help with monitoring for a vocalist

[Rick6]

Any suggestions would be appreciated ...

 

A friend of mine is a singer who sings Brazilian based jazz and some straight jazz.

 

She takes a class at the jazzschool in Berkeley. The classes are combos held in a room maybe 20 x 20 with a PA. The classes are loud. Drumset, amplified acoustic piano, guitar, bass -- sometimes a horn.

 

The singer is struggling with her intonation at times. She says that the problem is that she can't hear herself over the din. She says that on those infrequent occasions when she gigs with a good PA and monitoring setup, the recordings show her intonation to be spot on.

 

She has similar problems sometimes at her gigs without a sound guy.

 

I thought that it might help for her to carry her own mic (which she has) and monitor. She has some kind of PA system, but I was thinking about something which would be easy to carry, like a small powered speaker she could aim at her head.

 

Like, plug her own mic into her own box, aim it at her head and then take a line out of it into the house PA.

 

I'm the furthest thing from a sound guy, so I wondered if anybody would have a specific unit to recommend. It needs to be powerful enough to do the job and light and small enough that she can wheel it in from the car. It doesn't need to be dirt cheap.

 

Is there anything in-ear that makes any sense (bearing in mind that only vocals and piano are mic'ed in these classes)?

 

Thanks in advance,

 

Rick

[Caspar]

A small active speaker like the RCF410A and a TC-Helicon Create XT pedal would give her all she needs. An IEM system would be nice but requires that all instruments go through the PA.

[mkfs9]

Any small monitor or powered speaker would work a 10 inch driver would be compact and light to carry.rcf,qsc are good brands. could she not stand in front of the pa that is in the room, far enough infront to avoid feedback of coarse.Also try and tame the rest of the instrements down a little to make it all a bit easier on the ear. You did mention DIN. A nice pair of headphones could also work plugged into the desk if it has this facillity and just have vocal through it.

[Dukey]

I agree with a small personal monitor - also Behringer has one - our ladysinger uses it and it's quite nice for the money. When using headphones I must disagree - voice only in a headphone will enhance her intonation problems - it cancels out too much - in other words she will only hear herself while the rest of the instruments won't be heard and to stay in tune you need the other instruments although not as load. So when using a headphone she should at least have a little bass/drums and maybe piano in het headphones as well. Bass/drums to keep the rhythm, piano to stay in tune. One thing on the Behringer - it's usable in our set-up (5 pers. coverband) because our drummer has an electronic kit. I was told by our ladysinger that also with a miked-up acoustic set it has proven it's worth. In case there are also back-up voicesshe should try to get these in her monitor as well (Whether small amp or headphones) Ofcourse her own voice shouldn't be drowned out by the rest of what's in her monitor

[Tomm Williams]

My question would be, why can't the classroom musicians turn down?. Do they use monitors and can they be turned up?. I would think the classroom issue could be fixed without purchasing anything. As far as her other gigs, is she singing to live music or backing tracks or? Are these gigs in loud venues or small quiet places?, does the venue provide a sound system and what is it?. Her problems can possibly be corrected for free.

[mkfs9]

So just put the headphones on one ear. how cheap is that .

[DBR]

In my experience with vocalists, sometimes they put a finger or hand over one ear while singing. This usually helps with intonation and they can still hear the entire band.

[Phil Clark]

Have her get an in-ear system that allows her to plug the piano mic into it as well as her mic, and lines out go to the snake. Then she can mix her vocal and the piano to her liking and she can just use one ear bud in and one out so she can hear the rest of the stage. Putting your finger in your ear for a whole show just looks bad.

[Randyman]

How about the TC-Helicon VoiceSolo VSM300 XT Active Monitor http://www.zzounds.com/item--TCEVSM300XT. No need for a speaker stand, it can be mounted on a mic stand, and lots of singers swear by these.

[Rick6]

Thanks for the replies.

 

Frankly, I'm not sure why the PA in the room isn't enough. She says it isn't.

 

She is not in control of the overall volume. It isn't a democracy and the King likes it loud.

 

I think she has a Yamaha Stagepas 300. Could she use one speaker (with the head inside the speaker)? Is there any reason why it shouldn't be used that way?

[rodclement]

 

How about the TC-Helicon VoiceSolo VSM300 XT Active Monitor http://www.zzounds.com/item--TCEVSM300XT . No need for a speaker stand, it can be mounted on a mic stand, and lots of singers swear by these.

 

 

Rick don't over complicate, this suggestion above is what she needs, I use older versions of these and they are great, simple, allow for individual volume control and are road worthy.

 

Rod

[Shaster]

If she's using a Yamaha Stagepass 300 it's not going to take a whole lot to drown her out - especially if the other musicians have a bad attitude. She would benefit from a small active monitor that is good and light AND has a good warranty. QSC K series comes to mind.

 

OTOH this is a perfect time for her to learn how to get the most from the least. Can she place herself furthest from the loudest instruments? Can she position herself so that the PA is her monitor? Are there that many singers in the wings that no one in the band will consider her requests to turn down?

 

FWIW I knew a good studio singer that could never really sing live. She needed an almost perfect environment or her pitch went out the window. Hopefully that's not the case here.

 

BTW has she tried earplugs (or just one)? I find they help me stay on pitch - if you can wear earplugs, some people have issues with them.

[Chip Stewart]

 

If she's using a Yamaha Stagepass 300 it's not going to take a whole lot to drown her out - especially if the other musicians have a bad attitude. She would benefit from a small active monitor that is good and light AND has a good warranty. QSC K series comes to mind.

 

 

The EV ZXA1 would also work well for this.

[335BoB]

I A/B'd a K8 with an EV ZxA1. The EV was much more forward in the vocals and would probably make an excellent monitor. It was also designed to be used as a monitor where the K8 will not sit as a monitor without some outside help. The ZxA1 is also cheaper than the K8.

 

That little VoiveSolo would probably be the best bet OR Mackie has a similar unit.

[LGSP90]

Our singer had the same problem, I geared up an art personal monitor and ear buds for her. The mic is routed through the mixer and has a level control on the box. The house mix is fed into the mixer and the two levels can be mixed and fed to the buds at a sane level.The buds act also as earplugs and control the room sound levels to pervent ear damage. The monitor mixer is invisible in the mic mix to the foh board.The whole system fit into her purse .