Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
What do you put in your wedge and why?
- Thread starter mrtorian
- Start date
Kick and Snare for sure, then a touch of guitar depending on the stage and a little vocals as well.
DiabolusInMusic
Functionless Art is Merely Tolerated Vandalism
It really depends if I bring a rig or not. Sometimes I just don't feel like hauling a cab so I will run my bass through the monitors.
Generally I only run vocals, guitar if necessary but I don't play too many large stages these days.
Generally I only run vocals, guitar if necessary but I don't play too many large stages these days.
small gigs - vocals only
medium gigs - vocals, kick drum
big/festival - ME, drum sub-mix, vocals, rhythm guitar
Sometimes on the bigger stages, no matter how many watts of speakers, the sound just dissipates and I need lots of bass in there so I can hear what I am doing. If I am running around, then I rely on the side fills to hear myself, which is weak in the bass, unless of course, the monitor mix person is on the stage and I can ask for more.
medium gigs - vocals, kick drum
big/festival - ME, drum sub-mix, vocals, rhythm guitar
Sometimes on the bigger stages, no matter how many watts of speakers, the sound just dissipates and I need lots of bass in there so I can hear what I am doing. If I am running around, then I rely on the side fills to hear myself, which is weak in the bass, unless of course, the monitor mix person is on the stage and I can ask for more.
I usually don't get a wedge. We play small venues so stage volume is good enough.
Nice. I don't sing, but I would expect that you would want the vocals as clean as possible so you can hear them better. But the vocalists in my band want lots of reverb in the monitors. I actually run more reverb than I would like just to keep them happy.
Nice. I don't sing, but I would expect that you would want the vocals as clean as possible so you can hear them better. But the vocalists in my band want lots of reverb in the monitors. I actually run more reverb than I would like just to keep them happy.
Vocals and acoustic guitar for me is generally about it. I can usually hear lead and rhythm electric through their amps, and drums are no problem either. I agree that it depends entirely on stage size and venue though. More of everything may be needed on a large stage and nothing may be needed if I'm standing right next to the PA speakers.
+1
For medium size stages, I often need some vocals and sometimes keys (he's usually at the other end of the stage with his wedge pointing towards him and thus away from me). But drums, bass and guitar I usually hear more than fine.
I use a hot spot for vocals only, and for the other guys' monitors it's vocals and a little guitar.
Interesting topic!
If I'm running sound (which is most gigs, mostly small stages), a mono sum from the mixer. This allows me to hear the volume levels of vocal mics relatively to one another, make sure my background singing is quieter than the vocals, and get a bit of kick drum. My drummer plays kick very lightly, every bit helps.
With a soundman and larger stages, (all) vocals, kick and guitar. Maybe a bit of bass.
If I'm running sound (which is most gigs, mostly small stages), a mono sum from the mixer. This allows me to hear the volume levels of vocal mics relatively to one another, make sure my background singing is quieter than the vocals, and get a bit of kick drum. My drummer plays kick very lightly, every bit helps.
With a soundman and larger stages, (all) vocals, kick and guitar. Maybe a bit of bass.
this is totally different answers depending on the band. If you have a loud drummer, you probably don't want drums in the monitor. I use in-ears and I still don't run any drums into my IEM mix. I hear the guy just fine, just like if you were wearing earplugs.
The cover band I play in has keys and acoustic guitar that go direct to the PA with no on stage amp so of course those needs to be louder in the monitors than the electric guitar that has its own amp blaring on stage (trying to hear himself above that drummer).
the drummer gets a main mix feed into his monitor. We could give him his own custom mix but he just likes hearing the out front mix I guess.
The cover band I play in has keys and acoustic guitar that go direct to the PA with no on stage amp so of course those needs to be louder in the monitors than the electric guitar that has its own amp blaring on stage (trying to hear himself above that drummer).
the drummer gets a main mix feed into his monitor. We could give him his own custom mix but he just likes hearing the out front mix I guess.
Anymore I roll with IEMs whenever possible, but when a gig forces a wedge monitor on me it goes something like this:
1) Big honkin lots of kick drum (unless we're given POS wedges that can't take it)
2) Then hi-hat
3) Enough lead vox to know what he/she is doing
4) My own backing vox (roughly equivalent to lead vox in volume)
5) Just enough lead guitar to know what he's doing
The rest (rhythm/acoustic guitar, keys, other backing vox) I take in very small doses and if any/all of them are going to be a distraction (bad rhythm, out of tune, whatever), I don't have them in my wedge at all.
As far as bass, if I've got a nice backline stack bass rig then I only take enough bass in my wedge to tell that I'm locking with the kick. If it's just my little combo then I may need a little more out of the wedge to compensate.
1) Big honkin lots of kick drum (unless we're given POS wedges that can't take it)
2) Then hi-hat
3) Enough lead vox to know what he/she is doing
4) My own backing vox (roughly equivalent to lead vox in volume)
5) Just enough lead guitar to know what he's doing
The rest (rhythm/acoustic guitar, keys, other backing vox) I take in very small doses and if any/all of them are going to be a distraction (bad rhythm, out of tune, whatever), I don't have them in my wedge at all.
As far as bass, if I've got a nice backline stack bass rig then I only take enough bass in my wedge to tell that I'm locking with the kick. If it's just my little combo then I may need a little more out of the wedge to compensate.
Over the years I've convinced the guitarists in my band to run their amps just loud enough to be mic'd and let the PA system handle the rest, so we have a good bit of both lead and rhythm guitar in the monitors along with all three vocals. Our gigs are small enough that we're rarely mic'ing the drums or bass - sometimes a little snap from the kick and a bit of snare if the room is pretty dead, but not in the wedges.
DiabolusInMusic
Functionless Art is Merely Tolerated Vandalism
Nothing like "convincing" guitarists how to play on stage. I think we all have been there, at least you got them to figure it out. The amount of guitarists I have played with that think you should play at volume practice when they have a mic in front of their amp is just insane.
The worst is when they complain about their tone... it is called a friggin' attenuator!!
This works fine IF your guitarists are disciplined enough not to turn up over the course of the night. But if you've got one or more of "those guys" in the band then every time they turn up not only are you getting more volume from their amp, you're getting more of them in the wedges -- a double whammy.
My vocal, screaming loud. Once in a while I have our keyboard player's vocal at about 30% of mine because we're on opposite sides of the stage, but mostly just my vocal because I can hear everyone else just fine already. And screaming loud so I don't strain.
