitor sends and the mains will have the same reverb. This way revibration you hear in your earpiece will be exactly the same as the audience is hearing.

 

With the exception of the mix comment, I respectfully disagree with almost this entire post. Plenty of other companies make IEMs that are more than acceptable such as Sennheiser and Lectrosonics.

 

Using dynamics based effects on vocal monitors in general is just a bad idea. When you sing louder your mix should reflect that. Fighting a compressor will tire your voice more than anything. And a gate opening and shutting just makes for a poor mix. The only exception would be a brick wall limiter to protect your hearing that most notable brands will have built into the system.

 

Time based effects such as delay and reverb can contribute heavily to a really pitchy performance. If you want a little reverb for space that's one thing, but full on effects used in the mains? The point of IEMs is to hear yourself first and foremost at a reasonable and safe volume. Effects just clutter that up. Let FOH worry about what's going on the main and more importantly the room where he can actually hear what's happening.

 

Which brings us to the mix. First, you really should have the majority of the instrumentation available to bring into the mix. Not through an ambient mic, those are for the crowd noise and inter-band communication. A proper board mixed mix dedicated to your IEM mix. A soundman, preferably a monitor mixing soundman, can help but he's not going to hear the occlusion affect that you will, especially with proper fitting ear buds,so he can't mix around that. He can only guess. So you will need to put some work into getting a suitable mix for you. The good part is that once you get a good mix, you shouldn't need to change much, at least within the same group of performers. Get used to being on the mic and hearing your voice very upfront in the mix. There is should be no hiding behind the din of the instrumentation. But you should also not have to sing as hard which should be a lot easier on your voice.

 

I have a couple of songs that I just plain learned how to sing incorrectly. About mid song I can feel my voice starting fail, yet on the next song I'm singing higher and louder with no problem. I had to re-learn to sing those songs much quieter, but still in full voice on my own and gradually increase the volume. I can still slip into old habits if we haven't done it in a while.